Las Arenas Hotel - Benalmadena - Costa Del Sol

There certainly isn’t any sign of recession at the Las Arenas Hotel which was surprisingly busy for the time of year (early May). The reason is simple - this 4* Hotel provides great food, very good service & good, clean accommodation at a value for money price. Proof of this is the large number of guests who return time & time again (we spoke to an elderly couple who had been 8 times!).

Las Arenas is not perfect with no temperature control on the air conditioning or any tea & coffee making facilities in the bedrooms but this can be forgiven when taking account of the overall cost. There are too many steps getting up to the main bar & especially the pool area for someone like me with mobility issues but these can be avoided by accessing the bar from the outside via ramps & a service lift. Whilst this is somewhat inconvenient the staff are very helpful & so this hotel can cater effectively for the disabled.

The dining room is nearly always busy but the smartly dressed waiters/waitress are extremely efficient and, together with the kitchen staff, mealtimes are run with military precision. There was always a good selection of tasty hot food which were regularly replenished so nothing was left out for hours.

Breakfast was the usual choice of cereal, fresh fruit, etc & bacon, sausage, egg, beans & tomato for an acceptable English breakfast. In the evening there was a choice of meats (beef, steak , pork, chicken & veal) & fish (salmon, tuna, swordfish, hake, sardines etc) with various salads, vegetables & potato products followed by a choice of fresh fruit (melon, pineapple, strawberries) deserts, cakes & ice cream. My only criticism was that virtually the only soup available was vegetable and, to a much lesser extent, the menu is on a weekly schedule so it could get boring for long-stay guests.

Whilst we were at the hotel most of the guests were over 50’s (85%) with the majority being over 60, so the hotel was generally quiet during the night. There were some younger couples, a few golf & stag/hen parties but very few children & no teenagers although I’m sure this will change during the peak season. Although the hotel caters for all nationalities at least 90% were either British or Irish.

We now have a issue when we choose our next holiday because we might be disappointed if we go to a different hotel as the Las Arenas has now set a higher standard than we have been used to of late.