Medplaya Hotel Bali

Location - fine, 10 min stroll to the beach. However, steep hill coming back up to the hotel which may not be great for little legs (with sand and chaffing!).

Atmosphere - busy, felt like a Spanish butlins. I’d say 80% of people staying there are Spanish, and so entertainment and all posters/ guides around the hotel are in Spanish. The entertainment on an evening is Spanish speaking. The restaurant is always busy, often queueing up the stairwells at peak times, and people don’t make a line they generally just push in to get what they want of the food items. I can’t blame individuals for this as there is actually signs in the restaurant saying to do this and not to queue. Queuing and being mindful of others must be a British thing, mind boggling.

Entertainment through the day is poor. Around the main pool they do an aqua fitness dance session and that’s about all we had in the one week stay. The main pool is not even suitable for this as it’s very deep so the pool steps end up full of people dancing meaning if you want to get out you have to use the wobbly ladders in the deeper end of the pool. The kids splash area is good enough, BUT, there are no parasols around it and sun loungers are not allowed. So, the only option is to pull up a chair from the bar area and sit in the direct sunlight watching your kids bake in the sun. I didn’t understand this, kids need some shade and respite from the sun every now and then, it feels like the kids pool is just out of the way to keep little ones together being loud and having fun.

Rooms - small but functional. Our air conditioning leaked water into the room every night, reception said nothing they could do. Quite dangerous for little ones going to the toilet in the night so we had to lay a towel down every night to prevent slipping. Our shower head was also swapped on day 2 which was annoying, we started with one which had settings to go from a larger spray to a stronger small spray. We questioned this with reception and they said they were swapping them all out. Fairly sure this was a lie, the one we had been replaced with was not new and actually quite grubby, without any settings, and my daughter was next door and her shower head was not changed. I think it’s likely someone had complained about the water pressure in the showers (which isn’t great) and they swapped our shower heads around. The maids do a good job at cleaning the rooms, I can’t fault them, each day our room was cleaned and fresh towels left.

Value - for the price we paid (3.3k for one week, half board) I do not feel there was value. I have stayed in far better 3* hotels in Benalmádena and Torremolinos for less.

Cleanliness - our rooms were nice and clean thanks to the maids. The communal areas sometimes left a lot to be desired. One evening I watched a woman cleaning her child’s diarrhoea filled knickers out in the ladies toilets by reception. The pool is full of hairs, when swimming hair will wrap around your hands and feet. People had been pulling hair out and leaving it on the pool side where it sat for 2 days. Also a nice green ‘scum’ line around the perimeter of the pool. The games room is dirty, and most of the game machines don’t actually work. There are no ashtrays, so bar and pool areas littered with cigarettes. I think the bar offer you a small cup of water to use as an ashtray if you ask for one.

Food - it was just ok, again I feel it caters heavily for Spanish people. Pig trotter stew made an appearance, alongside a lot of cold strange salad concoctions. There is pasta, paella, chips and the odd hot option which was ok some nights, we preferred the lunch options to the evening meals.

Noise level - we didn’t have any issues with noise.

I would not return to this hotel nor recommend it, we made the most of our time together and tried to spend days/ evenings away from the hotel on the beach or out elsewhere. The water park was brilliant (just beware of shoe thieves, someone stole my daughters crocs from the poolside as the floor was scorching). And if venturing out for food the marina has loads of lovely options, Jacks Smokehouse was a great place.

Honest review - I never write reviews but after paying so much money to be completely disappointed with our family holiday I feel the need to.

Food isn’t great breakfast was always cold and eggs tasted like chemicals. One evening we returned to our room to find a cockroach. We immediately made reception aware. 1 hour 30mins later we had to go to reception as no one came. When the cleaner eventually came she handed us some spray and left. We had to be pest control ourselves. My husband sprayed it it ran all over the bathroom and it was left to die. The following day we found out we shouldn’t have been given the spray. The spray once used should not go near humans and the room needs to be emptied and well ventilated for several hours. Non of this happened. It’s got high chemicals in that causes severe reactions. My husband struggled with his chest for a few days as he is asthmatic. When we mentioned this to guest relations the woman shrugged her shoulder and stated “we have you the best solution” we then made a formal complaint and the manager refused to speak to us, apparently he was in a meeting but was in fact in reception. We’ve escalated the infestation and was told if we didn’t escalate it further we could have a free lunch!

The whole hotel is dirty, the hallway carpets need changing they don’t look to have been cleaned for a few years

I would go elsewhere and spend your money where it’s worth it.