Globales Playa Estepona

Sunday 12/7 - Sunday 19/7.

Sunday: travel day. I arrived at the hotel around 1pm and queued for around an 45mins-1hr to check in. Found out the room wasn’t ready till 3pm. Usually I don’t care about that as I always pack swimming stuff in my hand luggage so don’t need the case but as I was ill with dehydration/heat exhaustion (which is NOT the hotels fault), it felt like the longest wait. Got the room and slept till Monday. Started feeling better by Monday evening so went to get some food.

Rooms: basic and dated. There was mould in the fridge and shower which I would have usually complained about straight away; however due to illness I didn’t notice till it was too late. Cleaned daily if you’d like - due to illnesses/tiredness we put the do not disturb up a few days.

Food: both my daughter and I are fussy eaters so probably not the most reliable source for reviewing food. We were both bored of the food within a couple of days. I would say for us, it is the worst hotel that we have been to for food. I brought some dry food/snacks from home and we ate most of them within the first few days as we were hungry.

Crowds: it was busy and got busier as the week went on (obviously - as it was getting nearer to the English summer holidays). During the day as the hotel is huge and everyone is spread out, it felt fine. We stayed by one of the quieter pools, and as we’re both neurodivergent that worked for us well. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner was manic in the restaurant. That was when I realised the hotel is too big for the size of the restaurant. They do have quieter times so if you don’t like crowds I’d plan your meals around the times to eat.

Bars: I stuck to soft drinks so can’t comment on alcohol. They were happy to refill our thermal cups. During the day the bars seemed easy to get a drink. Evening time - the queues were a lot longer as there were only 2 bars open after 7pm.

Entertainment: we didn’t watch - if you’re not out there early, the chances of getting a seat are very slim. We did watch the two semi finals of the World Cup which was a great atmosphere. Gutted the final is when we get back to England.

Sunbeds: the pool we stuck to had a queueing system and didn’t open till 10am (which I thought was a little late especially if you’re an early riser). Could always find a bed though.

Pools: loads to choose from. No complaints.

Splash park: we went once. No complaints about it. Only concern I’ve got with it is that it open to the public as a day pass. I’m not sure if that’s weekends only or every day as we only saw people on Saturday (as we arrived at lunch on Sunday and went straight to the room and then left by 7:40am the following Sunday. Also unsure when the Spanish summer holidays are). I personally felt less relaxed knowing there was people there not part of the hotel.

Beach restaurant: was fine. Basically chips, hotdogs, burgers. They do pizza which was really nice but only been down there once when the pizza was out.

All inclusive: doesn’t include a lot but I think that’s the way it is now. For the past 3 years I’ve found a lot of stuff isn’t included at different places.

Shop: overpriced. €15 for a hat, €5 for a fridge magnet, €5 for a small ball the size of my hand. There was a little market outside the hotel one day (I think Tuesday?) which I got a hat for €5 and 3 magnets for €5 so worth going to that if you’re looking for souvenirs or like me forgot a hat.

TUI rep: seemed helpful to me. When I turned up unwell on Sunday, she asked for an update over the next couple of days. Same with my daughter’s face.

Beach: rocky, couldn’t go in the sea as we didn’t have the right footwear.

Photos: we had a sunset photoshoot and one during the day. It was a laugh, we enjoyed it and brought some photos.

Mid week: my daughter came up with a pigmentation on her face which has never happened before - assuming due to the chlorine or sun. I asked how much it was just to see a doctor as it got a little worse overnight. It was €120. In the end, my mum went to our pharmacy at home with photos and got advice from them. We did have our GHIC cards so could have accessed healthcare cheaper outside the hotel.

From Friday: I had a sore throat/cough. I’m blaming the aircon but no idea if I’m right to do so. I went to a pharmacy and got some throat spray as it was the only thing I didn’t pack.

We wouldn’t return. I wouldn’t say it’s a 4*, we’ve stayed in far better 4* hotels. I would say 3* is generous.

If you’re considering going to this hotel…DONT!!! I read the bad reviews thinking I’ll form my own opinion..I should have listened.

Pros - lots of pools and splash pads, always get a bed and the pools are a good temperature. Rooms are comfortable. They are small but they do the job. If you stay on bottom floor one you’ll have ants infested. We seen several people complain about this. We were on the top floor so didn’t have this issue.

Cons - beach is absolutely filthy. Covered in litter and condoms. It’s also a stone beach so don’t expect to run around bear foot.

• entertainment is absolutely awful and absolutely nothing to do at night. The hotel is quite remote. You can get a taxi or shuttle bus to the next down over if you wish.

• there are several bars at pools however only has the foot for all inclusive and it’s the one on the beach. Meaning if you’re in the top block or top pool you’ll have a bit of a walk to get to it.

• lounge chairs at pool absolutely filthy. Covered in bird poo.

• bedding and towels where never changed and given fresh ones I had to call reception daily for this.

• no kettle in room (this itself isn’t an issue) but we needed one to make bottles for our 1 year old and to get one we had to hire it for €40 for a week.

• hardly any staff spoke English. Now I don’t expect fluently but basic word And phrases would be nice: I had to use google translate more times than I can count.

Now the food. The food is the single reason I will never return. It is absolutely disgusting! I seen a “chef” if you can call her that pick up raw chicken. Wash her gloves then pick up raw fish…. The food is all either raw or overcooked and rubber. Chips are frozen inside. Burgers burnt to a crisp or pink inside. Baked beans are ice cold and the bread is always hard like it’s been left there from dinner the night before. Food is never hot, Even when new fresh food comes out it’s cold, My husband and 1 year old got food poisoning day 1 and vomited for 3 days. We resorted to doing food shops at the Aldi (which is 5/10’min walk away) and getting Uber eat deliveries in order for our kids to eat! We were not the only ones who did this and others also complained about getting sick from the food.

• hotel staff don’t care, it doesn’t matter how many times I complained or seen others complained nothing ever got done about it. Disgusting hotel. Formal complaint logged with Tui and travel

Insurance. Disgusting hotel. You couldn’t pay me to go back here.