Occidental Fuengirola

We recently returned from a stay at the Occidental Hotel in Fuengirola and, overall, had a really lovely experience. We stayed in Junior Suite 916, which had a wonderful view and a very good-sized balcony. The room was spacious, comfortable and, most importantly, exceptionally clean.

The standard of housekeeping deserves particular praise. Throughout our stay the room was maintained to an excellent standard, with the bed made beautifully each day, fresh towels and linen, and meticulous attention to cleanliness. We regularly saw the housekeeping team taking great care over their work, and we genuinely could not fault the service.

The Junior Suite package also included some lovely additional touches. Our minibar was stocked on arrival with water, soft drinks, a couple of beers and chocolates & crisps, all complimentary, which was a very welcoming gesture. I had also contacted the hotel in advance to arrange a small surprise for my husband, and they handled it beautifully. We returned to the room to find a bottle of champagne on ice, lovely glasses, a beautifully presented dessert and a personalised card. It was a thoughtful and generous touch and really demonstrated the hotel's commitment to customer service.

In fact, the staff were consistently one of the highlights of our stay. Everyone we encountered was helpful, courteous, cheerful and professional, creating a very pleasant atmosphere throughout the hotel.

The communal areas were also extremely well presented. The pool, lounges and outdoor seating areas were immaculate and provided plenty of attractive spaces in which to relax. The hotel as a whole felt well cared for and had a very pleasant ambience.

There are, however, a few areas which we feel could be improved. Although our room was spotlessly clean, it is beginning to look slightly tired in places. The skirting boards were noticeably scuffed and would benefit from some attention, while the sealant around the sinks was quite discoloured. One of the sinks also had several cracks. None of these issues affected our enjoyment of the room or its cleanliness, but they were noticeable details and, given the otherwise high standard of the hotel, seemed worthy of attention.

The main frustration with the Junior Suite was the storage configuration. This is less about there not being enough space and more about how the available space has been utilised. One section of the wardrobe contains a shelf housing the safe, with the fridge underneath. This takes up the area that could otherwise provide useful full-length hanging space, meaning that longer dresses and skirts had to be folded over on hangers.

On the opposite side, there are very deep shelves. Once we put folded clothing into them, there was well over a foot of depth that was effectively unusable, so a considerable amount of space was simply being lost. It seems to us that this area could be better utilised for the safe and fridge, which would then allow for a much more substantial full-length hanging section.

There are also some other relatively simple possibilities for improving the storage. The ironing board currently sits lengthways underneath the TV shelf and could potentially be stored upright within the wardrobe. The space beneath the TV could then perhaps be used for additional drawers or cupboards.

We also felt that a drawer around the dressing table, beneath the second TV in the lounge area, would make a significant difference. I found myself having to keep most of my toiletries and personal items spread across the desk, and even had to perch my mirror on the edge because there simply wasn't sufficient practical storage around the dressing area.

The overall design is undoubtedly very modern and has lovely clean lines, but it feels as though this has been achieved at the expense of practical storage. For us, these relatively straightforward alterations seem like a no-brainer and would make the room considerably more functional without compromising its modern aesthetic.

Our only real disappointment was breakfast. There was a very good continental selection, with an impressive variety of pastries, breads, cheeses, hams and other choices. However, the cooked breakfast did not live up to the standard of the rest of the offering. We found both the bacon and sausages disappointing and ultimately chose not to eat them, relying mainly on eggs when we wanted something hot. This was by no means disastrous, but we did feel that the cooked element of breakfast could be significantly improved.

We didn’t eat lunch or dinner at the hotel, so unfortunately we’re unable to comment on the other dining options.

Overall, we had a very enjoyable stay and would happily return. The criticisms are mainly smaller maintenance, storage and breakfast issues rather than anything that detracted significantly from our holiday. The exceptional housekeeping, attentive staff, beautiful communal areas and thoughtful personal touches made a very positive impression on us.

With a little more attention to the finer details within the rooms and some improvement to the cooked breakfast, we think the hotel could take an already very good experience to another level.

We have given a very good 4 star because of the issues above but we feel the hotel lies between very good 4 star and 5 start excellent.

I also appreciate that the Occidental respond to all their reviews but it would be even better to actually see change, I have seen on other reviews that storage is a consistent complaint.

However we would like to thank the Occidental for a great stay as the positives certainly outweigh the negatives.

Staff is friendly and very helpful, breakfast was the only food we got on the hotel, but it was fantastic with great amount of choices + location is amazing!

Excellent hotel opposite the beach. Lovely and clean with very comfy beds. Would highly recommend