SBH Monica Beach

SBH Monica Beach Resort – Our Stay, 7th–17th August 2026

We stayed at SBH Monica Beach Resort from 7th–17th August 2026, with three of us sharing Room 114, which was situated on the corner.

Overall, we actually had a really nice, relaxing holiday. I didn’t explore much of the island because this holiday was purely about switching off, sitting in the sun and reading a book. There were some things I really liked about the hotel and one fairly major disappointment — the food!

🏨 Room 114

I personally found our room lovely and quiet. My husband did occasionally notice a smell from the drains, although it wasn’t something that particularly bothered me.

We had paid for a full sea view, although I’d describe what we actually had as a partial sea view because the palm trees obstructed quite a lot of it. We didn’t complain because it wasn’t a major issue for us.

The room itself was lovely and clean, and the cleaners came in every single day. I really couldn’t fault the housekeeping at all.

☀️ Pool & Sunbeds

On our first day I thought getting a sunbed was going to be a nightmare unless you were up at the crack of dawn! However, I soon found that if I went down at around 8:30–9:00am, I could normally find a bed around the pool.

I never personally saw the swimming pool being cleaned during our stay, although to be fair the water always looked clear and was never cloudy.

One warning — the pool area is an absolute sun trap! Definitely use a high-factor sun cream because you can burn very quickly around there.

🍽️ Food – My Biggest Disappointment

We stayed all-inclusive, and unfortunately I really didn’t like the food.

Obviously food is subjective and I am quite a fussy eater, but during our ten-night stay I think there were only two evenings when I ate what I’d consider a proper full dinner — chicken breast one evening and fried chicken breast on another.

There seemed to be a lot of pork and fish served every day. I can’t stand pork, so that immediately reduced my choices. However, if you love fish, you’ll probably be in your element!

I was particularly disappointed with the choices for fussy children.

I don’t remember seeing chicken nuggets once. The sausages looked similar to hot-dog sausages but weren’t what we’d normally consider regular sausages. There was pizza regularly, but some of the toppings weren’t particularly child-friendly — including fish and ham. I only remember seeing pepperoni once, although cheese pizza was available at other times.

There were chips and onion rings, but personally I thought the burgers were absolutely vile, and unfortunately I didn’t like the pasta sauces either.

There was plenty of bread, salad and chips, though. I think I probably ate the equivalent of about ten full baguettes over the holiday! 😂

This was particularly difficult because my child has ARFID and can only eat a limited range of foods. For families dealing with ARFID or children who need familiar and predictable foods, I would definitely research the food options carefully before booking all-inclusive here.

For us, the food simply wasn’t worth the all-inclusive price, and it was by far my biggest disappointment with the hotel.

🏖️ The Beach – Absolutely Stunning

Now for something I absolutely cannot fault — the beach.

It’s beautiful. ❤️

And if you want to find the little squirrels everyone talks about, we found them in two places. 🐿️

Come down from the Africa Bar, turn left and walk along a little way towards the old sun loungers and you should find some around there.

Alternatively, when you reach the beach turn right and keep walking until it looks as though the beach is coming to an end, where you’ll reach the rocky area. We found them living amongst the rocks there too.

People often call them chipmunks, but they’re actually squirrels.

Top tip: get yourself some peanuts from the indoor shop before you go looking for them. 🥜🐿️

☕ Milk, Snacks & Nearby Shops

If you’re like me and like having tea or coffee in your room, you’ll probably want to know where to find milk!

Come out of the hotel and turn right. Walk past the first few sets of shops until you reach the shop with Santander on it. Inside there is a small supermarket, and we found milk at the back.

It’s long-life milk rather than refrigerated fresh milk, but it did the job perfectly well for tea and coffee.

The supermarket itself wasn’t huge, but we used it for snacks and bits for the room.

There are also plenty of little gift and souvenir shops around this area and along the approach to it.

🛒 A Bigger Shopping Area

If you’re looking for a SPAR and more restaurants and shops, come out of the hotel and turn left, then go up and turn left again towards the next hotel.

When you reach the entrance to that hotel, turn right and walk up.

You’ll find a SPAR supermarket along with restaurants and various little shops.

🥡 Chinatown – Worth the Walk!

Because I struggled so much with the hotel food, we did find somewhere else to eat that I really enjoyed.

Come out of the hotel, turn left and walk for roughly 10 minutes, then turn right and walk through the wooded area until you reach the main road.

There is a Chinese restaurant called Chinatown there, and we thought the food was really nice.

There are some other little shops around there too.

🛍️ Local Market

There’s also a market nearby on Wednesdays and Sundays, approximately 9am–1pm.

Come out of the hotel and cross the road towards the wooded area and you’ll find the market there.

It’s handy to know about if you don’t intend travelling far during your holiday but fancy having a wander around somewhere different.

🎤 Animation & Evening Entertainment

The animation team regularly came around the pool trying to encourage people to join in with activities, which was nice.

I wouldn’t say they were the most energetic animation team I’ve ever experienced. Some of them looked tired quite a lot of the time and weren’t always particularly enthusiastic, but they did make the effort to get people involved.

In the evening, the entertainment takes place downstairs in an undercroft/basement-type area of the hotel.

I only went down there twice — once for karaoke and another time just to have a look at what was going on.

Unfortunately, I found it far too hot down there. There didn’t appear to be air conditioning, and personally I found the heat uncomfortable enough that I didn’t particularly want to stay.

❤️ Overall

Despite everything I’ve said about the food, I actually had a really nice holiday.

My intention was to relax, sit in the sunshine and read a book — and that’s exactly what I did.

The room was clean and quiet, housekeeping was excellent, the beach was absolutely stunning, I could generally find a sunbed without getting up ridiculously early, and there were enough shops and places nearby for what we needed.

The food was unquestionably my biggest disappointment.

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend the all-inclusive food if you’re a particularly fussy eater, and I’d be especially cautious if travelling with a child with ARFID or a very restricted diet. Other people may love it — food is incredibly subjective — but for us it was really difficult.

But did the food ruin our holiday?

No.

We still had a lovely, chilled-out break.

So if you’re heading to SBH Monica Beach…

Have a fantastic holiday, take plenty of high-factor sun cream, pack a good book — and don’t forget the peanuts for the squirrels! ☀️📚🐿️❤️

We haven’t been abroad for many years and booked here last minute. It was my son’s first time flying and we arrived at nearly midnight absolutely shattered.

We saw 2 cockroaches in the reception when we arrived and 1 around the pool but other than that we only saw cats, lizards and the amazing cheeky chipmunks who you can hand feed!

Check in was slow, only one staff member dealing with people and another just lurking in the background. Very limited information provided about the hotel so it’s very much work it all out for yourself.

Our room was spotless. People are moaning it’s dated, I wouldn’t say it was, it’s typically Spanish and it’s only a base to shower and sleep! Small fridge in the room, air con, fan, blackout curtains, good sized balcony with chairs and a table, and an amazing sea view. Clothes airer fixed to the wall. Would have liked a couple of sun loungers but perfect otherwise.

WiFi signal is strong through the whole site, which made our lives a whole lot easier as my son is autistic and it was great being able to go back to the room to allow him to decompress.

The food was pretty good. So many people moaning but there is a wide selection breakfast, dinner and tea alongside a snack bar. We never struggled to find somewhere to sit, and the tables were cleaned and set back up swiftly. We never had one hint of a stomach upset so top marks from us!

The drinks were hit and miss, lager and spirits pretty standard, self serve fizzy drinks regularly ran out of syrup leaving limited choice.

The pools were all good, we saw maintenance testing the water regularly and scooping out leaves etc.

We gave up trying to get a sun lounger. The typical towel marking starts early with most of them then left empty for most of the day! There definitely is not enough for the size of the hotel.

Lots of people complaining about thefts but we had no issues. We saw security patrolling the site regularly and we did see a couple of cameras. Most thefts apparently happened when people were at the nighttime entertainment.

There’s a little shop onsite with lots of choice at reasonable prices. It was a life saver when we forgot our plug adapters!

There is lots of steps and slopes around the site, some are fairly steep with slippy areas especially when they are wet. Area around the pools is extremely slippy when wet.

We didn’t see much entertainment, the odd bit around the pool, and 30 minutes with a mascot around 8pm. The nighttime bar area is via an underground tunnel and the heat is intense. We went when it was empty but I dread to think how hot it is when it’s full! Infact, none of the hotel except the rooms seemed to have air conditioning, which could be very uncomfortable at times.

The games room was a little tired and again incredibly hot.

The beach can be directly accessed from the site, and it’s very clean. The sand can get very hot so remember some footwear. You had to pay for sunbeds but there was a lifeguard there at peak times keeping everyone safe.

We can’t fault the cleaning staff. They work extremely hard. Rooms are cleaned daily unless you put your ‘do not disturb’ sign out. We had our beds changed midweek and fresh towels daily.

All the chefs cooking fresh food in front of you were always polite, friendly and helpful. They carry on cooking large quantities of food right up to the closing times so there’s always plenty of choice.

We tried the Asian restaurant one night. One visit is included in your stay but book early to avoid disappointment. Drinks are charged as they are served bottled. The food was good, boiled rice rather than fried and bland curry sauce but that’s personal preference.

The reception staff could be difficult to communicate with as their English wasn’t always great. However when I turned to them in tears as my son was unwell, they comforted me, and had a doctor onsite within 5 minutes!

As for the area the hotel is in, there isn’t a great lot going on but that’s what we wanted. A few shops to the left and right and a market over the road twice a week. There’s a Spar close to the hotel, we found it the cheapest for some alcohol and all snacks and drinks.

We hired a car, it was worth it just for the air con! We had an explore and made a couple of stops but there isn’t tons to do in the local area.

We haven’t checked out yet but there is a room to leave luggage once you check out of your room at 11. If there’s a lot of people leaving that day though luggage spills out of the room and into the main reception which worries me as to how safe it will be. You can also book the courtesy room to allow you to freshen up before you leave, or extend room check out to 1.30pm but both options are very limited so book early.

Overall a busy hotel with enough space to cope and not feel crowded.

Some clientele let the place down, but you get that everywhere. Some English guy was kicking off because someone happened to look at his daughter who’s ’only 13’.

My tips:

Sunscreen and lots of it! I’m quite olivey skinned and still got sunburn!

We stayed at SBH Monica Beach Resort for one week from 15 August 2026. After reading all the reviews before our holiday, we didn’t arrive with particularly high expectations and, to be honest, we were even a little worried about the reports of theft.

We were pleasantly surprised.

We arrived at around midnight. Check-in was fairly quick and the reception staff were friendly and helpful. They explained everything to us, although for less experienced travellers it can be a little confusing at first because the resort is absolutely huge. We hired a safe for a €20 deposit and also rented a kettle for another €20 deposit, both of which were returned to us at the end of our stay. There was also some food available in the restaurant when we arrived, which was a nice touch after travelling.

We saw two cockroaches near reception when we arrived — and those were the first and last ones we saw during the entire week.

Our room was number 179. It was clean, tidy and smelled fresh when we arrived. The beds were comfortable and the room was cleaned every day. Personally, I didn’t feel the need to walk around on all fours checking every corner for problems, as some reviews seem to suggest! 😄 We were also very conveniently located, with everything we needed within easy reach.

🍽️ Food

I honestly don’t understand some of the very negative reviews about the food.

Yes, breakfast was fairly similar every day, but there was a huge choice and more than enough variety for us. The same applies to lunch and dinner. I am quite a picky eater, but every single day I found something I enjoyed, and the food was genuinely tasty.

The staff in the restaurant work incredibly hard and were always friendly.

If anything, the bigger problem was some guests taking enormous amounts of food and then leaving most of it behind, creating unnecessary mess. That is certainly not the hotel's fault.

🏊 Pools & resort

The pools were clean and warm. We always managed to find sun loungers, even around 9am.

The resort is very large and there were a lot of guests, but surprisingly we never experienced long queues for food or felt overwhelmed by the number of people.

We often saw staff working early in the morning, cleaning and preparing everything for the day. They were always friendly and greeted guests with a smile.

The toilets around the resort were also clean and smelled fresh.

There are plenty of activities during the day and in the evening, and the kids' mini disco was a big hit with our child.

🍹 The bars

The bar staff were friendly and always smiling. The cocktails were tasty, freshly made and, importantly, actually had some alcohol in them! 😂

A special mention to the two bartenders who are both called Sebastian , you guys are the best! You can genuinely see that they enjoy their jobs and they made the experience even better.

🏖️ The beach

The beach is the cherry on top.

Easy access, absolutely beautiful and, in our opinion, one of the nicest beaches in the whole area. It is huge, the water is crystal clear and it was one of our favourite parts of the holiday.

Early in the morning, the beach is especially beautiful. Watching the sunrise over the ocean was absolutely breathtaking and definitely worth getting up early for🌅 At night, the beach is also an amazing place to sit and look at the stars.

🔐 Security & theft

This is the one area where I think it is important to be completely honest.

We saw security staff walking around the resort and personally felt safe throughout our stay. We kept all our valuables in the safe and made sure our room was always secure.

However, we unfortunately witnessed the aftermath of two families who had been robbed from their rooms during our stay.

According to the police who dealt with the incidents, there is a gang operating in the area using so-called master key cards to gain access to hotel rooms and steal from them. What concerned us most was that they apparently knew exactly which rooms to target.

The affected rooms were further away from the main areas of the resort. There are CCTV cameras around the resort, but personally I felt there could be more security cameras and stronger control over access to the rooms.

Thankfully, nothing was stolen from us. We kept our valuables in the safe and didn't leave anything valuable on display. We felt safe overall, but after seeing what happened to other guests, I would strongly recommend doing the same.

This did not ruin our holiday, but it is something future guests should be aware of. Better to take sensible precautions than to regret it later.

🌴 Costa Calma & things to do

There are shops, bars and plenty of places to explore around the area, as well as the beautiful palm grove.

We also rented a car and explored the island, which I highly recommend.

Seven days honestly wasn't enough! 😂

We are normally used to busy, active holidays, but this year we deliberately chose Costa Calma because we wanted somewhere more peaceful.

And honestly, you definitely won't be bored here unless you choose to be.

Your holiday is largely what you make it.

❤️ Would we come back?

We normally never visit the same place twice because there are so many places in the world we want to see.

But we absolutely fell in love with Costa Calma, so maybe this will be the exception.

Don't let the negative reviews put you off. Come with realistic expectations, take sensible precautions with your belongings, and enjoy the resort for what it is.

We had a great week and left with many more positives than negatives.

Thank you to all the hardworking staff at SBH Monica Beach Resort for making our stay enjoyable. ❤️