CayBeach Sun

My wife, 5-year-old, 11-month and I have just returned from a very enjoyable 11-night stay at Caybeach Sun. It was our first time using the hotel, and for the price paid we felt it represented very good value for money when compared with other options.

It's a 3-star, and has a more traditional feel than a lot of the newer hotels in Playa Blanca, but personally we like that. We found the surroundings and general feel of the place really homely, authentic and relaxing. It's also well located (10 min walk to the seafront, then another 10 mins either way to the marina or the main ferry port).

I emailed ahead requesting a top floor room with a pool view (if available) and a cot for our baby. Communication wasn't great but I was told the reception team would do their best. We arrived late in the evening (approx 11pm), were checked in quickly, and to my pleasant surprise we were given a lovely top floor corner-view room with both pool and sea views. A good quality cot was also waiting for us in the room.

You have to pay a 12 euro cash deposit for the air con remote (which we went down and asked for the next morning), plus extra for a TV remote, safe etc. If you require them. We only opted for the air con as apparently the TV is 99% Spanish channels anyway and we didn't want our 5-year-old sat in front of it all the time! The air con is only in the bedroom, so the living area can get quite warm in the heat of summer, but if you pull the curtains it keeps it cool enough. We also had to pay a €150 safety deposit on arrival which was taken from my card and will apparently be refunded in the coming days. I didn't really mind, but I don't recall any mention of this when booking, so just be aware.

The hotel has two main outdoor pools (one warmer), a baby pool and two small plunge pools where the slides and mini splash park are. These were all really busy during our stay (peak summer holidays) and people were literally standing by parasols waiting for the sunbeds to be unchained an hour before opening (10am) most days. Thankfully our room was within steps of the pool and we're not really sunbed people, but it's another thing to bear in mind if you're expecting to go to the pool after 10am and easily get a bed or two. We found the pool area to be very clean considering how busy it was.

My only real gripe was the lack of clarity around inflatables. The on-site shop (which literally overlooks the pool) sells a selection of rubber rings, floats, beachballs etc, however after paying €10 for a ring my exciteable 5-year-old and his Mum were told in no uncertain terms by the lifeguard that these were prohibited and he couldn't use it. This was particularly confusing as the pool had been full of rings, lilos and all sorts literally the day before. And guess what? The day after it was the same again, so our boy did get to use his rubber ring...... until the next day, where they were banned again! I have absolutely no problem with inflatables not being allowed on safety grounds, but 1) be consistent with it, and 2) don't sell them in the shop overlooking the pool if they can't be used! It's clearly just a money grab, and for me this is the only thing that really lets the hotel down at present.

Apart from said inflatable antics, the shop is actually really good and is stocked daily with fresh breads, pastries, fruits, veg etc., plus a selection of reasonably priced snacks and alcohol. We ate breakfast and lunch on our balcony most days, which was really nice. There's an ALDI a five-min walk up the busy main road, but we didn't even bother going as the on-site shop had everything we needed. There's also a small games arcade next to the shop which our eldest loved (he preferred the one on the seafront but it was a great option to have).

We were self-catering so we can't comment on the hotel breakfast, and we didn't use the pool bar apart from to buy an ice cream one day, but by most accounts online the food isn't really worth it. The entertainment area is located downstairs beneath reception, but again we didn't really see or hear any of it apart from some questionable karaoke attempts one night! There's a QR code on the welcome pack you can scan that gives you a weekly entertainment schedule if that's your thing. This includes the daytime pool entertainment which actually looked quite fun and went down well with a lot of the guests while we were there. Stuff like water polo matches and pool competitions from what we could see. Adults and kids all involved, which was nice.

If you're flying home late on your final day (as we were) you can store all your all your cases in the luggage room in reception. It's left open for anyone to store stuff in, so I didn't feel comfortable leaving any valuables in there, but the reception area's always got people around so it's pretty safe. We also arranged to leave our pushchair and highchair in there for the hire company to collect the next day, which was really handy and meant we could wheel our baby around right up until it was time to go to the airport.

Overall we had a lovely stay and I would certainly recommend Caybeach to any families wanting to experience Playa Blanca on a budget. It's a traditional family hotel with a really nice feel to it, and we wouldn't hesitate to stay here again.

We stayed for 10 nights. Location was good really lacking on the entertainment side of things. Kids club was good and mini disco was good fun. Pools were good fun but only bad review I could give is my 8 year old was told by the life guard he could not use a swim ring in pool were adults were using a giant blow up bed and inflatable chair. They sell them in n the shop onsite. Only air conditioning in sitting room and bedrooms very hot. No sockets to plug in kettle or toaster in kitchen had to use kitchen table. Only a buffet restaurant on site and snack bar that closes at 19:00 hrs. Apartment was lovely and spacious. They really needed to invest more in the evening and afternoon entertainment and advertise what is on to get people to stay on site especially with kids. Pika who done the kids club was kids really enjoyed the club disco and tattoos every evening.

We have just returned home after a week’s stay at Caybeach Sun. The apartments are lovely, clean and a good size for our family of four. Beds were comfortable and room was cleaned regularly. We had a room with a pool view (504) and the location was perfect. Overall we had a lovely stay, and the location was perfect for us, just a 10 minute walk to the main bars, shops and restaurants. My only fault was the pool area, the beds were locked until 10am every morning & although there were plenty of sun loungers to go around they seemed to be lacking parasols and need to provide more. There were so many families with young children like us who struggled to get one and find shade. Sadly, they don’t allow pool inflatables in any of the swimming pools either but the on site shop sells them? The onsite shop was fabulous and everything reasonably priced. For the price we paid for the holiday I’d return again.