El Fuerte Marbella

"Hi Very Disappointing Stay for What Was Supposed to Be a Special Family Occasion, We visited for a very special family occasion and had booked two rooms for our us and sons, who were joining us. Before our arrival, I contacted Guest Relations specifically to explain that this was an important occasion for our family and asked whether they could help make our stay a little more special. I was assured that they would try their best to make sure we had a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, the reality was completely different. From the moment we arrived, we felt anything but welcomed. Check-in took nearly an hour, with every single detail being requested for all of us. During this long wait, we were not even offered a glass of water or a drink after a long journey. When we finally reached our room, there was absolutely nothing to acknowledge our special occasion or even the previous conversations I have had with the hotel. I was not expecting anything extravagant, but even a small gesture or a simple note would have shown that somebody had listened and cared. More disappointingly, the toilet and toilet seat in our bathroom were not properly cleaned when we arrived. The towels were also of surprisingly poor quality for a hotel of this standard, and basic toiletries were not consistently provided, meaning we repeatedly had to ask for them. Breakfast was fine, but what disappointed me most was the complete lack of care from Guest Relations. I went personally to speak with them about our experience. They took my details and assured me that someone would contact me. Nobody ever did. On our final day, because our flight was not until 7:30pm, I simply asked whether we could check out at 1pm instead of the normal time. Even this small request could not be accommodated. What upset me most was not any one individual issue. It was the overall feeling that nobody genuinely cared. I had contacted the hotel in advance, explained how meaningful this family occasion was to us and had been reassured that they would try to make our stay special. Instead, we left feeling completely overlooked. I was genuinely heartbroken and gutted. Special occasions cannot be repeated, and unfortunately this hotel did nothing to make ours feel special or even particularly welcoming. Based on our experience, I would not recommend this hotel and sadly would not choose to stay here again. For us, the biggest disappointment was that “Guest Relations” appeared to exist in name, but not in the level of care or follow-up we experienced."

"Hotel El Fuerte and Marbella was our venue for a quick 4 nights away with the family before the older kids head back to college, and it was a delightful stay overall. The hotel has many highlights: - Rooms very comfortable and well finished. Very quiet - “Selected” rate costs about €50 pppn extra and gives great benefits…. Unpacking service (great when we arrived late and got to drop bags and head out for dinner), separate breakfast area with some interesting à la carte options, better room and toiletries, an all day lounge 11am-9pm for food and drinks. Worth the bit extra. - Breakfast is one of the best buffets we’ve seen with really high quality specials each day. - Location is super for access to Marbella Old Town - Great pool and beach areas with very comfortable loungers. We loved that the pool attendants enforced the rule of 30 mins unattended=loose seat, which stopped people needlessly holding loungers all day with towels. This did cause a huge row one afternoon, which was an added bit of entertainment! - Service throughout was professional and friendly - Late checkout with a small charge was really helpful and gave us a proper full last day. A couple of minor opportunities: - The room hairdryer is one of those annoying ones that you have to hold the button on. A real pain each evening when many of the better hotels have move to Dysons. - The beach itself isn’t the best in the area with stony sand and rocky shoreline Overall a super hotel in a great location. Thank you all in Hotel El Fuerte for an excellent family break!"

"The hotel is beautiful and chic, it set the tone for a luxurious solo trip! The location is perfection blocks away from Old Town and facing the promenade which is great fun for families, couples and yes singles. Speaking of being single/solo traveler, there was an incident in the hotel concerning an unruly guest. The team lead by Maria Antunez the GM and the lovely Alessandra Lask took the BEST care of me insuring that not only did I feel safe, they also made special efforts to erase the unpleasantness which took place. It was because of them that I was able to enjoy the rest of my stay with no fear of danger. This is truly a 5 star hotel & experience"