"18 months after our first visit here, we returned. Booked a different board basis (B&B) and a better room (Level Junior Suite) this time, hoping we'd found the perfect combination. Alas, it wasn't to be.
We've come to the realisation that, in the shoulder and off-peak seasons, Melia Villaitana is more of a conference/event venue with rooms than it is a hotel.
Our room (501) seemed great at first, with a stunning view over the golf course and the better sun loungers on the balcony. However, it's one of four Level rooms that are actually outside the Level boundary and nearer to the Mosaico pool. This put us directly adjacent to and above event spaces in the Los Naranjos courtyard and Javea room. On night one, rowdy conference guests were yelling outside one of the poolside event spaces until 2.30am. On another, we could clearly hear tables being dragged around to prep the Javea room at 10pm, right underneath our room. On a third night, a wrap party was held at full volume in the courtyard until 11pm. We wouldn't have been disturbed by any of this if this Level room had actually been in the Level area. Our neighbours had little children, so I don't imagine they liked this much either.
Conference delegates also cause absolute chaos at the Level breakfast, and essentially start their conference there, arriving en mass, talking business at full volume and stopping in thoroughfares to chat, so there's no hope of a peaceful or leisurely poolside breakfast for regular guests between 7.45-9am. The conference mentality also appears to have affected Melia staff at Botanico, as they were almost aggressively efficient in fully clearing tables at breakfast even when it was obvious the guests were coming back.
Restaurants and public spaces around the hotel were often closed or reserved for the conference delegates, so this did impact how we used and moved around the complex. Conferences are clearly well taken care of; we didn't feel like regular hotel guests got the same level of consideration.
While our bed was extremely comfy, it turned out that our room was also one of the ones which had ants (although they stayed mainly to the edges of the room) and stinky drains. The 'egg cloud' after showering was most unpleasant. Otherwise, it was functional and comfortable and in decent repair.
In terms of security, we weren't thrilled that these four Level-outside-the-Level rooms are accessible directly from the main plaza, without needing to go through any gates or lobbies. We had also seen things online about non-Level guests accessing the Level, and while we didn't see any blue wristbands in Level areas, the gate between our room and the Level section was frequently left open to allow anyone through.
Since our last visit, a new Mexican beach bar (Canalla) has opened. We were excited to try this, but the seating is not comfy at all! Tall bar stools or oversize, super low seats with no support. We ended up not staying. We were also disappointed that the cocktails they sell (€12 each, no happy hour) are made from pre-mixes, which is outrageous when a fab bar in the Old Town does 2-4-1 with freshly made cocktails for the same price. Couldn't help feeling a bit ripped off.
The a la carte restaurants were very good again. We got to try Lima (still only open Fri-Sat) and had an interesting, well-cooked, flavourful meal. The chicken chaufa was delicious. Service was a bit inconsistent but generally it was one of our favourite meals from the week and we would recommend.
The Italian restaurant was just as good as last time, and we were delighted that the pineapple carpaccio was still available!
The pools are showing a few signs of wear but they're still gorgeous. Some of the bridges felt a bit rickety. Although we adore these pools, we didn't feel like they balanced out the rest of the experience on this occasion like we did last time. Now we've seen again how Villaitana is so conference-focused, I don't know if we would choose to stay here again."
