Occidental Isla Cristina

"Lovely hotel great rooms with comfy beds,food and drinks good but food could be warmer for my tastes,The staff are all very pleasant and helpful .Sunbeds were no problem as there seems to be hundreds of them so no toweling required.This is quite a large hotel with plenty of private areas for sunbathing.The area round the hotel is not very nice as the way to the beach is not very clean dog poo on the pavements and bottles etc just thrown into the bushes.Al in all we had a great stay if you spoke French it would be a great help as very little English is use during the entertainment etc. Take plenty of bug spray as there are loads of mossis."

"I was a bit concerned at some negative reviews by British people as to the attitude of the staff, infact i nearly cancelled ! Glad i didn't ! The staff are excellent, and very friendly - there is a wide choice of food ( we went all inclusive), and the hotel is very clean. We had a great sea front view from our room. The hotel is in a tradtional working town , so don't expect benidorm ( if you like that type of holiday , you may find the area too quite - but the town centre , basically one street is quite charming ). We went on a couple of excursions , jeep safari and watching sunset from a boat , both good. We didn't tell the hotel , it was my wifes birthday , but came back to the room to find a slice of cake with a candle :-) On the down side the pool wasn't open till 11am and neither was the sauna , due to the time of year"

"In the hope of getting a final bit of sunshine, we decided to book a last minute break at the Occidental Isla Cristina before the winter months set in. Having an early morning flight, we arrived way before our check in time and had expected to sit around the pool until our room was available. We were pleasantly surprised that this was not the case and we were able to go to our room straight away. First impressions of the hotel, was it was very clean and smelt very fresh. The room was a little tired in some areas but was of a good size with a large bathroom and balcony. Cleanliness is more important to us than a little out dated décor and we certainly had no issues in that area. This was our first ever "all inclusive" experience and the buffet stations offered plenty of variety and were constantly being topped up. It wasn't piping hot but then I think that applies to all buffet style restaurants internationally. The first part of our week, the hotel was quieter so the dining was a lot more relaxed, the second part welcomed new arrivals so it was a little more chaotic and because there were several buffet islands, it was difficult to know where the queue started or ended. Drinks offered were premium branded spirits and the local wines were very good. Also a good array of cocktails. Before booking the hotel and reading the reviews it was obvious that the clientele were predominately Spanish and French and it does not offer much in the way of the English entertainment and why should it?? In my personal opinion, there is an air of entitlement from the British who are shocked when their every need is not catered for. If you are not happy to experience a different culture in a different country, then don't go. Unlike other British reviews, we at no point felt discriminated against, staff were always exceptionally polite and helpful. The bar is a queuing system and when a Spanish gentlemen went ahead of my Husband, he was was politely informed that my husband was next. Yes, there is a language barrier but this wasn't a bad thing and we managed to survive a whole week in this lovely hotel."