"Location:
Vibra Riviera is located just about two hundred yards away from the beach, on the main street in the Cala De Bou area of San Antonio Bay.
The hotel is a large five storey building, with an additional lower floor to the front where the swimming pools are located, set in nice grounds, alongside the small separate apartment blocks that form part of complex. Set between the two apartment blocks is a decent sized mini-golf course and the main driveway leading to the parking area and steps to leading to the main reception lobby. There is an additional ramp suitable for wheelchairs and those that find steps hard to manage.
On Lower ground floor is the large main bar which includes one of the buffet areas, adequate seating areas and a TV and two sofas in one corner. The bar area looks out onto the main patio area which has plenty of tables and chairs. You will also find two full size pub pool tables, an air hockey table, another TV area and the stage area for the evening entertainment.
Leading from the main patio area are the two very good sized swimming pools, surrounded by plenty of sun loungers and parasols. You will also find a table tennis table, the BBQ and the snack hut.
Leading out the rear of the bar are the toilets, a luggage store for those arriving before their room is ready or leaving after checkout time. Also in this part are the lifts and stairs.
On the upper ground floor is the main reception lobby, which has a few vending machines for snacks and water and a cash machine. There is a large comfy seating area to one side, the lifts and stairs to other floors and toilets. From the lobby you the doors to the main restaurant area which is very large with plenty of tables, including a smaller open air seating area.
Floors 1-4 are where all the hotels rooms are.
The entire complex and it's grounds are immaculately clean and well placed so that you do not suffer much noise during the nighttime, whilst still being just a short walk to shops, bars, restaurants, taxi rank, bus stops and the water taxi to the main town. The area has plenty of local small super markets, clothes shops, a tattoo parlour, hair braiding stall, tobacconist. The variety of restaurants is good as are the variety of bars.
You can stay in the immediate area and still enjoy late nights drinking and eating if you do not want to venture further towards the main town of San Antonio and as expected, the prices are cheaper than on the main boardwalk and in town.
The Hotel is very friendly and you are made to feel very welcome. During our stay the pool and bar areas were very relaxed and there was no rowdy behaviour or stupidity. The pools are kept watch on by a lifeguard and there are always members of the entertainment staff around.
During the evening after dinner, the patio / stage area start to fill up for the evening entertainment. It's all very jovial a just pleasent and you find yourself chatting and having a drink with other guests. The overall atmosphere is very good and we didn't see anyone being stupidly drunk or creating any hassle. The hotel do have security working as well which is probably why things were so well managed.
ROOMS
PROs: The rooms are of a great size, very clean and has a decent sized bathroom which includes shampoo, shower gel, hand wash, toilet roll and towels. Each room has air conditioning which keeps the room at a nice temperature. Beds were very comfortable and a decent size. Each room has a good sized balcony which included a decent wall mounted drying rack. Our balcony gave fantastic views over the bay, with the main town in the distance. It was superb for sitting watching the sun come up in the morning.
There is a turn down and laundry service daily but you have the option to hand your do not disturb sign on the door.
CONs: We did have one issue with the room, which we understand is the exact same in every room. In the bathroom next to the toilet was a large mesh vent. You could not see through this mesh, but unfortunately with the room next door being a mirror image of our room, their toilet also sits on the other side of a similar vent. This meant that whilst in the bathroom, you could clearly hear what your neighbours were doing, even in the rest of their room if they left the bathroom door open and obviously they could hear you as well. This wasn't a huge problem, but it was more awkward, especially when you bumped into each other as you came out of your room.
The only other slight issue was the water system. As with most hotels abroad, if you try to shower at peak time, the water can drastically alter from hot to cold or cool to scalding hot.
FOOD & DRINK
Main meals, breakfast, lunch & dinner are served in the main restaurant with the exception of lunch on certain days, when they have the BBQ and the buffet food is served in the main bar.
There is a great variety of food on offer and with the exception of a couple of lunch and dinner times, we always found something we liked. Obviously the food is cooked Spanish style and sometimes it may not be what your used to at home. Even so, food was plentiful and if you don't like something, you can simply go back up and try something else. It definitely gave me the opportunity to try many things I hadn't before.
The restaurant and it's staff were immaculately clean and well turned out. Although we didn't need to, I understood that if you had any specific dietary requirements because of certain health conditions, you could speak to the staff and make necessary arrangements.
The restaurant did have tea & coffee machines, soft drinks machines and a small selection of beer & wines. The Tea and coffee machines were only available during breakfast, only because at all other times you could get tea and coffee at the main bar.
Down by the pools was the snack bar. The food they served was limited but well done. Their chips/fries were superb and cooked to order, so they were always fresh and piping hot. They also prepared various things such as burgers (not my favourite food so can't really comment), pizza, sandwiches, ice creams and lollies.
THE BAR:
PROs: The bar was well stocked with just about every type of drink you could want and the measures were the usual generous measures you get in Spain. In addition to the alcohol and usual soft drinks, the bar also served great coffee, tea, slushie drinks, cocktails, ice creams and lollies.
CONs: The bar closed at 11pm, which for those of us who are past our prime and not wanting to go out elsewhere every night, was just a touch early. Having just an extra hour would have been better, something I know others we had been sitting and drinking with agreed on.
SWIMMING POOLS:
As with the rest of the complex, the two swimming pools were immaculately clean. Each and every morning the pool maintenance team spent at least a couple of hours cleaning the pools, poolside and the sun loungers so that on opening, everything was spotless and everything was back in its place, ready for us all to use.
The water depth of both pools is very good, with deeper ends up to 6ft 6in and shallower ends around 3ft. Although I never used the second pool, I believe it was slightly less deep in the deep end. In addition to the two main pools, there is also a very shallow purpose made toddler pool, with plenty of space for parents to sit on sun loungers and be immediately able to tend to their little ones if they are paddling on their own.
Both pools are very well situated to enable an entire day in the sun if you want, whilst still providing a decent area to get some shade if you needed.
ENTERTAINMENT:
During the daytime the hotel entertainment staff do a fantastic job providing activities for anyone who wants to get involved. These range from Yoga in the morning to get you all stretched and ready for your day followed shortly after by fun aqua fitness, funny mini games, mini tournaments such as mini-golf or darts, beer pong and others.
In the evening the hotel has its main entertainment programme, featuring a variety of acts throughout the week. As with any entertainment, not every act will appeal to everyone. We had a good time during them all and we were lucky enough to have a real good number of like minded guests that we got to know which added to our evenings. There were a few standout acts for us which included a trio of acrobats that not only were fantastic at their acrobatics, but brilliantly comedic on top. The three guys were immensely strong and parts of their act were pretty unbelievable to watch. Then we had a South African singer who was just excellent and had people up dancing away, particularly when she did the Tina Turner numbers. Another standout act was a male and female duo who performed a great selection of numbers and again got the crowd going well. They made the huge mistake of singing Wonder Wall right at the end of their set. That was it and we all wanted more. It was around 25 minutes and"OK one last song" many times later with everyone joining in, they finally finished.
STAFF:
I can start by saying that there wasn't a single member of staff that we had any issue whatsoever with. Each and every member of staff we came across were fantastic. From the moment we got there until the moment we left, we were welcomed and treated amazingly.
The room cleaning staff were superb, friendly and did a cracking job each day. On occasions we had left things on the sides that really should have gone in the safe, yet we never had any issue with anything being touched that shouldn't have. They simply came in, did their job and left everything else alone.
The restaurant staff were fantastic, friendly and always helpful. They were not intrusive whilst you ate and waited before politely asking if they could take your empty plates and cutlery. We were never made to feel as if we were being rushed. A stand out member of staff was a gentleman named Jose. He worked non stop, always made a point of saying hello and greeting us with a smile.
Reception Staff were brilliant. From first checking in, to the moment we headed home, the reception staff were always incredibly professional, very helpful and always greeted you with the same friendly attitude we had been welcomed with on day one.
The bar was where we obviously spent a great deal of time and we have nothing but great things to say about them all. We can't even say we had any favourites because they all gave the same high level of service and all treated us exceptionally. They worked hard and kept the bar immaculate whilst still looking pristine in their uniforms, always smiling and never allowing anyone wait long to be served even at its busiest. It wasn't long before they were already grabbing the glasses and the bottle ready to pour our drinks the moment we started walking towards the bar.
The snack bar was usually manned by the same young girl, who just like the bar staff, worked hard and was always friendly and polite. The food was always done well and could not fault her on anything.
The swimming pool was always carefully watched over by a lifeguard. The one we saw on all but two days of our stay was Maria. We have nothing but good words to say about her. As an ex lifeguard myself, I noticed the attention she paid to her job and how closely she kept eyes on everything. One thing that stood out was that she never once sat down from 10am in the morning til 6pm in the evening. Maria always had a lovely smile and was always friendly.
I've saved the best til last. I say that because these members of staff were the ones we had most interaction with and who really made a huge impression on us. Those staff were Eva and her entertainments team. They were all just fantastic, in particular Eva, Cheyanne & Lana. Those three in particular will be unforgettable for us. The energy they had was infectious. Never without a smile, funny and just really friendly. They worked hard getting people involved in the daytime activities and made things fun. They are definitely people we missed from the moment we left to head home.
Overall Hotel Vibra Riviera was a fantastic place and we really enjoyed our time there. It is definitely somewhere we will recommend and somewhere we want to return to. So I will finish by saying a huge Thank You to Hotel Vibra Riviera. We hope it won't be too long before we can get back."
