8th November 2016: After too many years with the annual Morgan summer holiday destination being Majorca, we thought we needed to try somewhere different. Now this holiday is always a chilled "fly and flop" style, we don't intend to do much except relax, eat, drink and have fun, especially spending more time with the kids. We decided to find a place where we had the space and facilities of a villa, as well as the close by amenities of a hotel, but where?
A by chance conversation with a member of our staff pointed me to the Don Carlos Hotel on the Costa Del Sol. Blimey, I thought, I have not been there for years! The villas looked great and it seemed to tick every box - booked.
The Journey
So off we went on a sunny day from Cardiff Airport, yes Cardiff, the airport has lost huge ground to Bristol but still offers most of the standard destinations and the flight times from Vueling Airlines were great.
This villa was not cheap so expectations where high and the pre travel communication was excellent. I had emailed passport details for a quick check in and ordered a shop of our essentials, gin for Lisa and I, crisps and Sprite for the boys. Vueling flight, excellent, transfer organised by us, excellent, check in.... Well, very underwhelming. The lady asked our name, asked for passports, I said we had given them, then asked for a credit card and finally money for the shopping. "Could we get in the room first?" I asked. Confused, she disappeared off, returning saying she will get someone now. 10 minutes later, Pablo, the excellent butler for the villas appeared and all was sorted. So much for speedy....
The Villa
Now we were shown to our two-bedroom villa, on first look around, excellent, on a longer look around, very very good, couldn't fault it. Two large bedrooms with ensuites, a large kitchen and lounge area, plus two terraces both overlooking the private pool for the villas, one out of the lounge and the other off the main bedroom on the roof, this is good!
The Good & Bad
Our overall stay was a good one but sadly not excellent or memorable but why?
Let's deal with the pluses first:
The whole villa area was lovely and quiet, most relaxing, except the kango next-door for 3 days, but this was not the hotel's fault.
The butlers for the villas, Maria and Pablo were very good also.
The gardens throughout the hotel were both large but beautifully kept as well; they ran down from the hotel down the beach and other pool area.
The breakfast selection (the villa came with hotel breakfast) was very good and plentiful.
The other reason the villas attracted us was the sun bed situation, in the villas there was no need to get up early to secure a bed, the butlers would get one for you and that worked perfectly.
Sadly for us the negatives outweighed these things:
The hotel failed to put in any of its sales documents that the villas pool and the pool by the sea where not heated, or rather the hotel had chosen not to heat them. As you can see, the pool was lovely, but Lisa did not use it once, simply too cold. It was rare to see people other than hardened young children use these pools, yet the sunbeds were full.
Service throughout the hotel was a tad poor. We ate twice in the bar area and never got the correct food order. The breakfast staff were excellent, if you could get their attention to get you a coffee. The pool attendants were also an interesting couple, one young and edgy and the other so slow and laid back he was almost horizontal!
This might all sound a bit harsh, and any one of these things would never even have been noticed, but in combination you could not help thinking that things should have been better. The hotel has huge potential and maybe a visit to the Far or Middle East might help them see what 5 star hotel service looks like, it was sadly like the old Spain.
What about the Costa Del Sol?
Well, it has not changed much since my last visit. The coastline is, in my opinion pretty ugly, spoilt by huge buildings built in the 70's, 80's and 90's, but inland still has the hidden gems of Mijas and Coin to enjoy. We did discover one lovely little great value excursion, a catamaran ferry service from Marbella to Puerto Banus and return. A lovely way to spend half an hour on the Cat, followed by a walk around the mega yachts and stunning cars at Puerto Banus. On to a beautiful lunch overlooking the sea for an hour or so and then back, a great way to spend your day.
So in summary, we all had a good time but will we be back? Sadly no. If the hotel could iron out these small issues it would be a winner. So much is right and clearly huge efforts go in, as I have said, the gardens were stunning, accommodation top notch, but until they can get the service levels up to others, I feel it will not attract people to repeat visit.
