SBH Costa Calma Palace

"hotel looks great from the outside. the rooms are ok bit outdated and quite dirty also the fridge doesn,t really cool anything. the grounds and beach are great. the reception staff although always busy are very helpful. The dining room staff are fantastic everyone of them. food was good and plenty of choice, the drinks a little expensive but ok. The spa omg what a disaster, stinking dirty, holes in the ceiling holes in the wall, steam room not working like every year i have been coming, tiles and grout dirty in steam room. tide mark of dirt in the jacuzzi and only a couple of jets working. wood loose in the sauna with nails poking up.no soap dispensers to shower anymore nor in changing room showers. also cockroaches in the shower rooms. i am appalled but this has been like this for years and no money has been spent on it to make it clean and healthy. every staff member i have ever spoken to is aware of it and yet nothing is done. please managemen do not write a generic reply defending this"

"You look at the hotel and it takes your breath away. You look closer and the breath comes back. Outdated to say the least. Plaster falling off walls, cracks in floors, the you go to your room, 1970’s are asking for their room back. Cleanish but the maintenance is terrible. The hotels location is right on the beach but if you leave the hotel to go exploring, good luck. Apart from a few restaurants and 2 spars, that’s pretty much it. Food 2* at most. Evening meals are a unorganised mess. Guests sitting at wrong tables and times are confusing. Pool area ok, a little unkept and dirty. Pool bar limited, staff rude. Beach is lovely. Soft sand and clean. Please be aware you will be charged for hotel loungers. Definitely for the Germans as this was 80% of their guests. Romantic hotel for the aged Evening entertainment boring I would say this hotel is perfect for 60+ couples who just want a quiet holiday with a low noise level. Enjoy"

"I’m a British female solo traveller. The first thing I will stress is please listen and understand what the check in employee tells you, if you don’t understand, tell him. There are rules and if you don’t follow them then tough. Ok, so basically, they speak Spanish and very broken English. You’ll be ok if you’re German, Dutch Spanish or polish! On my arrival, there wasn’t any English speaking staff so I had to try to make out what he was saying. They chuck a ribbon all inclusive band on your wrist and tighten it, make sure you decide how tight you want it! Gave me a card with my room number and some other numbers and sent me on my way. Let me explain what these numbers on your card mean. You have dinner reserved for you. They decide when you go for dinner. There are 2 sittings, if it says 1 in the top left corner, obvs that’s foray sitting. 6-7.30 Second is 8-9.30. The next number is your table number that you have to find. Now, I was given a table, when I found it, someone was already sitting there. They then gave me another table and the same happened again. The waiter was so rude, he made me feel like it was my fault that the whole experience was unorganised. On the forth time, they gave me a small table right at the top end of the restaurant! Second night, they switched the tables, so where my table was, was not the same number. Once located, I sat and sorted my dinner. I then was approached by another guest who told me it was his table. Basically, because of the rigmarole, I had gone into the second sitting. Ok, now here’s the unbelievable outcome. The waiter made such a drama, I felt so embarrassed as this was a full restaurant, he blamed me for coming in too late and just stood there. Not to cause anymore drama, I stood up and left, half eaten food, no ‘I’ll move you or suggesting to resit the other guest?? This was DAY 2! The worst thing is, I’m still here. I have 5 more days but after this experience, I just want to go home. The staff are so rude apart from the cleaners, who are lovely. Pool bar wouldn’t serve the customers unless they stood in a certain area. Advice, don’t go all inclusive, it’s really not worth it. They wouldn’t even make me an iced coffee, you have to pay for it at another area of the pool. I asked a staff member about the sunbeds on the beach. He told me they were part of the hotel so can be used. After I settled , I was approached by a man who charged me 18 euros for using the bed. This was not explained on arrival or by the staff member. I think this is enough for 2 days. I’m hoping nothing else will or could happen for the rest of my duration here. Would I recommend this… no. Would I come again…HELL NO!"