A smooth, hassle-free check in set the tone for a wonderful, all-too-short stay at this elegant boutique hotel. My room, a Par Superior, was stylishly designed with plenty of wood and stone, and felt very spacious, with an exceptional bathroom and fantastic views from the sizeable balcony over the golf course and on to a dramatic backdrop of the Sierra Blanca - a great sight to start the day off! The bed was extremely comfortable and the iPod docking station is a great feature for anyone who, like me, likes to bring their music with them when travelling.

The Sentidos Restaurant was superb - food was in context and of the highest quality, and the relaxed yet sophisticated ambience and unfailingly efficient, friendly service I experienced elsewhere at the hotel was in evidence yet again.

Although not much of a golfer, to me the course seemed beautiful and immaculately kept, and the pitch and putt area and putting green were both accessible and enjoyable! And the intimate rooftop pool area was the ideal spot to chill out, with fabulous views and a hint of the cool sea breeze. I understand a boutique spa will be opening adjacent to this area too.

Overall, an excellent hotel and a refreshing, welcome antidote to the ostentation and glitz normally associated with Marbella.

Just came back from a long weekend there, the rooms are very nice with molton brown products and separate sinks and shower unit , very impressed with the ipod's and apple sound docks in every room, so take your own nano and you will be laughing for music.

Service typically Spanish, somewhat slow but nonetheless v friendly and helpfull overall ( reception and bar staff/pool staff all good) ( plummy idiots in the pro shop.)
The golf course isnt bad either. The pool is small but deep and not too cold. The only real problem is that the hotel is a bit far away from where all the action is in downtown banus in the evening, cabs cost about 20 eur and take about 15 mins, having said that it was nice not to have to haul golf clubs all over Marbella area in order to get a round of golf!

A must stay place for a golfing weekend.

Fantastic boutique hotel located approximately 5 miles from Marbella. All hotel rooms overlook the 11th fairway of the golf course. We stayed in an eagle suite on floor 1.Room was immaculately presented with very comfortable super king size bed. Flat screen lcd tv, i pod music system, jaccuzi bath in window recess overlooking golf course.
Negative - most of the balconies on suites located on the 1st floor were partially or completely obscured by palm trees at the same level.This didnt seem to be the case with the superior rooms which were located on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
Swimming pool -Immaculate roof terrace marble pool surrounded by lemon trees. comfortable loungers and endless supply of luxury towels. We had the terrace area to ourselves for most of the week.
A car is very useful here to get to the quiet local beach(5 mins) or into marbella for restaurants. Hotel restaurant excellent but slightly lacking in atmosphere during our stay. (expensive).
Golf excellent and easy to get on. 35 euros per round. (guests)

My wife and I just returned from the most wonderful vacation in Marbella. I usually don't write about my experiences at hotels, as we travel quite frequently, but I thought this little hidden retreat was worth the time and effort...

We were looking for a quiet, secluded place to fully unwind from a very stressful six months of work and found it at "Sentidos at Rio Real". We were pleasantly surprised to find this out-of-the-way retreat so elegant. Having been to Marbella several times and only being able to choose from large, expensive and "brand" hotels, we were so pleased to find this little gem.

We were greeted by the most warm of staff, who all seemed to speak English, and they even gave us a personal tour of the grounds, facilities and finally to our room. I highly recommend that you ask for the room that we had - the "Birdie Suite." It was so much larger than most European hotel rooms, had a very warm and welcoming feel to it and had the most wonderful and LARGE balcony overlooking the golf course! My wife and I enjoyed having our coffees each morning watching the early golfers.

The afternoon terraces are beautiful for lunches and we thoroughly enjoyed having lunch outside with the gorgeous views overlooking the greens. But, what we really liked, was the evening atmosphere. It was elegant, romantic and as nice as any top-rated restaurant in Toronto! And, to top that off, the food was amazing! My wife must have ordered the black pasta with prawns at least four times during our stay, so she highly recommends that dish.

The golf course, which is part of the hotel, is very reasonably priced for guest staying at the hotel (great surprise!) and set up really well for amateur golfers like my wife and me who spend most of the time practicing at the putting green and driving range!

Overall, we had a great time and would recommend this hotel to everyone and anyone who loves traveling in southern Europe like we do. The only thing we missed was having an Spa on site. That would have made it perfect! We asked about this and were told that a spa is in the works.