My husband and I stayed at the Riu Monica for a week in April and from the moment we arrived we knew we were going to have a lovely relaxing holiday. We arrived at the hotel at 10.15 pm greeted by friendly reception staff and given a glass of bubbly. We were then told the dining room had been kept open for us and were very welcome to enjoy a meal..this was much appreciated and was absolutely first class.
We have previously stayed in many gold, platinum and a la carte hotels but this was the first time we had been given a hot meal on a night arrival. A lovely touch.d
The hotel from our bedroom which was on the second floor and had lovely sea views (we loved waking to the soun of the waves ) to the public rooms, restaurant ,indoor pool, terraces and gardens were spotlessly clean yet the only time we saw a cleaner was on leaving our room for breakfast..very unobtrusive and very well maintained.
We really liked the layout of the small sunbathing terraces of which there were many, the gardens were beautiful with ornamental ponds and water features.There was plenty of room for everyone plenty of umbrellas and comfy pads for the sunloungers..we didn't even get our beach towels wet as for a fully refundable 10 euros per towel pool towels at the hotel could be renewed on a daily basis.

Food was absolutely brilliant I must admit after reading some reviews prior to going we had mixed feelings and all I can say to the person who commented about the lack of fresh fruit..they must have been wearing blinkers as the fresh fruit table had an abundance of all fruits from the basic apples oranges and bananas to figs, fresh plums, apricots, kiwi, grapesand mangoes.

The entertainment wasgood but we preferred the early sitting so that we could head up to the Balcon for a leisurely walk to burn a few calories after the fantasic evening meal. Plenty of food choices an abundance of salads, very varied hot counter with a seperate veggie area and the dessert counter was superb! I particularly enjoyed the fantastic choice of cheeses, biscuits and fruit.
Nerja was so pretty but I must agree with previous comments the graffitti in certain areas did spoil the overall look of Nerja..
Frigiliana is gorgeous and a 15 min bus ride away for just 93 cents ..bargain!!
We will def go back to the Monica and to Nerja soon we loved it!!

We popped into the Balcon de Europa and although in a prime location the Monica was lighter, cleaner more airy and didn't smell of food...the dining room in the Balcon is downstairs very small and stuffy.

So it's the Monica for us for every future holiday to Nerja. We were really lucky as we had fantastic weather 26 every day a perfect blend for a perfect holiday and our frst but not last visit to Neja

Stayed a week here April 2008. Room facilities all v good - refurbished @ 2 years ago - everything in room (and hotel), spotless. Service v good - Cava on arrival, bags taken to room etc. Food not really 4* quality, but location and facilities and staff are. Breakfast better than dinner. Dinner 2 sittings, buffet style, salads, cheese selection etc better than hot food. Always something to choose from but not v exciting, if possible I'd recommend B&B, or just eat out some evenings - lots of choice in Nerja.
Sunbeds etc all free and plenty of them, outside pool cold, but lovely and managed to brave it. Weather fantastic.

Stayed at the RIU Monica from 27.03 until 30.03 on a half board basis booked via Thomson. Decent enough service by Thomson, comfortable flights and efficient transfer to and from hotel. The coach journey from Malaga to the hotel took about 1hr 10m with a drop off at the RIU sister hotel in nearby Torrox.

The hotel is right on the sea front, with a small beach (plenty of sunbeds available for hire 4 euros) with some beach front cafes and a nice choice of reasturants around too. There are also a couple of English Pubs nearby, also plenty of supermarkets. Everyone seemed very friendly in the bars, cafes, shops etc.

First impressions of the Monica were good, very warm welcome from reception and a glass of bubbly. Room was of a fair size, was a decent balcony and a view of the sea. The bathroom was a little disappointing but that's being a bit picky.

The hotel is absolutely spotless, with an army of cleaners. The food is buffet style with plenty of choice for both breakfast and evening meal. I thought the salads were first class, main courses for dinner were a little boring and sometimes not over hot though.

The Hotel Manager and Restaurant Manager both took the time to come and introduce themselves, which was a nice touch.

The bar staff were very friendly, Pepe is a bit of a legend - Cheers and please are his favourite words. There was entertainment every night, well OK their were acts on stage (say no more).

Small gym area and indoor pool were fine.

Overall I was impressed with the Monica, nice people, very clean, food isn't bad (bed and Brek might be a better option) and perfect if like you lazing on the beach.

Nerja itself seemed OK, although there is a lot of graffiti everywhere, though that seems to be a country wide problem rather than just this resorts.

Would I go back to RIU Monica yes, would I recommend it yes, it's decent value for money. I'd agree its worth its 4* rating for a Spanish hotel.

We stayed at the Monica for three nights in the run up to the Easter Weekend before moving on to Puerto Banus.

Good Points
Hotel / room very clean and tidy.
Efficent check in
Lots of Lifts - but only small
BBC 1 & ITV 1 on the Tv
Staff very efficent

Bad points
Parking - it was a nightmare - 30 plus minutes to get a space on the three days we were there.
Overnight noise / smell of food - we had a room on the 4th floor with pool and seaview - however it was above the restraunt and the service roadway was nearby - they carry out collection of the glass bottles for recycling at 2.30am - even with the balcony door closed you could still hear it. You could also smell the food that was being cooked at mealtimes, The smell appeared to be coming through the Air Conditioning!

Choice of food was ok - but very bland and not what I would expect from a 4* hotel - certainly not as good as two other Riu hotels I have stayed in on Costa Del Sol. We ate out one of the three nights as the food smelt so disgusting it was making us feel sick.

Nerja itself was lovely, but three days was long enougth, as the weather was a bit changeable, so little sunbathing.