our group consisted of 4 parents 4 children aged from 5-13 and 2 grandparents...we are a normal family who travel quite alot ..and enjoy certain qualities in a hotel..we booked this holiday village based on tripadvisor comments and advice from first choice rep and also the advert on the tv which shows the great facilites this hotel has to offer.... if you wish to take a hard 15 minute walk to the waterpark over the spiral bridge which is shown on the advert...this is note an easy walk especially if you have any mobility problems which in our case 1 person did and only managed the trip once due to the distance involved.

the hotel is not a four star it is really a three star with ok facitilites... its has 1 main pool which the children cannot play with a ball or any inflatables of any description ...even though the shop will sell them to you and not tell you you can't use them (2 small balls cost 10 euro's)

sunbeds are hard to come by unless you are early risers and wish to sit with your bed until after 9 am.

pool bar ..staff were unhelpful and overworked resulting in long queues for drinks and food during the day and very long queues during the nighttime entertainment ...which was fine if you children are 4 years old..however the in 2 action staff do work very hard all day long and for that i cannot fault them.

the piano bar however was a pleasant alternative..

buffet restaurant.... oh look more queues ... especially at dinner ..people seemed not to realise that they were queueing for the SAME food repeated twice instead of making two smaller queues and it being a little less irritating. the food was extremely average in a poorly lit restaurant.....with a small selection to choose from unless you like chips.

bedrooms were poorly laid out with a kitchen taking up valuable space that was not required making you feel very enclosed in the room ...NO tea and coffee in you room unless you get it from elsewhere... A/con seemed to blow out warm air which in 35 degree heat isn't very pleasant...they were not cleaned at all during our week stay just chucked the sheet back on the bed and if they could remember left you a couple of towels to share between 4.

IF THIS SOUNDS FUN FILL YOUR BOOTS OTHERWISE GO TO THE HOLIDAY VILLAGE IN SHARM EL SHEIK AND EXPERIENCE A HOLIDAY TO REMEMBER.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!!!!!!!

we've just returned from a 2 week holiday at this hotel. The hotel itself is amazing and has the potential to be the most fatastic hotel ever but we were disappointed with our stay there. The rooms are fantastic, plenty of room (although only 3 of us so may have struggled with more people!)in the bathroom 2 sinks, 2 showers, bath, bidet, lovely balcony that had the sun most of the day and evening. The major drawbacks that we found were the queueing we had to do all day every day, from breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks, ice creams - everything had massive queues and this isn't because the hotel does not have good facilities it is because there are not enough staff to serve people. Lunch is at the beach club which is about a 25 minute walk across the bridge (with a 3 year old in tow!) and to be honest we only went to lunch twice because we could not face the journey. Snacks by the pool excellent quality but take a long time to order and get them. Entertainment around the pool good and evening entertainment for kids excellent but absolutely dire for adults. The hotel really is in the middle of nowhere, £20 round trip in taxi to Benalmadena and £30 round trip to Fuengerola. The shop is very expensive but we found ourselves buying food from there to cook in the room rather than queueing to eat quite a few times. There is also no beach nearby. Finally, there are a real lack of toilets at the hotel and with a young child it is difficult to get them to give you a 10 minute warning of when they need to go! The toilets were also dirty and always flooded, and after the first day my husband refused to take our daughter into the mens toilets because they were so dirty.
Overall, our daughter was well entertained which was nice but after seeing the tv adverts and being recommended by the First Choice shop on how this was their Flagship holiday village we were disappointed.

Have just returned from a 2 week break at Holiday Village - 2 adults and 3 kids, age 7, 5 & 3. Did not originally book all-inclusive but when we arrived we signed up for 11 days all inclusive and paid the hotel directly for this. This actually worked out OK as while the all-in was very handy, we were glad to escape towards the end of our holiday and we went into Benalmadena centre/marina to eat on those evenings.

So good & bad points - firstly facilities were decent, room was slightly smaller than we expected but was clean and air conditioned - serviced each morning but they did seem to have a shortage of towels on a few days.
First Choice/Falcon reps were excellent, always available and genuinely made a good effort to provide help and info. Kids Clubs were well run, safe and our 3 enjoyed them immensely; they went to 1 session daily of the 4 available and it was a good option to reduce time in sun at the middle of the day. Swim school was also well run and our kids made huge progress.
Pool was ideal for small kids with graduated shallow end and 2 lifeguards who did take their job seriously - it did get very busy at times and could get a bit loud around it with 'activities' but that's part of the package.
The Beach Club across the bridge (10 mins walk) had even better facilities with waterslides and pirate ship for older kids and water fountains and play areas for the smallies. This area is open to the public (pay in) so is busy on weekends but there is usually ample room. The walk across the pedestrian bridge is quite steep and would cause difficulties for anyone with walking problems and/or tired children (buggy essential)

The Holiday Village Hotel had decent facilities with computer room, Large screen TV room, pool tables and video arcade for kids. Also a large air conditioned lounge area that you could relax in out of the heat.

However, there were issues that can detract from a holiday and, at least some are inexcusable.

Firstly, the food in the main buffet restaurant in the evenings would be described as very, very average (and some people called it a lot worse). A reliance on oily, fried food and it did get very tiresome after 10 days or so. That being said, the lunch served in the Beach Club Restaurant was better, with fresh salads being done well.

The snack bar near the pool was poor and suffered from the other problem of the hotel - Queues!!. According to the hotel staff, there have been cutbacks in staff no's which leads to queueing for drinks and snacks; on our last day it took 45 minutes to get a toasted sandwich. It wasn't always as bad as this but was a regular problem.
The hotel will probably say that it was peak season with 1,500+ guests (yes, that many!!) and what can they do......but their own staff say privately that they are doing it with less people.

There is a shop in the hotel but it is a complete rip off - everything is 2 to 3 times more expensive than available outside - the hotel is definitely taking advantage of the fact that there are no alternatives close by. Bus or taxi is required to get to the shops.

In summary, very, very good for kids... especially First Choice people. But the adults have to endure some inconveniences......but, ever the way!

Would of rated this hotel 5 stars if it had been closer to Benalmadena centre. 8 of us travelled in May 2006 and have to say that this is probably the best family holiday we have had. Stayed all inclusive and have to say that the place was great and the rooms were spotless and nicely decorated. The food was really good and drinks were good. The pools were absolutely fantastic and the staff were friendly and helpful. I would not really recommend this hotel to self catering guests because we found that the few things we purchased from the shop onsite were really expensive and also the fact that this hotel is not centrally located. Overall a brilliant holiday and would recommend this hotel to anyone.