Hotel Playa Calera

There is much good to say about this hotel; location is good, rooms are big and nice, good breakfast buffet restaurant and nice pool area on the top floor BUT you don't know if you get a room with a good location or the opposite. We have stayed here before in a room on 3rd floor on the front side of the hotel with nice sesviews, and at point i gave the hotel 5*. This time we got a room on 2nd floor with very limited sesviews through some palms (room 201) and very dark. Absolutely no sun on the terasse. We had booked a "larger room with partial sesviews". And you dont know up front which type of room you are getting and it is not possible to pay extra and be sure to get a good room. So you are betting your holiday on a lottery. Would i do that again. Never!

The hotel is located in a charming little town between breathtaking volcanic hills and the ocean. The rooms are very spacious and although a bit worn out, well designed and very clean. Our room was equipped with a little kitchen, a coffee maker, and a 40" TV. The breakfast buffet wasn't very impressive - just some basics typical for midrange hotels in Spain and Portugal - but the food was fresh and of decent quality. The rooftop pool is a nice place to spend time and chill out unless you want to swim - it's rather shallow (1,1 m). Still, a good place to cool down after sunbathing. The staff were not very friendly and outgoing but rather polite. Many of them did not speak English but I suppose they spoke German which in the area of Valle Gran Rey seems to be the mother tongue of most guests. All in all, we had a pleasant, relaxing stay there and I would recommend this hotel and it's surroundings to anyone looking for a picturesque place to unwind and relax.

Zero privacy on the room balconies. Rude and unhelpful staff. Noisy location. limited swimming pool times. Sterile atmosphere and architecture. The flimsy open-lattice panel between balconies enables people to see and hear neighbours on both side ( and they can see you ! ). The pool open times were 10:30 to 18:30 ( will change to 11 to 7 ) and were aggressively enforced by rude staff. My wife was told to at 18:10 to get out of the pool in 5 minutes, by an abrasive pool-guide . No chance of a relaxing morning by the pool then. A gang of noisy teenagers gathered to play football on the hotel plaza. After a few hours of loud noise we complained to reception, only to be told .. its a public space and nothing can be done ! ( we were given a different room some days later ). Breakfast was served until 10 am. One morning I started breakfast at 09:45. At 10:08 the waiter snatched my plate way. I objected but was told, in blunt terms, that the table had to be cleared immediately. The overall style of the hotel is modern mass concrete and polished marble , but it has zero ambience or personality. The hotel is over-priced. There is better value in other hotels. positives;- central location. Reception staff were friendly and helpful. They offered apologies. The room was big. The kitchenette was very good, as was the bathroom.