El Arenal Beach

I just got back from spending two nights at The Sea Hotel. Overall, I enjoyed my stay. Pros: room had large terrace in part facing the beach, great location with a "boardwalk" along the beach with shops and restaurants, parking is easy on the street behind the hotel, I enjoyed lounging at the pool, NO KIDS!! Cons: room itself quite small, the water out of the tap and shower is salt water (or brackish) which is weird I thought, the fridge in my room didn't work, there's a safe in the room but you have to pay $2 a day to use it, it was quite noisy and almost impossible to sleep in (lots of banging noises, footsteps from above and in the hallways, etc.), beach chairs have to be reserved (and cost 15 euros a day) and "sold out" before I even arrived (I emailed the hotel days in advance to make a reservation and no one ever responded), "reserving" a chair at the pool is not supposed to be allowed but lots of people dump their stuff on a chair and leave for hours and no one says a word, I ordered a drink from the bar which cost like 12 euros and it had ZERO alcohol in it (it was a mai tai that was basically just pineapple juice and ice). I would stay at The Sea Hotel again (the terrace alone was worth it) but if they did some work on some of the amenities (and policies) it would have been a much more enjoyable stay.

The best thing about this hotel is the view and it is gorgeous! Property is very clean and well kept. I did like that it was adults only. Plenty of chairs and umbrellas to lay out. This property is very isolated, there is not a beach nearby or restaurants within walking distance we felt mislead by this. We do not do all inclusive because we thought there were restaurants close by we could walk to and we don’t like to be locked in, not the case. With that being said, the breakfast and dinner buffets were good. Lots of choices. Would have been nice to have a menu to choose from as we don’t like heavy meals for dinner. Lunch is ala carte, lots of choices and food was really good. One day the special was paella and sangria, it was one of my favorites! Very flavorful. The rooms are HOT, even with the blackout curtain closed. No ventilation in bathroom so it adds to heat in the room. If you are looking for a place to stay and relax, this is the perfect property.

Lovely relaxing stay. Room was very comfortable and clean, with everything done to a very high end property. It was a bit windy and overcast when we were there (and the pool was a touch on the cold side), so we used it mainly as a base. We had one nice afternoon by the pool though, and ate in the restaurant one evening and the food was excellent. All in all, a great stay.