Riu Costa del Sol

We returned on March 1st after a two week stay. Our first impression was not good. Tired and weary after a 6am flight, we found a large reception area full of people waiting to check in; there must have been 150 people (some with babies and children) there, and the queue continued outside the door. When we finally checked in we had difficulty finding our room; as the room number started with a 3, we assumed we’d be on the third floor. Wrong, we were in block 3. We’d been given a map, but it was woefully inadequate. We found our room after carting our luggage round the hotel for over thirty minutes. GOOD POINTS The location is lovely, right on the sea front. We didn’t have a sea view room, but a quick walk down past the Italian restaurant and there it was. The drinks were very good, and most of the food was ok. The grounds are well maintained, with lovely tropical plants and trees. The main swimming pool was enormous. The staff were polite and helpful, and we bonded with Marina in the Sports Bar; lovely girl. BAD POINTS Maintenance throughout the hotel needed a lot of attention. Our room had mould in the shower, dings in the paintwork and a huge crack in the bedroom, and on the wall of the Italian restaurant. The roofs of the walkways were filthy. The entertainment was appalling, mostly the entertainment staff miming and occasional second and third rate professionals. At 9am, there were big queues at the main restaurant, with too few two seater tables. The hotel is quite a long way from the main town. A long walk along the seafront, probably over a mile, then a queue for a lift to the town. We had a €8 taxi back. There’s nothing but hotels to the left of the hotel. The TV in our room. In English, we only had BBC news, and news from German and French channels in English. The hotel is only a fifteen minute taxi ride from the airport. The indoor pool doesn’t have an adult only time slot, which it should have. It also doesn’t have a bookshelf: I’d read all my four books after a week. Books left on a table near our room were quickly tidied up and secreted somewhere or disposed of. There was a marked lack of public toilets. From reception to the sea front there were only two, one near block 3 and one in reception. Another one near the main pool would have been good.

The overall experience of the hotel is good, the staff are very friendly and welcoming but some things let it down. For a fairly new hotel it’s looking very tired in places, damaged areas in the rooms and mould in the shower are just a few. Aspects of the layout are confusing: 1: Signage around the hotel is either very small or totally lacking in some places. 2: The main restaurant has the buffet strangely laid out at its far end. Even the designated disabled section requires a fairly long walk to the food. There’s often long queues at breakfast time too. 3: Public toilets are a poorly located and too small, especially near the massive entertainment area.

I travelled to the Riu Costa Del Sol in December 2025 with my partner and a family member. We first stayed at the hotel in 2021 and have returned every year since. The hotel is about 15 minutes transfer from Malaga airport and is situated on the seafront in a residential area. There is a supermarket across the road, with some souvenir shops and some bars along the seafront. Upon entering the lobby you are met by friendly staff who will issue you with your all inclusive wristband. The check in process was quick and easy, although the room was not ready we could store the luggage in the secure room and enjoy the hotels facilities straight away. There are various pool bars to sit at and enjoy the atmosphere and overcrowding is not a problem wherever you go in the hotel. The bar staff are very friendly and nothing is too much trouble for them, being a TUI Platinum hotel you get the branded drinks, smirnoff vodka, gordons gin, ballantines whisky etc, drinks were of good quality. There are self serve pumps situated near the pool bars to help yourself to beer, wine, sangria, soft drinks and juices which reduce queues for the bar. Our room was as requested on a high floor overlooking Pepe's snack bar, the room was spacious and spotlessly clean, had a bathroom with shower and twin sinks with the toilet opposite. The couch was converted into a double bed and there was lots of storage space for clothes including drawer space. The balcony was large and overlooked the pool. In the main part of the room, there was a large double bed, with a table and chair by the window. Again there were lots of space to store clothing. The use of the safe was free which is a bonus. There was a kettle in the room and free bottles of water so you could make a hot drink, there is also a small fridge in the room. The main buffet restaurant has plenty of variety for every meal and the quality of the food is excellent. Breakfast has a choice of cereals, cold meats and cheeses and a variety of hot food, the omelettes are delicious. Lunch and dinner has a choice of two soups, there are 4 stations for hot food consisting of pizza and pastas, vegetables and show cooking from the chef. There is a large salad bar in the middle of the buffet. Staff work hard to clear tables quickly to allow for the next diners. Sometimes we did not go for lunch and went to Pepe's snack bar for a change, there are a choice of sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, chicken wings and cakes to choose from. The hotel has 2 a la carte restaurants, Spanish and Italian that can be pre booked at reception. The Spanish restaurant is buffet style and serves Andalucian cuisine. La Dolce Vita Italian restaurant offers something different, your main course is served to you, choice of pork loin, cod or lasagne, drinks are served to you in carafes. In the evenings there is entertainment on in the hotel after dinner in the main bar, this alternates between staff shows and professional acts. The entertainment is very good but our only issue is that it finishes really early...about 10pm, not sure if this is due to the location of the hotel but would like to see the entertainment on for longer. It was very pleasant to sit outside on mild December nights next to the patio heaters, a lot better than the wet winter nights back home! After midnight the sports bar is the only open bar in the hotel which is open until 7am. Although the hotel is 24hr all inclusive it attracts mature couples, families and older Spanish people, therefore it is nice and peaceful to relax in without being bothered by lager louts. We noticed that the sports bar was open during the day this time for drinks and to watch the football which was not possible the previous year. All areas of the hotel are spotlessly clean, always see cleaners present in the hotel, moping floors, cleaning public areas. The communal toilets were nice and clean and smelt of bleach. All staff members from reception to restaurant to those on the bar were happy and pleasant. We will miss Carlos in the sports bar as he is retiring later this year, he speaks very little English but knows our faces and on the last night, he hugged us all, did not want us to leave. We did not want to leave either! There is a wide range of activities to do, La Colina train station is a 10 minute uphill walk from the hotel and the train takes you into the centre of Malaga for about 5 Euro return. The train going on the opposite platform takes you as far as Fuengirola for the same price. Over the years we have been on various excursions to Gibraltar, Seville, Rhonda and to the village of Mijas. In summary, the Riu Costa Del Sol is a well run establishment, is suitable for the less mobile and we will certainly be back the end of this year.

Reception when we arrived was good, room was ready so managed to go straight to it. 9th floor but our view was amazing. Room really comfortable, fridge with bottle of water ready for us to make a hot drink. We never had a problem with the restaurant could be a bit noisy at times. Food choice very good. We used the use main one but you do get to use the other restaurants if you want a italian and also spanish. Good selection of drinks on All inclusive. Entertainment was good. It takes about 20mins walk along seafront to the lift up fo the town saves walking up the steps and costs 50 cents each. We would definatly return here.

We arrived just when the weather improved. Nice room, lovely staff, great outside areas. Didn’t think much of the entertainment but we thought the food was great! Booked into the Spanish restaurant most nights, had lunch there too and it was very enjoyable. Hotels a good half hour march into the city centre but taxis always available. Nice hotel. Can recommend.