Occidental Isla Cristina

Instead of complaining about the lack of body lotion, the lack of daily delivery of drinking water to the room, slightly worn tiles in the bathroom, one sleepless night due to a concert in the city amphitheater and zero information from the reception on the day of arrival - a positive look. Wonderful, Andalusian atmosphere, a hotel full of Spanish multi-generational families with grandparents (touching), excellent service in the restaurant, interesting and tasty food - a lot of seafood. Very close to the wonderful ocean, wonderful spaces and colors of the sunsets. Evening noises from the pool side full of charm, a great flamenco show. If you want to immerse yourself in the Spanish language and culture / you will not count whether it is three or four stars. There were no cockroaches - and this is the most important advantage for me!!!

God price and a superhotel. Perfekt cleening ond vers good food. The pool is very good but the Music is to lord from the Music and the speakers

Great family orientated hotel with super comfortable beds and great food and entertainment. Good location, easy parking. Friendly staff.

I would like to give this hotel more stars as it is clean, good value, and has a great location. Had a high room facing the street and the park across the road which was very nice with lovely soft pillows. There are two pools and all the facilities you could want. The buffet food is generally good and although the pasta was not really hot there were plenty of other choices, so easy to avoid. I was surprised that the hotel seemed very full out of season and meal times were crowded. The big drawback is the loud "entertainment" . This occurred every night and days as well, and there was no getting away from it in the hotel. The music and shouting through loudspeakers varied from mildly annoying to ear shattering. Even the Higuerita bar, furthest from the loudspeakers, was still noisy. At times it sounded as if a drug induced rave was going on! I was glad to be in a room facing away from the pool. Being on all inclusive it was very annoying not to be able to enjoy a quiet drink anywhere in the hotel. The location is great. Step outside the hotel on the beach side and you have peace and quiet, a lovely beach with boardwalks and lots of wading birds at low tide. Further away through town and across the bridge giving entry to the "island" is a Paraje Natural (nature park) of extensive mudflats and saltpans with many birds such as flamingos, spoonbills, storks and waders. . Further still you come to the Via Verde (green way) - a lovely peaceful trail which goes for many miles through the countryside. This is only a few miles away and easily reached by taxi or bike. It is possible to hire bikes from the hotel for 15 euros per day and there is a great network of flat cycle paths both within the town and along the main road out of town. Be careful to check the bike however as the first one I took had a fault and had to be exchanged before I'd gone half a mile. I was a Saga customer and the rep Chris was very helpful. Booked a trip to Seville which is well worth it. Note that if you do not go on the guided tour you get a price reduction and can have six hours there on your own. The Plaza de Espana is a must see! All in all a good location and a nice hotel apart from the noise.

We only had one night in the hotel at the beginning of the week before they closed for the winter at the end of October. We very much enjoyed our stay. The room was sizeable, and we had a very nice view over the swimming pools, the beach and the little fishing boats. Breakfast was excellent and it was very good value at 10 Euros. We were the only people at breakfast for our 45 minutes there. We used the sauna – 5 Euros per person and that was a nice treat. All the staff that we met were very nice and very professional We were not too impressed with Isla Cristina. It was a bit alarming to see the numerous locations where people had set fire to the wooden walkways to the beach as well as the fences. Perhaps it was just because it was a Monday but most of the bars, cafes and restaurants were shut. In Portugal where we live, they would have been relatively busy. There were parking spaces in the street outside the hotel. A big plus was a Mercadona supermarket very close by. We stocked up there before our return trip.