SBH Hotel Royal Mónica

SBH Hotel Royal Mónica is lauded for its clean, spacious rooms with stunning sea views. Guests enjoy friendly staff, gluten-free options, and an excellent location near the beach and attractions. Good breakfast and pool bar.

Would not recommend this hotel if you are English, the food and entertainment was aimed more to the French and German. The entertainment for the 10 nights we spent there over Christmas was the staff doing bingo/quiz's. The hotel was fully booked and having the bare minimum entertainment for Christmas was very very disappointing. The food was barely edible. The room was not up to 3 star standard with facilities and cleanliness. We had to pay €10 deposit for the air on that barely worked. The shower curtain was stained and mouldy at the bottom. The path to the room and around the pool was not safe to walk in bare foot and there is sharp tiles in the pool which cut me the first time I went in resulting in me not using it again. The cutlery, plates and cups did not feel or smell clean resulting us to buying bottles from the shop most of the time. Definitely do not recommend, it is more of a 2 star than 3 in my opinion.

Arrived about 11.30 at night. Given the key to room 1019, ground floor. Directions given were not clear by the receptionist. All I needed after a long day of travelling. Managed to find it eventually. Room with 2 single beds pushed together. It's very clean, but very out of date. Towels were old and thin in patches. The sliding patio door was a nightmare to shut. The frame wasn't that secure. Agree with previous comments regarding food. Wasn't the hottest beans always cold. Only one toaster for all in the main restaurant which causes a que, and only one counter with a few different ice-creams which again, causes a que. Beach bar by the pool was so out of date and positioned quite far away for some. No beach here. Rocks and definitely not safe to swim in. The seafront, as they call it, has a public walkway with joggers from early in the morning til evening. I was a bit concerned about being on my own at night and so close to the walkway. It was ok. There is a lot of noise at night. People above me, next door and outside. Take earplugs. The TV had no English channels. I did not pay a deposit for a remote control for the air con. In this day and age, it's not heard of. The room definitely needs a mini fridge and kettle. There is no information pack at all in the room. There's not much info in reception. To get to the beaches, marina or bus station, you need to catch the number 30 bus at Faro Park 10 minutes from the Hotel. The small area for kids looks unsafe. The toddlers pool is next door to the main pool, so not ideal if you have children of different ages if you want to keep an eye on them. The new photos that have been updated on the website are not realistic. There are showers by the pool. In one block, only one shower. The other block had 3 showers but only one working. The paths around the whole site were not even and needed repairing. Not for those that have walking difficulties. Check out is 11 am. My transport was as 18.40 so I had to wait in the reception area. I asked to use the complimentary room to shower in after sitting by the pool all day, but was told they had none and use the shower by the pool which had no privacy. This could be a good hotel if money was put into it. Needs so much updating and basics in the rooms such as kettle and mini fridge. No deposit for a remote controller for air con and a tv with English channels. WiFi was basically non existent. Hotel is definitely no more than 3 stars. Food is ok, but waiting for some food to come out took ages. Food could be cold.