We travelled as a couple to Torremolinos in late February and were generally impressed by this hotel. From the price we had paid, our expectations weren't excessively high and previous reviews made us cautious but we decided to go for it anyway and it paid off.

By far the best feature of this hotel is its location - stepping out of the front door leaves you 200m from a beach lift (tucked behind the restaurant and clothes shop) which is 50c per person, per trip, although the walk down the road is a good walk too and there are steps down to the beach further in town. There is also a pharmacy right outside the front entrance - be sure to ask the pharmacist if you can't find it as some of the stock is kept behind the counter due to space!

Leaving from the back door using your room key brings you out directly onto the pedestrianised Main Street. We went just outside of the tourist season but there were still several shops and bars open. Unfortunately, due to the time of year, don't expect to have a great deal of entertainment outside of the hotel in the evenings as most of these shops and bars close around 8pm. However, this isn't a fault of the hotel so don't let it put you off staying here.

In regards to evening entertainment at the hotel, there isn't very much of it. During the week, there is a games room with pool, table football, table tennis and air hockey, but these will cost you between 50c and €1 per game so be sure to bring plenty of change! If you run out, the reception is able to change notes into coins for you. There are also 2 massage chairs in the reception and if there is a game of football on tv, you can be sure that the TVs in reception and the bar will be switched to it! Whilst we were there, a pianist came in during the weekend and played Spanish music which had a large group of people dancing in the main foyer.

The hotel is also 5 minutes walk from the train station. When you arrive from the airport, follow the train signs from the baggage collection area - you'll need to walk outside and cross the road to get to the entrance of the station. Ticket machines are located just by the door into the station and, whilst their default language is Spanish, pressing the flag symbol n the bottom left before using them will switch them to English for you. Simply select the number of tickets you want, choose your destination and pay! The machines will accept both cash and coins. Once you've passed through the gates, head to the right and go down the stairs with the sign that says "Fuengirola" and then wait for a train. The times can be found on the Malaga airport website but are usually every 30 minutes. Either by luck or some divine power, we never had to wait for a train as there was always one waiting for us!

When you're on the train, stand near to a screen so you can see which station you're at. Both the screen and the announcement are in English so it should be fairly easy to know when you're at Torremolinos. Once you've arrived, head up the stairs, turn left when you're outside and you'll see the hotel on the other side of the square.

Food at the hotel is an interesting experience - it's an all-you-can-eat buffet (regardless of whether it is breakfast or dinner) with several counters, some with heat lamps to keep food warm. There is a very large selection of food available including salads, pastas, soups, pizzas, pancakes, full English breakfasts, continental breakfasts, hams, cheeses etc. We found the desserts to be delicious, but they are very sugary. Yogurts, ice creams and pancakes are also available.

The room itself was definitely better than what some previous reviews had made them out to be. For a couple, they were spacious and kept very clean, with a maid service every day after 9am. Previous reviews had suggested that they were outdated but the hotel went through a renovation only a few years ago so ignore those comments. Wooden floors, big wardrobes, marble and tiled bathrooms and big armchairs make them very comfortable. We would describe them as being modern with a Spanish feel to them, such as orange flowery curtains and bed linen. The beds are quite hard which didn't bother us but we can see that those who are used to soft beds might not get an easy night's sleep! Pillows are the width of the bed and only about a foot wide and are very shallow, so if you do need head support whilst sleeping, we recommend asking at reception for extra pillows! Again, this is a Spanish hotel with a lot of Spanish guests so it is to be expected that the guests sleep on Spanish pillows. As with most hotels in warm countries, the bed linen is made up of sheets and warm blankets.

In terms of the services that the hotel offers, there are several available at an additional cost. A plastic bag is provided in the wardrobe for anyone who needs to use the laundry service and a full price list is also provided so you will be fully aware of how much you're paying for - in our opinion, this was fairly expensive but the prices differ depending on the service and type of garment you want to launder. A large, electronic safe is located in the wardrobe too - this is chargedd at 3€ a day and includes insurance up to £1500 against forced entry into the safe so, whilst a safe is usually free with most hotels, we didn't think the price was extortionate for what we were getting.

On the other hand, the cost of the wifi is. This is charged at varying amounts based on how long you want access for, with bulk buying being cheaper. It was my birthday whilst we were away so I used it to video call my parents back in the UK. This cost me €9 for 24 hours from the moment you pay at the reception, so don't make the mistake of buying it in the evening for the following day as you'll be paying for wifi whilst you sleep! Wifi is available throughout the hotel but, for those who haven't brought a wifi-enabled device with them, a single computer behind privacy glass is found in the reception at a cost of 1€ for 10 minutes.

There is also an underground car park, the entrance to which is located by turning right when you leave the front entrance. This is quite expensive at 9€ a day but only those with a registered room key have access to the car park so you're vehicle will be fairly secure whilst it's down there.

There are 4 lifts that can be used although they are very slow and there is almost always a small queue of people waiting to use them. We even had a race on one day from floor 3 to the ground floor and using the stairs was quicker!

Finally, the indoor pool at the top of the building. Because this is located on the very top floor, you'll have to walk up the stairs to reach it. This could cause problems due to disabled access etc so you'll need to take that into consideration. The pool is inside a large glass solarium that has views of the sun throughout the day, making it very warm. Whilst we were there, the outside temperature was around 18c but inside the solarium it was around 30c! This could be quite uncomfortable during the summer months, but during winter it is a great addition to the hotel. The pool is around 25m long so can be used for swimming lengths but it is only 1.8m deep so diving isn't an option. A word of caution is that there were no lifeguards by the pool, although flotation rings are provided should it be necessary. Linked to the pool is a small gym and running around the outside of the solarium, on the roof of the hotel itself, is a large balcony with excellent views of the town and sea. Sun loungers are provided, both inside and out, but there aren't many of them to go around. The only downside to the pool is that there isn't a bar upstairs, so you'll be making several trips a day up and down the 18 flights of stairs to the bar!

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. As with most hotels, the holiday is what you make it out to be and with prices as low as this hotel offers, it really is a bargain. If you're the type of person who likes to have their hotel cater to their every need, we wouldn't recommend this hotel to you. If, however, you enjoy exploring the sights and sounds of the area and you don't mind doing a little bit of work to have a good time, then this hotel is definitely for you!