Brasilia, Chipiona > Reviews > Summer in Chipiona

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Good
Quality of Rooms	Good
Cleanliness	Excellent
Quality of Facilities	Good
Family Friendly	Excellent

Advantages:	Near the Beach, Family run .
Disadvantages:	Quite small, limited breakfast

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I recently went to Chipiona in August 2006. We stayed at the Hotel Brasilia which is located about 3-5 minute walk away from the long, sandy stretch of beach. We arrived at the hotel in a taxi and as soon as we got to the reception straight away we knew it would be completely different to any other spanish holiday we have been on. The receptionist started speaking spanish to us and thankfully my sister, who is studying spanish managed to work out what she was saying. We were directed to our room and had time to have a look round. The room is spacious, had a tele, a lovely marble bathroom, a big wardrobe and a desk. Another major thing we were happy about was the fact that the room had air-conditioning, which we kept on for the whole of the day. However we found out that room didn't actually have a safe for me to put my wallet, ipod and jewellery etc. We went to the reception straightaway and found out that they have security boxes which you can use for 3 euros per day. When we went to dinner which is between 8-10pm we found that all the staff in the hotel were spanish and most of the guests were spanish. The evening meal was either fish, chicken, prok stew, salads, pasta, rice, cold meats etc. The desert was a choice of ice cream or melon. All the food is buffet style apart from the fish which the chef cooks for you personally if you ask him. You order your drinks when they come to your table and you can't pay for them till the end of the holiday. So at the end of the holiday you have a bill for evening drinks, drinks round the pool, security box etc. After your meal you are then offered a free drink, which surprisingly is offered to you every night.
The Breakfast is between 9-10.30am and includes fruits, cold meats, cheese, cereals, beans, sausages, bacon, croissants, cakes and fruit juices. The breakfast stays the same every morning but it sets you up for the rest of the day. The waiters are polite and friendly and get to know what foods you like very quickly.
The pool is quite small compared to others that i've been in. Throughout the pool i could stand up, so for children they can easily stand up in the shallow end. The pool never gets busy, at max it has about 10 people in. There is a limited number of sunbeds round the pool and it's best to get there early but not too early. If you put a towel down by 10am then you should be fine. A word of advice is don't buy drinks from the bar at the hotel. I had a Jack Daniels and Coke and it cost 9 euros, on the other hand they do pour about half a bottle of JD in for you.
Throughout the day the staff are always friendly to you and the receptionist always offer you advice on where to visit on your days there.
The rooms are cleaned every day. The hotel is two storeys high and is rather quiet. There is no screaming babies. It is mostly the older generation staying there with no teenagers. The Hotel is near to the beach and only a small stroll away from the local bars and restaurants. It get's upto 40 degrees in the mid summer so i would recommend staying in the pool to cool down.
Local attractions include a boat trip to Cadiz, a bus tour to Seville and a car journey to Jerez. For teenagers they can go on the interent in the lounge which costs 2 euros for half hour. There is no pool table or ping pong at the hotel. It is a family run hotel where they treat everyone with special care. Through the hotel we managed to rent a car and you can park in the hotel garage for 3 euros a day.

Overall i really enjoyed this hotel, for a real spanish taste of Costa de la luz. The food in the area is all spanish, no egg and chips but tapas, squid, fish and crema catalana. I would defnitely go back again but maybe in a cooler time.