Hotel Bajondillo, Torremolinos, Costa del Sol > Reviews > Argggh its on my foot!!

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Average
Quality of Rooms	Average
Standard of Service	Good
Quality of Facilities	Good

Advantages:	Good location, great views of the sea, reasonably priced
Disadvantages:	Tiny kitchens, ants in the bathroom

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

My girlfriend and I have just returned from a week's stay at the Bajondillo (pronounced bak-con-de-lo) booked through Thomas Cook.

The hotel was sold to us as a self catering property although on arrival you could tell that was using a bit of poetic license. Basically the kitchen (still resent calling it that) was rammed into the front portion of the room just by the door, probably about 3 or 4 foot wide. It consisted of a hob, a sink and a tiny fridge in which you could fit a couple of medium sized water bottles and precious little else. Added to this farcically there was nowhere to prepare food, without taking it to the table just by the balcony door. Now it wasn't as if we planned to eat in that frequently, although we did want it as an option, especially if we were running low on money but there was just no way you could cook anything. One of our fellow guests described it as a former hotel room with a kitchen crammed in and that is the perfect way to imagine it.

The rest of the room had two single beds which could be manoeuvred to make a double, one large wardrobe, a number of draws to store clothes, a telephone, a satellite TV with Sky News, BBC World and CNN as the English language stations. The bathroom had a bath, shower, sink and bidet, which were clean but did look quite old.

Moving onto my other major gripe which was the presence of ants in the bathroom. The last thing you want when you are walking barefoot into the bathroom is the sight of an ant deciding to take a stroll on your foot. Although I wouldn't have said there was infestation, there still was quite a few of them.

Apart from the two main problems I have described there wasn't too much else to complain about. The air conditioning was pretty complicated (although we might just be thick!) but the rest of the review is going to be positive.

I have to say the hotel is in a wonderful location for the beach, as it's literally on your front door. My only note of caution would be for those who wish to go into the centre of Torremolinos which is directly behind the hotel and involves quite a bit of walking up a number of steps (200 I believe) although they are gradual and winding with several little shops on the sides it can be tiring. If this is a problem however you can get the lift to the centre for 50 cents which is great if you don't fancy the walk.

The rooms did have an excellent sea view and this is the case for every single room and it was a pleasure to watch the world go by from the balcony.

There was a large pool attended by a lifeguard for the daytime and the surrounding area was nicely appointed (palm trees, nicely tended gardens and soft grass) with lots of space to lie back and soak up the sun.

Entertainment was provided, with table tennis and bowls being some of the daytime events and in the evening there was flamenco dancing which probably isn't to everyone's taste!

The hotel has two restaurants which provided a range of food at reasonable prices and although we didn't eat there we heard plenty of people saying it was very nice. There was also a bar which was decorated in traditional Spanish décor although the resident piano player did get a bit tiresome after an hour or so!

The staff were also very friendly and all spoke excellent English and did their best to offer advice when it was requested.

Other features of the hotel included the presence of an on site doctor, a hairdresser and masseur.

Overall I would give the hotel 6 out of 10. There is definite room for improvement with regards to the kitchens and the ant thing might was quite off putting but it has some real positive points.