Garden Playanatural Hotel & Spa

We booked this holiday with Jet2 without reading the Trip Advisor Reviews. I’m very glad we did. Having gone onto Trip Advisor before arriving I became worried, in particular about the food and drink, so I’m going to give a detailed review that focuses on this area because I expect other holidaymakers, like myself, risk being put off by what we consider ( now having been) to be some very strange perspectives. But first the hotel itself. It’s an adult only hotel and spa (from age 16), our very first adult only hotel (and our first holiday without the kids in 20 years!). It is quiet, immaculately clean (I definitely agree with other review about that), the room (third floor) was large, with a lovely bathroom and a shower with good water pressure. The AC worked well (which coming from a brutal UK heat wave was a blessing) and we had a nice view over the two swimming pools. It was cleaned daily. Your room key is a bracelet which is also your All Inclusive tag, which means there is no arguing over who has the room key, forgetting your room key, losing it, or getting locked out. It’s a lovely touch which just removes one tiny holiday stress. The pool area was lovely – again very clean, safe and attractive. The top pool is where the entertainment is: water polo, aqua aerobics, shuffleboard, darts, corn-hole – that sort of thing. It also has the bar, where you can get very nice looking food from a menu (30% off for All Inclusive) and drinks, including teas and coffees. The All Inclusive drinks selection is excellent. The beer is San Miguel, or Alhambra, there are a few cocktails, which do come from a dispenser but which were nevertheless very nice - I particularly enjoyed the Pina Colada. But you can also get Cava on the All Inclusive – I definitely drank my money’s worth once I worked that out! To my surprise the All Inclusive drinks included what we would consider top shelf drinks – Baileys, Cointreau, Tio Pepe, Tequila, Gordons gin and many more. A surprisingly lengthy list – make sure you check out the drinks menu when you get there so you don't miss out on a favourite. In terms of wine you get house red (perfectly drinkable, even if chilled), house white (a bit sherry-ish for my taste, but perfectly good when mixed with soda to make a spritzer) and house rose (perfectly drinkable). Otherwise there is an excellent wine-list with 30% off for All Inclusive members. We had four fantastic bottles of Rioja in the evenings which were well worth the money. The second pool (down a short staircase) is a larger pool, with a large jacuzzi. This pool is for relaxing. There is no music playing, you are never harassed to join in with ‘organised fun’, you can just read your book, sunbathe, hop into the pool for a swim, relocate to the jacuzzi and back to the sunbed. There is a lovely view over the marina, towards the beach. This is where we spent more of our time, very much enjoying not being splashed, or harangued to play with anyone smaller than us! There are also the ‘bali beds’ which you can see on the hotel photographs. These can be hired for the day from the hotel reception for thirty euros, which also includes a bottle of cava and bowl of fruit. We did this on our last day and it was well worth it. We were always able to get good sunbeds by the pool. There was never anyone fighting over them, and the area never felt overcrowded. We did use the spa – my husband has a shoulder injury and had ‘slept funny’ so he had a massage (and so did I – I’m not one to miss out). The spa itself is very nice – a smallish indoor pool (free to use between 1pm and 4pm) and some nice looking ‘thermal spa’ pools (which you do pay to use). The massages were lovely. It’s recommended to book in advance but my husband walked in and got a massage on the spot. Prices were reasonable – thirty-six euros for a half-hour back massage. The staff all over the hotel were lovely. Friendly, professional, helpful and not at all ‘in your face’. Tip boxes were laid out, so you can tip subtly (which is what we generally prefer). All spoke Spanish (obviously), but most had plenty of English and we at least attempted our terrible Spanish, so a good laugh was had by all! Evening entertainment was generally in Spanish (although not always), we particularly enjoyed one night of a trio of men singing and dancing to popular songs and the Saturday Flamenco night which was excellent (and saved us a pricey excursion)! There was also, of course the World Cup, which was shown in the bar and we caught both the Spain match (absolute scenes) and the England match (sigh). Evening entertainment generally started about ten pm, and finished by midnight latest. I do recommend ear plugs if you're the type to go early to bed. This is not the place to go if you want to be partying hard though. There is a pool table and table football, but otherwise, bring yourself a pack of cards, drink some nice drinks and continue the theme of relaxing. In terms of other things to do - we spent one morning at the beach (a ten-to-fifteen minute easy enough walk down a cycle path and under an underpass, then a ferry across the estuary, then another fun / easy walk along wooden boards with lovely views to discover the Atlantic). Be warned, there is nothing here: no sunbeds, sunshades, toilets, or drinks. It’s just a place to lie on the clean, empty expanse of sand, swim in the Atlantic and chill out. We loved it, but then (as I’ve mentioned) we like the quiet! There is a nudist beach a little further along – easily avoidable, just turn left. Now to the food. As I said, I arrived worried about what I would face, just in time for lunch. Where I had an addictive gazpacho soup (which I ate every meal possible for the rest of the week) and a very nice seafood paella. This is where we started questioning the reviews complaining about the food. I have a dairy allergy, so I have to be careful about what I eat, and every item on the buffet had a label indicating allergens. It was obvious what the ‘milk’ label was, so I was able to avoid my allergen easily. If I’m being picky, there were occasionally items that appeared to have cheese on top, which didn’t have the ‘milk’ allergen indicated (such as the tomatoes at breakfast), but luckily for me it’s generally easy to tell when something is cheese topped and avoid it. Staff were also good at answering me when I asked if something had meat or cheese in (I just learned the phrases in Spanish – worth doing before you go if you have an allergy so you can check). So let me tell you what the options were for every meal. Breakfast: a continental breakfast that had literally everything I think any continental breakfast connoisseur could want, from croissants and chocolate donuts, to pates, meats, cheeses, breads, chutneys, jams, and boiled eggs. There were four kinds of yoghurt (plus Alpro soya – much appreciated by me) and honey from a real honeycomb, jams, fruits and sauces. There were churros with chocolate sauce, fried milk things and pancakes. There was also a full English – four kinds of sausages and meats, baked beans, potatoes, mushroom, fried eggs, scrambled eggs and omelettes. I’m probably forgetting stuff. Lunch and dinner: a lovely salad bar, more of a ‘make your own’ situation than pre-made salads – with all the ingredients laid out and a whole bar of dressings. For me that is much better than pre-made as I can avoid my allergen and still have a lovely salad. There was also a whole section of ‘starters’ – small portions of pre-made taster-size salads, bruschettas etc. Two soups (including the aforementioned addictive gazpacho). All the breads. Pickles – gherkins, onions, fantastic olives. Mains always included chips and a fried item (such as nuggets, fish etc) for those so inclined. There was also always a huge paella dish which mostly had paella in (sometimes seafood, sometimes mixed), but occasionally had a risotto or a noodle dish in. There are three pasta dishes varying from spaghetti to filled raviolis, with different sauces. The staff will also make you fresh in a different combination if you ask. There are three kinds of pizza which looked good (but obviously had cheese, so I didn’t try). There were then two grilled meats (varying every time – one night there was a whole pig’s leg), two grilled fish (varying from seabass, to pollock, to tuna to squid – barely repeating), a couple of prepared things like stews, or chilli and then a series of vegetable dishes (five or six). The dessert section was plenty big enough, all portioned out, and looking (and tasting delicious), plus three ice-creams and sauces which my husband loved. There were themed nights, which generally meant that the pre-prepared starters were more ‘themed’ and there were a few themed dishes on the main such as hamburgers for American night, or fajitas for Mexican night. Honestly, we found the food delicious, fresh, varied, safe and appealing. Were there queues? Not that we experienced. The only time I had to queue was when the chefs were cooking local prawns and then there were people queuing to just take huge plates of prawns! Even then I only had to queue for a few minutes as they kept them coming. Was the food always boiling hot? No. It’s a buffet. What do you expect? It was never cold (unless it was meant to be) and there were options to take the fresh food directly from the chef (such as the pasta and the grilled meats) so you could have boiling hot if you wanted. Were there flies? I think I saw one the whole time. I’ve seen way worse fly problems in five star hotels. Were there sparrows? Yes, occasionally. We weren’t bothered by them. They are obviously highly experienced little thieves – they fly in, straight to where the plates are being cleaned away and take a few nibbles from the disposal. They don’t go near the food on the buffet or the tables. We also appreciated the hotel’s approach towards waste and ecological protection. The water was filtered onsite. A sign on the buffet asks you to be mindful and only take what you actually intend to eat. There are citrus and pomegranate trees growing on the premises as well as vegetables (not enough to serve the whole hotel, but still pretty cool), they sell reusable water bottles and you are encouraged to fill them at the spots around the hotel where they have cold, filtered water. The temperature was lovely – hovered around thirty degrees, but with a lovely cool breeze, we didn’t burn (we both have pale English skin). If you want to be busy, constantly entertained and party hard, this is not the hotel for you. It is pretty isolated (although there is a beach bar along the cycle path that was recommended to us and a restaurant by the marina). If you want to spend time together, relaxing, this is the right place. You never feel harassed, or pressured. It is clean, quiet and friendly. My husband and I have long agreed that we don’t ‘go back’ to places. There are so many hotels and locations to visit in the world that it seems silly to spend our limited holiday time in a year having an experience we’ve already had. But we would re-book this hotel. And we met several people who were return guests, so we aren’t the only ones. Thank you Garden Playanatural for a lovely week!

Great hotel, v chilled vibe, remote and tranquil. The amimation team, Carlos Ali, Irene and Susanna really made the stay extra fabulous. They work really hard, have so much energy and enthusiasm for everyone and every activity....despite my best efforts...loved, loved the aqua dance, the ebrning shows. Uptown Funk were brilliant....the team put on some great shows themselves, very good and lots of high energy. All staff are very friendly and helpful....albeit they seem a little short staffed at times. Loved... 1. The wristband room key 2. Animation crew 3. Pool bar and all staff 4. Food. Themed nights 5. Water stations for free 6. All staff across the whole hotel Would love... 1. A la carte offer 2. Flamenco show as it is Andalusia home of this tradition 3. Earlier pool and gym opening... 11 is too late for the pool.