(3/5) - Marked up from 2.5 due to one standout staff member

I’d rate Hotel El Puerto Fuengirola a 2.5 out of 5, but I’ve rounded it up to 3 stars as that’s the only option available.

The main reason it’s not lower is due to one exceptional receptionist who helped me during check-in and with parking.

She was genuinely fantastic and made a strong first impression. Without her, this would comfortably be a 2-star review.

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✅ The Good
• Comfortable bed - The bed was large (empress-sized) and very firm, which made for a great night’s sleep.
• Room (at a glance) - Initially, the room seems decent and fairly standard.
• Sky bar - A pleasant surprise. The nachos were great, and they were happy to make a vegan version.

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❌ The Not-So-Good

?️ Air Conditioning Issue
This was a major downside. The hotel uses a centralised system, meaning the AC was locked on heating mode-even on warm days.
Result: the room was consistently too hot and uncomfortable, even with the balcony door open.

This feels outdated and unnecessarily restrictive.

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?️ Room Layout
• No bedside tables at all, which is surprisingly inconvenient.
• Nowhere to place or charge your phone except the floor, which just feels poorly thought out.

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? Bathroom Experience
• Very small shower area
• Presence of tiny flying insects, which wasn’t pleasant
• Water temperature constantly fluctuated between hot and cold

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? Paying for the Safe (!)
This was the biggest frustration.

There is a safe in the room-but to use it, you’re charged €4 per night.

This feels completely unreasonable. A safe is a basic expectation in any hotel room, not a premium add-on.
Speaking to other frequent travellers, this is highly unusual and honestly undermines trust.

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?️ Breakfast (Especially for Vegans)
As a vegan, I don’t expect a huge spread-but some basic effort would go a long way.
• The beans on toast with mushrooms were genuinely awful
• Very limited alternatives beyond fruit and bread
• No peanut butter available (a simple staple!)
• No allergen labelling whatsoever-just item names, with no indication of ingredients

If you have allergies or dietary requirements, this could be a real issue.

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? Dining Area

Clean and functional, but nothing particularly memorable.

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? Final Verdict

There are some positives here-particularly the staff and the comfortable bed-but overall, there are too many avoidable issues.

Between:
• the AC restrictions
• poor room practicality
• extra charges for essentials like a safe
• and limited food options

…it’s not somewhere I’d rush back to.

Would I stay again? Probably not-unless some key changes are made.

Super

I give it a generous 2 stars.
We booked a sea view room, the view was great. There was a balcony... Whatever The bathroom was okay. However, Oh My God the beds... These beds should be illegal to have in a hotel. It has broken my back in the first night and by the third I was awake every hours at night in pain. It was like lying in plank wood. Even sitting on it was uncomfortable. So yeah. When you book accommodation for basically resting and you cannot rest because the most important part of it is just unenjoyable even the sea view becomes a little sad

Stayed here as a paying customer few years ago, went in yesterday to ask if the could call me a taxi because my phone battery was dead, they said only if you a customer at the hotel, we I could have been a future customer, got sorted at the end back to my hotel.

Beautiful hotel polite attentive staff lovely rooms thanku so much will be back