Occidental Puerto Banus

Service is impeccable, immaculate, very competitive price, could not ask for better location on main square directly behind Port, extremely large aircon comfortable rooms with balcony and fridge/kettle/toiletries. Peaceful even though in the heart of everything. Staff helpful and efficient/very accommodating. Booked our next visit before checking out speaks volumes.

At the most perfect location you find this Occidental hotel. Nice and large rooms, perfect breakfast, good restaurant and helpful people. The reception with Antonio and Marina make sure you have a perfect stay!

Unfortunately, my overall experience at Occidental Puerto Banús was disappointing, despite the hotel having a wonderful location. It is right in front of Puerto Banús, the stalls are just outside, and El Corte Inglés is literally around the corner. Location-wise, it was extremely convenient and definitely one of the strongest points of the hotel. In terms of value for money, I found it to be on the higher side, and I feel you are mainly paying for the location. Considering the overall experience and level of service we received, I personally don’t feel the price was justified. The reception staff were very mixed. Some were okay, while others came across moody and barely even gave a full smile. I simply didn’t like their energy or the overall vibe. When you arrive at a hotel, especially one at this price point, you expect to feel welcomed, and unfortunately I didn’t get that feeling here. The pool service was another disappointment. The overall attitude and service did not feel welcoming or attentive, which added to the negative experience I was already having with the hotel. Housekeeping and cleanliness were also disappointing. Amenities were not consistently replenished, there was residue around the shower and sink, and the toilet had an unpleasant smell and was difficult to flush properly. Whenever we needed something, requests were slow, which made the overall experience more frustrating. Parking at the hotel costs €28 per night, which is already quite expensive, but what made it worse was how incredibly tight the parking spaces were. The space to manoeuvre and park was soooo tight! For the additional price being charged, I expected a much more comfortable parking experience. Unfortunately, the final disappointment came at checkout. I called reception from the room around 3–5 times requesting assistance with our luggage, but nobody answered the phone. I eventually had to go downstairs myself and could see that reception appeared understaffed, with staff attending to newly arriving guests. This explained why my calls were going unanswered, but it also highlighted another issue — a hotel of this size and price level should have sufficient staff at reception to manage arriving guests while still being able to attend to the needs of guests already staying at the hotel. There really should be more than one or two staff available at busy periods so that basic requests are not simply left unattended. I explained that I had been calling and only needed someone to arrange for our luggage to be collected, yet there was very little response or urgency. To be clear, the porter himself was not the issue at all. The issue was the lack of response and coordination in arranging for someone to attend to our luggage, which ultimately resulted in approximately a 25-minute delay. Our driver arrived on time but then had to wait for our luggage to finally be brought down. Having to repeatedly call, eventually go downstairs myself, follow up and chase a basic request before it was attended to was extremely frustrating. Unfortunately, by the end of the stay, my initial feeling about the energy and atmosphere of the hotel was confirmed by the experiences that followed. There was just an unpleasant and unwelcoming vibe, particularly when it came to the service. The location is fantastic, but location alone cannot make up for poor customer service. I personally would not plan to stay at this hotel again unless there is a noticeable improvement in staffing and in the way guests are attended to. Management should ensure there are sufficient staff available, particularly at reception during busy check-in and checkout periods, so that both arriving and existing guests receive the level of attention expected. It is honestly sad because the hotel has such a wonderful location and so much potential, but the service, lack of attentiveness and overall energy really let the experience down.

Really disappointed after spending so much to stay here. We are over halfway through our trip. Two days running the room has not been service. There is mould in the bathroom, it is very noisey from the surrounding roads The flooring next to the bed is bowed where there has been a leak previously. Some staff are lovely and some are just miserable

I’m leaving this review because people need to be aware of what actually goes on at Occidental Puerto Banús regarding basic guest safety. We were fast asleep at 2:00 AM when a random, heavily drunk guy unlocked our door and walked straight into our room. Luckily, he realised two guys were in there and walked back out, but what the hell? Imagine if it was my wife or kids in that room instead of me and a mate. Even as it was, it was a terrifying and deeply distressing experience. Safety and privacy are the absolute bare minimum you expect from a hotel, and having unauthorised strangers given working keys to occupied rooms is completely unacceptable. After that, we couldn't even get back to sleep. We had to wake up exhausted, drive all the way back to Málaga, and fly home. It was a horrible, stressful end to what was otherwise a great holiday in Spain. What makes it worse is how management handled it. They admitted it was their fault and offered a refund for the night, but then tried to force us to sign an NDA agreeing to delete and take down all honest online reviews before they’d actually pay us. How on earth do you think that's okay? Forcing guests to scrub reviews just to get their money back is wildly manipulative. On top of that, their idea of "compensation" was offering 25% off a future booking—what makes you think we’d ever want to stay here again? It just feels like a cheeky attempt to make even more money out of us after messing up so badly. It’s been dragging on for ages now with zero real resolution. Honestly, it’s left a terrible taste in my mouth—now I’m constantly on edge and paranoid every time I check into a hotel. Save yourself the headache and stay somewhere that actually respects your safety.