Hotel Yaramar Reviews

The Yaramar is good for those who like a British hotel with great weather. In mid September virtually all the guests were elderly. Some told us they returned to this hotel regularly. The pool area is a good size with enough sun beds to go round most days. The hotel is well situated just over the road from the prom and beach. It is less than 10 minutes walk from Los Boliches train station. We found the room cramped with insufficient storage space for our clothes. The twin beds were not as big as some. Wall light fittings were leaning with bent supports and an electric socket was falling out of the wall. The bath grab rail, taps outlet and soap dish were all wobbly. The air conditioning was quiet enough to leave thermostatically controlled all night but may be a bit underpowered in the height of summer. We did have one hot and noisy night after it broke down. Hot water was plentiful but the shower needed constant adjustment. As with the rest of the hotel our room was kept very clean. Surprisingly the tied back curtains are not proper curtains and the only things that could be pulled across the patio doors to the balcony were the plastic blackout ones. Even these were a bit tight and we used clothes pegs to hold them together. The food was very British and fairly good. Plates were hot and the food replenished very quickly. The dining room staff were very busy but very efficient and friendly. There is only self service available at breakfast and we helped out a disabled couple who were struggling to get water and glasses to take their medication. It turned out they had just arrived from Luton 48 hours late courtesy of Thomsons who had at least put them up in the Luton Hilton on one night. They were in their late eighties and quite distressed. Other guests helped them out on other days when we were relieved to see them looking a lot better. The dining room has insufficient tables and or staff and it was usual to queue to be seated for breakfast and dinner. The longest we had to stand in line was 10 minutes but we did see longer queues. This is a no frills hotel. No robe, slippers or wifi. Some BBC and ITV channels are provided. Further channels and internet are available at some cost. Overall we found much of the Yaramar and its fittings to be reminiscent of a tired old 3 star hotel. The lifts and some other parts have been upgraded, the food was pretty fair (unless you are not British) and the staff were very good but we will not be returning.

Arrived late after an 1 1/2 hour delay at the airport. When we arrived at the Yaramar check in was quick and we found that a cold salad supper had been left in our room for us.Room and all public areas were very clean. Food was plentyful and varied. The drinks at the bar tended to be pricey 14 euros for 2 whiskeys. Make use of the happy hours available. Location of the Yaramar is accross the road from the beach and close to plenty of shops,resturants and bars. Day time entertainment was good - no one forced to take part. The evening cabarets were in the basement in a dark,smoky, airless room where some of the guests were forced to watch the entertainment on a screen due to the layout of the room. On major issue during our stay in August was the "sunbed issue". People would get up at 8am and queue on the 1st floor, in front of other peoples rooms, in order to get at the sunbeds when the pool opened at 8.30am. Then it was a mad scramble to get a bed and place your towel on it!Then some would leave the bed empty until 12 noon. This caused a lot of unrest and ill feeling while we were there. The problem was that the pool area was too small for the number of people at the hotel. The hotel had an area at the beach "Rivera Beach Club" but this also filled up quickly. Transfer back from the hotel to airport took 1 hour 55 mins (should have been no more than 30 mins) the bus driver had to pick up 50 other people in Belamadina and Torremolinos hotels. The coach was full with some cases in the alley on the coach. An enjoyable holiday, not one of Thomsons best Gold hotel, a lack of attention to many small details were too obvious and didn't give the "finishing touch".

Check in at the Hotel was very quick (a couple of minutes) and seems very organised (plenty of porters to take your bags up to your room). We arrived at about 2115 local time and were told that the Restaurant was still open so we could have something to eat which I thought was good. After a quick walk around the streets and bars close to the Hotel we slept. We woke early in the morning and my wife looked out at the swimming pool area and announced "they're putting their towels on the sunbeds". We quickly found out that if you wanted a sunbed around the pool area you had to join the queue at around 0815 and stand and wait for the doors to the pool area to be opened at about 0830 - 0845. This was mainly due to the fact that there are insufficient sunbeds for the number of guests in this Hotel. When we mentioned this to the Thompson reps they pointed out that the Hotel owned / had an agreement with the bar across the road (the Rivera Beach Club) and if you showed them your Hotel cardkey you could rent a sunbed on the beach for a reduced rate of 2.5 euros per day. This is not what you expect from a Hotel where you are paying quite a lot of money to stay at, I expected them to be free. Watch out for the people who try to jump the queue as they come out of the lifts. The Thompson production team did quizs around the poll daily as well as putting on excellent shows at night. We could not find any local bars with live entertainment near to the Hotel so most nights were spent in the Hotel basement where the entertainment was put on. Take advantage of the "Happier hour" between 9 -10 to get 2 drinks for the price of 1. All of the Thompson team in the Hotel are very helpful. The food was good with lots of options available. Return journey to the airport was good although once at the airport it took us nearly 1 hr 30mins to check in and get through passport control. We had an enjoyable holiday which was slightly marred by the "sunbed issue". We also noticed some children under 16 in the pool a couple of times and when we asked the Thompson reps about this we were told that the Hotel is only 90% Thompson Gold and the other 10% could be booked by people who did not have the Thompson Gold restriction of no under 16's

This was our second visit as we enjoyed the hotel so much in 2004. The hotel is great, staff lovely. Maids all friendly and kept the rooms tidy and clean. The Thomson reps were friendly and good fun. Food was okay, plenty of choice and liked the idea of a Chef cooking fresh meats at night and pancakes at breakfast. We liked the fact that breakfast was served until 10:30 The hotel is right on the beach, there is a main road separating the beach from hotel but you dont really hear the traffic. The only drawback was the Sunbeds! My husband went down to queue with his bottle of water and his Ipod to keep him company from 8am in the morning until 8:50 when the pool doors opened. If you didnt queue you didnt get a sunbed. On the bright side it made us get up earlier but as we were on holiday didnt like the stress of the morning. Some people moaned the whole time, others tried crafty ways to push in front and on one occasion an old lady fainted. The queue went around the inside of the first floor so if you were in one of the rooms there it was tough! On speaking to the management one was told we could use the sunbeds opposite on the beach for a reduced cost of 5 euros per sunbed. We felt these should be free as it wasnt a cheap holiday. The Thomson production team were great although they had a hard job enticing people to do activities during the day and I did feel sorry for them as they were not pushy but did their best.

An excellent hotel in all ways. we will return