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| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
Gerry and Julia from Cheltenham travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Thomson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2007 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: As always with the RIU hotels there is not much one can say that hasnt already been said about them. I have stayed in quite a few and they are delightful.
In this one rooms are quite spacious and cleaned to a high standard, the food is excellent in taste, quality and quantity,the staff are happy and have a smile for you all the time, and nothing is too much trouble.
The grounds are superb as is the pool area with plenty on sunbeds available.
There is a bus stop close to the hotel which takes you to Nerja one way or Malaga the other way
Click here for more information on this hotel, resort and region
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Martin aged 53 from Cwmbran travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Independent
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 02 2007 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We booked direct through the Riu website and took advantage of the special prices available, reserving a double room with sea views for one week. Flights were with Thomsonfly and car hire through Carjet.
We had visited the hotel to look it over in June 2006 and were impressed by what we saw, it certainly was as impressive as its appearance. The room was superb and was thoroughly cleaned daily, it had excellent views over the hotel grounds and the seafront.
The food was exceptional and provided even a fussy eater like myself with ample choice. This was the first hotel we have visited in Spain where all the staff smile as they go about their work, interact with the guests and actually care that everything is as you would want it.
The entertainment was the weakest area of the hotel, however I am sure the various acts would have benefited from a larger stage area. The acrobats they had one evening struggled to avoid the ceiling as they performed handstands on their apparatus. Fair play though they did entertain us most evenings and the table service provided was efficient and unobtrusive. Bar prices were reasonable and all in all good value all round.
We would visit again without hesitation for a short break as the hotel is a quality venue.
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linda from manchester travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
independanr
on a family holiday.
There were 5 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 12 2006 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: I took my mother who is in a wheelchair with other members of my family. We thought Riu Ferrara was excellently located, right on beach front.
The pool looked wonderful, but not for dipping in in December.
The staff were very helpful, giving us best directions to places and we were offered adjoining ground floor apartments which was perfect.
We have booked again for this June for half board and looking forward to it.
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david scutt from luton travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff |  | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Stayed at this hotel for 10 nights from 17th Aug, The hotel is well maintained and very clean.
The food is of a good standard with plenty of choice,You are allocated the same table for evening meals and have to choose either 19.00hrs or 21.00hrs we chose 19.00 as we have 6 year old twins whose tummies start rumbling long before 19.00.
Although the restaurant is large and well laid out it does get packed very quickly and can at times become a bit like wacky races with lots of people trying to get their food at the same time.
We found breakfast a bit of a trial at first as you find a empty table if you can and then have wacky races,We ended up getting to breakfast at opening time and did not have a problem, this did not bother us to much as the children were up early each morning anyway.
Getting up early also solves the problem of getting a sunbed by the pool although the hotel says beds are not to be reserved nobody takes a blind bit of notice and if you are not down by 09.00 you will not get a sunbed so our towels were in place before breakfast if you cant beat them join them.
We booked late this year and could not get a family room so ended up having to book two rooms,we e-mailed the hotel and asked if we could have adjoining rooms.
We never did get a reply and on arrival were given 2
rooms, one overlooking the pool and the other over looking a side street the room with pool view was very nice and we used this room as our base and the other room just to sleep/shower,
The room next to the sidestreet was overlooking the extractor for the kitchens and was giving of nasty niffs most of the time so you could not sit out on the balcony or dry washing on the line provided, unless you do not mind smelling like a chip shop.
We asked to move but were told the hotel was full,If we had not had the other room we would have taken the matter further,if given room 366 beware.
The location is quiet and laid back,not much out of the front of the hotel, but a good supermarket if you turn right and its 200 mtrs on the opposite of the main road but that is about all.
There are gates at the rear of the hotel which you exit/enter with youre room keycard nothing much on the right but on the left are a few bars and restaurants and some shops. But nothing to write home about.
Hotel staff are friendly and will do their best to make you feel welcome.
The daytime entertainment unless I missed it seemed to consist of an afternoon waterpolo match and that was about it but the childrens club started at 15.00hrs
everyday and the children loved it the kids club staff are fantastic.
As for the evenings we did not stay for to long as the children were tired most nights so after the kids
disco we would have a drink in the bar a go back to our rooms put the children to bed and sit on the balcony with a drink or two.
If you want a break in a nice hotel with good food
but quiet surroundings you will not go far wrong with this hotel.
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Jane Breese from Shrewsbury travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: Have just returned from the Riu Ferrera and it is well worth it's 4T rating. The hotel itself is excellent; spacious, spotlessly clean and with the best food I've ever come across.
However the only problem is the entertainment (or lack of it!)- it is extremely poor and certainly not up to the standard of other 4 star hotels. We were there for 14 nights and only had 2 good nights - a fantastic magician and some Chinese acrobats. The rest of the time it was singers (well, that's what they were called - Simon Cowell would have had a field day!!) and dancers. One night the singer didn't turn up and we had extended Mini Disco! I know we were in Spain but flamenco 5 times in a fortnight is a bit much!! The daytime activities were a bit hit and miss too. The reps did announce some of them but I got the impression that they'd prefer it you didn't join in. It's a real shame that the entertainment was so poor otherwise I'd go back to this hotel tomorrow.
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sue from west sussex travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
travel republic
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Spent a week in the Riu Ferrera in August 2006.
Hotel is excellent, very very clean and well maintained.
The rooms were in excellent condition and cleaned every day by very friendly staff who will do anything you ask to make your stay more comfortable.
Although we were self catering we did use the pool bar for snacks at lunch time which was very reasonably priced for a top quality hotel and the food was great.
The pool area was clean and well maintained. The only problem we found was that although the hotel says that sunbeds are not to be reserved by 9am all the sunbeds were taken up with towels and no-one using them. On one morning we managed to get up and reserve our sunbeds and the ones next to us although had been reserved were not put into use until well after midday.
While we were there it was mainly German and Spanish people staying at the hotel with only a few English.
I would certainly visit again. The hotel is very family orientated so if you are looking for a hotel with entertainment until the early hours give it a miss.
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Tracy from London travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Thomson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The Riu Ferrara is a super hotel.
We stayed in a studio as we like to eat out.The studio was lovely. It was just like a hotel room but with a separate kitchen. The apartments are at the front of the hotel, so our room overlooked the entrance courtyard which was attractive and peaceful.
All staff were excellent and helpful.
We had lunch at the pool bar a couple of times and it was fine.
The pool was great, although sometimes very busy even though its huge. I loved that I could get a clean pool towel as often as I liked. You pay a deposit at the start of your stay and can swap them for clean by the pool each morning or evening.
We didn't stay in during the evenings but had a quick drink on the terrace before going out sometimes. The entertainment looked very cheesy.
The hotel really was excellent though and the only reason I wouldn't return is that the resort wasn't really what we were looking for.
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Ian Budd from Weston Turville travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Soveriegn
on a singles holiday.
There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel is beautifully appointed. All the staff were very friendly and accommodating. Transfer from the airport was by private taxi as, I had booked through Sovereign, I would recommend using them after hearing of others experiences with various travel companies. The rep, Tracey-Anne was brilliant, nothing too much trouble and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The food was excellent, with a huge choice to suit everybody.
Breakfast at the wrong time could be chaotic with the buffet style service, sometimes like crossing the M25 trying to get back to your table, best to go early when it was much more relaxing.
Evening meals were on 2 sittings, 7pm and 9pm, which you had to choose for the whole week. The 7pm was less busy but a bit early for most, strangely more children ate at 9pm. You are allocated a table for the week but I asked to be moved and it was no problem.
Lunches could be taken on the terrace, the food was again of a high standard in a nice environment.
The pool was very good, with allocated areas for children, ball games or just swimming, the lifeguards made sure these areas were respected, as a result I think everyone was able to enjoy the pool equally. Despite notices informing guests not to reserve sunbeds the practice carried on regardless.
Annoying when 6 sunbeds are reserved but empty until after lunch, I felt more should be done to stop this.
As I was travelling alone, I was surprised that the hotel was 90% families and predominantly German or Spanish, very few British or other nationalities.
The entertainment was very average, and seemed aimed at the children. There was no dancing or nightclub atmosphere later in the evening, bars shut at 1.00am and all the outside lights are turned off, not very Spanish. The hotel has a gym, but half of the equipment was broken.
All in all I had a very relaxing holiday, I wouldn't go back for the simple reason it was too family orientated for me. I would thouroughly recommend families to go there, but not singles or couples.
It's a very safe and pleasant place for children, the whole garden area has a fence around it covered in shrubs etc. and access is by key card only.
I would certainly visit another Riu Hotel if this is an example of their standards, and I will definitely book with Sovereign again, the express check in on the return at Malaga was worth it alone.
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Anne from Scotland travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
medhotels.com
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2006 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Just spent Easter at the Riu Ferrara. It is very very good, especially for families.
Booked a two bedroom apartment on a room only basis with medhotels.com. None of the apartments overlook the pool, these are all hotel rooms. The apartments are in the two blocks on either side of the entrance to the hotel. This was not a problem. We were allocated room 2404, which was on the 4th floor of block 2 (right hand block). The apartment was spotlessly clean, with excellent furnishings. Both bedrooms had large wardrobes, and plenty of storage space. The living area had a sofabed, dining area, TV with english news channels and more storage space. We had a HUGE terrace/balcony with a side sea view, with sunshine until sunset. Only negative is that there is a carpark on this side of the hotel, which isn't very attractive.
Evening Meal can be purchased for €20 and breakfast €10 half price for kids. However, because we were staying for 11 nights, we were offered a "deal" of €12 per day half board, which was excellent value. Again kids were half price, and our 4 year old was free (we just said he was a baby and they accepted that). So in total, our meals cost us €36 per day for a family of 5. At that price, we just took the package, and ate out on nights that we fancied a change of scenery. Try El Chicle along at the main roundabout - food and service excellent.
The food in the hotel was excellent, although buffet style can be a bit frantic. Some delicious fish dishes, and the veg tasted so fresh, not like the tasteless stuff you get from supermarkets over here. They also had a pizza/pasta bar and a carvery with some sort of chef's special. Baked salmon was the best I have ever tasted. Mmmmm.
Our middle child is a junk food junkie, so watch out, there are no chicken nuggets or burgers on offer. My son doesn't eat pizza. I am just glad that I trained him to eat steak the week before we left. He loved that, and moved on to plain pork, fish and chicken too (as long as there were no herbs on it). There were always chips in addition to various other potato options.
Torrox seems to be fairly residential, with about 10 apartment blocks along the prom. At first glance they seem to be a bit dated, but they are absolutely immaculate, and very well maintained. The prom is completly flat, with a swing park for the kids about halfway along. There are lots of restaurants and cafe type bars the whole length of the prom. We felt very safe and very relaxed strolling along at night. It was VERY quiet - no lager louts here thank god.
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Kate & Paul from Telford travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Thomson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel was really lovely and very attractive. The pool was the best we've ever been in - a very large freeflow pool. It took ages to swim around it and the temperature was great. There were plenty of sunbeds and free towels (a small deposit was required, which you obviously got back at the end).
When we first arrived we were shown to our room and it stank of cigarette smoke. We asked for a non smoking room and we were soon moved.
We can't really comment on the food as we were self catering - we ate at the poolside snack bar once and it was very nice.
We had clean towels everyday and the sheets were changed every other day. Overall our room was very clean, however I'm not sure that underneath the bed had ever been cleaned! The maid had a tendancy to leave the balcony sliding doors open - we complained to reception and it was soon dealt with. Our bathroom, kitchen and balcony were all massive. The kitchen was very well equiped and toasters were available with a small refundable deposit. The air conditioning was the best we've ever experienced. You didn't need your keycard to operate it, which was great, so when you came back after a day of sunbathing the room was lovely and cold. The wardbrobes were really big with plenty of hangers. The had a slight dispute about the safe. We could operate the safe with our keycard so we thought it was free. When we checked out we were told that we owed £20 (approx) for the safe and were told that we had signed for it when we checked in (it was in small print on the overleaf of the check-in form). We were tired and weren't really with it so make sure you read the whole form thoroughly! You can still use the safe -just use your keycard.
The security of the hotel was very good - there was a massive iron gate leading to the hotel from the beach that could only be accessed with your keycard.
I wouldn't recommend the position of the hotel as Torrox isn't very nice at all - mainly high rise apartment flats and scruffy cafe like bars (plastic table and chairs) and there was an awful lot of dog poo around so you had to be careful where you walked (same applied to Nerja). The beach had dark sand and was very pebbly - nice for walking along though. We tended to go to Nerja each nite (more our scene - still lots of plastic though!) on the bus, which was really cheap and took 10-15mins (when it turned up!) or by Taxi which was £7 each way.
There is quite a large supermarket about a 2 minute walk away from the hotel (out the front of the hotel, turn right and it's on the left).
We stopped for the evening entertainment on one occassion and it wasn't up to much, which is fairly typical of any hotel really.
The staff were very helpful but I wouldn't say they were particularly friendly.
We did feel like the odd ones out as the guest consisted of mainly German and spanish guests.
It must sound like I've been very negative, but honestly - I would recommend the hotel. We had a great holiday, just a shame the hotel wasn't in a better resort and then it would have been perfect!
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Stuart & Jeni Barnes from Preston travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Thomson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Whenever we travel abroad we try to stay in a Riu hotel if at all possible and if you've stayed in one you will know why.
The Riu Ferrara is everything we have come to expect. The standard of the accommodation is excellent and the staff, who are extremely friendly, can't do enough for you. Everything to make your stay unforgettable really has been thought about.
The choice and quality of the food is unbelievable. Even the fussiest of eaters would be able to find plenty to their liking.
The entertainment in the hotel was of a pretty good standard although on most evenings we preferred to take a stroll down the promenade (to walk off the effects of the evening meal as much as anything else!). During the day there are plenty of activities taking place such as volleyball, water polo, rifle shooting, tennis etc. but it is all low key and nobody tries to get you to join in if you don't want to. Basically, it's on offer but you can take it or leave it as you wish.
The hotel complex can only be entered, from the promenade, through a locked gate operated by your room key. Although the resort is a friendly place this did give you peace of mind if you wanted to leave your stuff by the pool whilst you wandered off somewhere.
I would definitely visit this hotel again and would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone else.
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P Purdie from Cambridge travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Self-Organised
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2005 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel is what one would expect of a 4star hotel.
The food was excellent. But as it was buffet style felt a bit like a relay race with two small children (there again that may be poor organisation).
I would not hesitate to stay self-catering as there are numerous restaurants along the promenade and very reasonably priced you can get an excellent menu of the day for 6 - 8 euros.
The one bedroom apartment was a bit tight for a family of four with sofabed (very comfortable) up all the time.
The location of the hotel is perfect, right on the front.
Do not venture to this hotel however during the halfterm week in May unless you like Irish Dancing.
The hotel hosts the "European Irish Dancing Championships" every year during this week. The consequence; a nice little earner for the Hotel and the organisers of the competition but for other guests a two star hotel instead of a four star hotel.
I think I'll go back when its a 4 star hotel.
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Ken from Lightwater travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Thompson
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 03 2005 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This hotel was immaculately presented with an army of cleaning staff working very hard each morning before guests awoke (I only saw them because I went for a run each morning).
The food was very good (always buffet style), presented well, you can go back for more as many times as you like.
I only scored a 4 on the location because Torrox is fine for a relax holiday but there is not much else to do there - we therefore went into Nerja a lot.
This is a "nice" hotel - without any lager louts.
The staff here were fantastic on the whole but we had a problem with the chambermaid who left our room door wide open when we were out on a day trip. She also kept leaving the balcony door unlocked - we were on the ground floor. Even though we tried to get it resolved with the manager, it kept happening.
The kids entertainment was OK with a "mini-kloob" running during the day but the entertainment staff were not up to providing entertainment for adults (a bit like Butlins circa 1960). The stage acts were ok but not up to a 4 star hotel standard.
The gym was naff, with a few pieces of outdated equipment. Given that it is in the same room as the heated indoor pool it was like doing a workout in a sauna.
Perhaps it was because we went at Easter and before the season started proper but we did expect a little better entertainment given that there is nothing else in Torrox apart from restaurants and quiet bars.
Having said all that we know what to expect and this would be a good place for a weeks hols - but not two.
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Rob & Donna from Warwick travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Thomson
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 02 2005 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The 1 bedroomed apartment accomodation we stayed in was excellent, spotless clean and was large in size in terms of the three main areas of the accomodation - bedroom & bathroom (including a hairdryer), lounge & dining room and kitchen. The balcony area was also very spacious and had a good sized clothes rail for drying clothes on.
Good location in a very safe area of the Costa Del Sol and the grounds of the hotel were extensive and aesthetically pleasing during the day (good colour contrasts and based on a Moorish theme), at night the grounds were well lit.
Our only negative comment about the hotel was the outdoor swimming pool which was freezing (Spanish water temperature which felt colder than the water out of the cold tap!).
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P. Butterfield from Sunderland travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Thomson
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 01 2005 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We travelled last week to Torrox and stayed at the Rui Farrera. We had chosen the holiday with the help of previous visitors who had reported on this page The hotel and apartments were supurb. We had a beautiful 1 bedroomed apartment , very comfortable and spacious with a lovely large balcony.
The kitchen was well fitted and the bathroom well appointed. We had maid service every day .
The hotel staff were invariabley helpful and pleasant and my friend who had a birthday was surprised with a bottle of champagne and a basket of fruit without any prompting from us,( they check the computer for b irthdays )
We did not use the daytime activites as we had a hire car and toured the area but the Flamenco show midweek was excellent and the two evenings of floorshow and dancing were greatly enjoyed. We did`nt do so well in the quiz but we certainly had a good time .
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Tom Saville from Smallfield, Surrey travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Thomson
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Welcomed by champagne and organge juice at reception. In line with the hotel's strong customer focus and excellent staff. Agree with comments elsewhere that this is more like a 5* than a 4*.
We stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment (no 2043) for 2 weeks.
Apartment was more like a number of hotel rooms in standard - ie very high! Tiled floors. 2 bedrooms. No 1 = large master twin room with built in wardrobes (lots of hangers)and dressing table plus bedside tables, phone. etc. No 2 = small double room (really 1 and 1/2 beds). We used this for one child. It also had a large built in wardrobe.
Very large and well furnished lounge. Double Sofa Bed was comfortable and we used for second child.
TV channels (about 20)- mainly Spanish, German, Italian and Fench, but Sky News, CNN and BBC World Service (not always in English!) all available.
Excellent kitchen with good crocckery and utensils. Take your own tin opener, and bottle opener/corkscrew.
Good coffee maker. You might want to take your own kettle if you like tea.
Large balcony with both a sea and a mountain view. Clothes drying pull out rails on the balcony wall.
The restaruant is first class! Buffet meals at breakfast and dinner. Staff are excellent, very welcoming and clear emptry plates really fast. Chefs are very friendly and on view cooking the hot items.
Breakfast: Huge buffet.
Choice of a about a dozen cereals plus hot and cold milk.
Choice of 3 or more fruit juices.
Choice of Tea or Coffee.
Huge Cold buffet of meat, cheese, fruit and lots more.
2 Toast machines - make your own and as much as you want.
Choice of at least a dozen types of bread - cut it yourself.
Hot breakfast buffet: Fried, Boiled, Scrambled Eggs. All cooked fresh. Bacon, sausage (tends to be German types). Baked beans, tomatoes, etc.
Plus pancackes and syrups.
I guarantee that you will overeat!
Dinner:
Choice of 3 soups. Very Large cold buffet, includes smoked salmon, avocado, air dried ham, etc.
Excellent and varied paella every night.
Choice of 3 or more hot fish dishes. Always a roast carved for you - pork, beef, gammon etc.
Alawys a chicken, a beef, a pork hot dish. Plus vegetarian (and good choice of vegetables and potatoes with main courses).
Choice of 4 pastas every night plus a choice of pizzas.
Dessert: Lots of fruit, ice cream. Cakes, etc. Big choice of cold deserts.
Large chooice of cheeses and biscuits.
If you don't like several items every night then you are very choosy indeed!
Bar costs: Wines 12E to 50E plus per botle. Beer about 2.40E for large beer. Coke, etc is 1.70 euro. Cocktails are 4E to 7E.
Evening entertainment is good if you like holiday camp type stuff (we do). Certainly packed out every night so it's popular. The entertainers run the kids and adult clubs during the day - also popular.
Pool is large, clean and well tended by the life guards. Note no inflateables allowed when it is busy.
Lots of sun loungers amd umbrellas - but booked by people with towels from 0800 onward - then they appear about 1030. I think we british were the worst!
Hotel tries to stop it, but doesn't want to offend. So book sunloungers at your own risk!
Pool Towels are 10E deposit for 2 and you can then chnage the two towels each day.
Beach is good and mostly sandy - just across the promenade. Sun loungers and umbrella re 3E for 2.
WE had a great holiday and think anyone who books here will also have a great holiday.
Top trip was Gibrlatar.
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smith from yorkshire travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
medhotels.com
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2004 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Stayed at this hotel in July 04 and in my opinion is easily worth 5 stars. The evening entertaiment was the only let down for me which I thought was very poor and repeated weekly so if you stay 2 weeks you will see everything twice! The hotel staff are very helpful and friendly, food excellent and cleanliness first class. Standard rooms a little bit on the small side to sleep more than 2, I managed to get upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite for free, so worth asking!
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Chris Starke from Reading, UK travelled to Ferrara Hotel Riu with
Dial-A-Flight
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2004 | rated the Ferrara Hotel Riu as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: I’ll be the first to admit I took a bit of a gamble booking this holiday to Costa Torrox, a place I’d never heard of before. We needed as short a flight from London as possible as our three-year-old boy is a bit of a livewire and we weren't sure how he'd get on with flying (or whether we’d keep our sanity and patience on the plane with him!!) – but we wanted to ensure warm weather and a beach. We contacted our travel agent, Dial-A-Flight as they were excellent last year when I used them for my holiday to Cyprus, they managed to find flights that nobody else could find and put together a superb package.
They looked at various options and most were unsuitable, but eventually suggested I try the Riu Ferrara at Costa Torrox on the Costa Del Sol. A flight time of just over two hours was a major draw, but I’d never heard of Costa Torrox so I decided to do my usual Internet trawl for reviews. And could I find anything? Very little in fact.
I worked out that the Riu Ferrara was opened last June (2003) and that Costa Torrox was near the more well known town of Nerja. I also discovered the Riu Ferrara was a favourite hotel for the Germans. But apart from the standard brochure photos and the one positive review I found, there was very little else to go on. But I threw normal caution to the wind and booked anyway.
And what a good choice. I can honestly say this hotel lived up to its four-star rating, easily equaling the quality of other four-star hotels I’ve stayed at in places as far apart as Cyprus, Mauritius and the Caribbean.
The excellent deal that our Travel Agent found us did NOT include transfers from Malaga so I decided to hire a car in advance. After again trawling around I used malaga-carhire.com as they offer on-airport car pickup from Malaga (no bus rides to get to the car) – but beware, they trade through Crown car hire, as do Dollar and Thrifty (I think) so when I arrived at Malaga airport, I found the Crown car-hire desk had the longest queue of all the companies. But they did upgrade my car without me even asking and were very efficient so I cannot complain.
Getting to Costa Torrox was easy once you found the E15/A7 motorway to Almeria – a straight run right through to Torrox taking just over an hour on a Motorway I'd love to have in Southern England – relatively quiet with fantastic views of the hills!
On arrival at the hotel, the reception staff were VERY helpful and offered a glass of champagne to welcome us. Nice touch. Off to the room. We booked a two-bed apartment on a room-only basis as we like to eat out. The Riu Ferrara is part hotel and part apartment blocks, but all guests can use all the facilities. Beach towels are free (just need a €10 refundable deposit per towel). The apartment was well appointed and nicely decorated. One bedroom with double bed, another with two single beds. A sofa in the lounge area also turned into a double bed. The lounge area had satellite TV, the only English speaking channel was CNN, but tune to D:SN a German sports channel to pick up some decent footy (they showed the England:Japan game live during our stay – but commentary in German unfortunately).
In one bedroom was a safety deposit box, which used the apartment entry card (someone thought about this!). The safe cost €10.50 for the week. No mini-bar in the apartments (not sure whether the hotel rooms have them). Bathroom was standard fare, with bidet (useful for those sand-encrusted feet!) – the water took a while to get hot each time, but when it did the shower was excellent. The kitchen was small but functional the only two things we could have done with were a corkscrew and a Microwave – but everything else we needed was there including a much used fridge. Air conditioning was built in and vented to all bedrooms and lounge area, so was relatively quiet, not like these ugly wall mounted external units some hotels fit as an afterthought. Overall, I was very happy with the quality of the apartment and the daily maid service was excellent.
And the hotel itself? Well, the pool was HUGE and thoughtfully designed with shallow entry at one end for young-uns, uniform depth at the other end (useful for water polo) and a deeper bit in the middle, wide enough to do lengths if you really felt the urge. Very clean and tended to each evening. There was also a small circular baby pool (knee deep) which was perfect for our three-year old. My only suggestion here is that the hotel put some shading over this pool as the sun was very hot for the toddlers and the sun umbrellas were around the main pool.
During our stay, the hotel was VERY full due to them staging the 2004 European Irish Dance Championships – this meant the pool area was very busy during the day. There was a huge number of sun loungers and sun umbrellas (fixed into the deck so they couldn't be moved) but even so, by about 11am I noticed people struggling to find free loungers. And even though the hotel notify guests that loungers must not be reserved early in the morning, I saw little effort to remove the plentiful number of towels on empty loungers as suggested in the hotel welcome pack. Maybe it was the Germans living up to their much deserved reputation!
The gardens are well tended but as the hotel only opened last year, the trees and bushes need a little longer to fill out. In a couple of years they will no doubt add much needed extra shade in the grassy areas. The whole hotel is surrounded by a fence (but a nice fence) and an ornate gate (activated by your room key) leads out the back entrance onto the long promenade and beach. This made the pool area and gardens feel very secure although I did notice a group of four cheeky local teenagers sneaking in each day for a dip in the pool – but they were no bother and certainly did nothing suspicious.
Also outside is a neat little cabin used for the Miniclub which was open a couple of times a day for the over fours. By the Miniclub and baby pool was a small park area with a couple of swings a slide and a small springy ride-thing. This proved popular with the kids but again lack of shade meant the rubberised safety flooring got intensely hot – sandles required during the day. Also nearby was a small sunken tennis court area which the kids used for kicking footballs around.
The Animation team put on activities for Adults, Teenagers and Kids and although I preferred to vegetate in the sun, plenty of people took part in activities such as Aqua gym, water polo, hockey, air rifle shooting and shuffle board. The nice thing was that these activities never became a nuisance for those not taking part. Inside the hotel was a small gym and an indoor pool, but the good weather rendered this unused during our stay.
And the food? Fantastic. Breakfast was simply immense with fruit, cereals, full cooked hot breakfast, pastries, yoghurts etc etc. There were even about 6 or 7 types of bread which you could slice yourself – delicious. Evening meals were buffet style themed affairs but in reality they laid on enough different food that you would not go hungry – there were even four type of pasta each evening for those who didn’t want the main meals. All food was superb quality. Although we went room-only, we had breakfast every day and evening meals on three occasions. If your board doesn't include meals, you have to go to reception just before eating, they will check with head-waiter that there is space and then you sign a slip at reception to put the food on your room account. You will then get a ticket to give to the head waiter when you enter the restaurant so they know you’ve paid! Simplicity itself, but it does mean you risk being turned away if they are particularly full. Evening meals were done in two settings and we found the earlier sitting did in fact get full (families wanting to feed the kids) so bear this in mind if you go room-only. There is also a dining area outside for lunchtime snacks, drinks and ice creams .
On one occasion there was some confusion between head waiter, myself and reception. After getting reception to sort it out (which they did very efficiently) we were blessed with a free bottle of wine the next time we ate in the restaurant, the head waiter said it was because of the previous confusion. This is a good example of their attempts to keep everyone happy.
The hotel have a doctor who turns up for an hour each day. We had cause to use him as our little fella got conjunctivitis. Very good doctor, speaks very good English. Beware, he charges €60 when you visit him and whilst you can claim this back on your holiday insurance, check that you don't have an excess (mine was £50 so I couldn’t claim the doctors fee back)
As there aren't many non-brochure pictures of the Riu Ferrara around, I've placed a few at
http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/basketball4chris/album?.tok=phK__QBBTGiUr4RS&.dir=/4aca&.src=ph
What about Costa Torrox itself? The resort is mainly one long beach with a promenade running alongside. Roads run at right angles to the beach which means the main busy through road is at least 200 metres from the beach. This made the promenade safe and peaceful to walk along, especially in the evening. The promenade is dotted with restaurants, mainly the pasta and pizzeria variety, although we ate at the Pizzeria Ferrara one evening and had a very enjoyable meal (4 people, food, drink, desert - €37 – about £25)
I wouldn't call Costa Torrox particularly pretty. Most of the buildings seem to be 6 storey apartment blocks, many of which were empty giving the feeling that we had visited off-peak. The long stretch of beach was relatively quiet (not shoulder-to-shoulder like some Costa Del Sol beaches) – this may be due to the fact that the beach is not particularly pretty either – it is a mix of black sand and shingle so not easy to make sandcastles with. However, there are a couple of guys who seem to make a living creating fantastic sand sculptures on the beach by the promenade – well worth a look. There doesn’t appear to be much to do in Costa Torrox, which is probably why the pool area of the hotel was busy most days.
If you need a supermarket, you have the Mercadona just 50 yards from the hotel – excellent range of goods. For Chemist, there are two Pharmacia, one left and one right down the main street, each a mile from the hotel – my advice, take the one left out of the hotel – it’s near a Repsol garage and had a better stock.
Directly across from the hotel is the 'Lady Club'. It is a lap-dancing club, but don't fret, I never saw anyone go in there and it didn't seem to affect the feel of the area.
If you have a car then one must-do visit is the Il Ingenio shopping mall. It is two junctions down the E15/A7 motorway towards Malaga just north of Torre Del Mar (about 15 mins from Torrox). Great for womens clothes shows (inc Mango and a HUGE Zara) – my wife and daughter assure me that the prices are very cheap (I wouldn’t know). Plus they have a massive supermarket (Eroski) which sells just about anything you can think of.
As we had a hire car, we traveled around a bit. North of Costa Torrox is the town of Torrox itself – very pretty, with a small town square with locals going about their business and the old fellas whiling the day away chatting in the square. Beware, the roads are narrow and very steep so good calf muscles required. But very pretty with all the white painted buildings with flowers outside a lot of them.
Just North of Nerja, one motorway stop down from Torrox is a lovely little village in the hills called Frigiliana, apparently voted prettiest village in Andalusia. Again, very hilly but very picturesque. If driving, be aware that if you travel into the hills, the roads get very windy and often without barriers. The Spanish don't think twice about overtaking on
blind corners either. My wife is usually a good passenger, but even she was sick after an hour winding our way around the hills north of Torrox town.
So, would I recommend the Riu Ferrara? If you like your hotels quiet then this isn’t for you as it often feels busy, especially at mealtimes. But for a good family hotel or apartments it gets my thumbs up. Just a shame that Costa Torrox itself doesn’t have enough to offer. I'd give the Riu Ferrara itself 10/10 but my overall score reflects the resort as well.
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