Montiboli - Villajoyosa, Spain     

The legend has it that this the place where the souls fled to paradise, and I'm willing to believe it. The setting of this hotel, a sort of Moorish castle high on a cliff, secluded and away from the real world, is magical. One can hardly believe that this is the Costa Blanca in high season- Benidorm seems a world away. Here, everything is calm, beautiful and luxurious. Rooms and public spaces are immaculate , the pool has a view to die for and there is even a private beach. At night you can eat fresh lobster on the terrace, looking at the stars, hearing the waves calmly lapping. A fairytale like this doesn't come cheap, but is worth every penny

This is a relais and chateau hotel. The plaque outside and the flag over the property tells you that. It's a good job because I am afraid that you would never guess otherwise. The gardens are lovely. The views are beautiful. The restaurants are excellent. Breakfast is good. The infrastructure and public areas are absolutely fine. The pool is brilliant with a wonderful unrestricted view over the Mediterranean. The rooms are perhaps a little old fashioned but the beds are good. The bathrooms are clean with good products but a little old fashioned again and probably 3/4 star by modern standards and the minibars .....free by the way, but therefore almost empty, are no better than 2 star Although it sits on a cliff top over a beach, you will need pockets as you need to use a security card everywhere you move in the hotel. Forget your card and you will have a long walk back to get t as you cannot get onto your corridor , into the restaurant or into the gardens without one The big problem is that the smiling and pleasant staff avert their eyes from guests . I sat several times for up to 40 minutes waiting to be served . After midnight you are allowed a last drink but are OBLIGED to sit outside to drink it. It is frustrating to be ignored and plain weird to be forced to sit outside in the cold while guests who were lucky to be served earlier sit inside. The bar closes at midnight. Sorry to post a negative review. I generally only bother when I have enjoyed somewhere unreservedly but this hotel needs to sharpen up its act No shops anywhere near so you need transport if you want a newspaper etc. I may have just been unlucky and when I complained the manager wrote a very pleasant letter in reply and maybe my experience was not typical. He tells me that the service issue was partly due to a wedding taking place at the same time and that they will not do this in the fuure in the public areas. It was really annoying to sit watching seventy other people laughing and joking while we sat being ignored. We eventually had to leave the hotel after 45 minutes to drive into town to get a drink and a bite to eat. With so many great hotels in this part of Spain I doubt I will return. However, I will revisit the reviews of this hotel and hope they remedy the service issue