I have just returned from a week at Marina D'or with my sister. We stayed in an apartment on the outskirts of the development and we flew into Valencia Airport. No problems at the airport and got our hire car easily. When you drive to Marina D'or the signs can be confusing but as you arrive you are faced with this vast development that looks like a city that has been made from nowhere. Firstly there are rows and rows of high rise apartments which are quite close together, the apartments themselves are very nice and well equipped inside but on the outside they are quite bland, each block has a pool but unfortunately all the locals come in the side gate and turn it into a communal pool with tons of children running around, no chance of a peaceful snooze in the sun! The complex is very spread out and unless you are right in the centre where the hotels are it is quite a march to get to the restaurants and bars and shops. The centre of the resort is very pretty with lots of landscaped gardens, ornamental lakes and gaudi influenced architecture and landscaping, there is a beautiful central road which has an archway of lights all the way along and that is very pretty, there is also an outside stage where you can sit and watch various bands and singers during the week. It all sounds nice and it is but the one big problem is that no one speaks english, at least 95% of the people at the resort where spanish and it seems that this is where older spanish families and their children tend to go on holiday, even in the tourist shops you will be hard pressed to find anyone who speaks english. Unfortunately the guy we rented the apartment from failed to mention this so this made it very hard to order food, drinks etc and by the end of the week we ended up just eating in the apartment to ease the stress. If we had been told about the language situation we could have taken a phrase book and been prepared so if your going there make sure you can speak spanish or you have your phrase book handy. The beach itself was also very clean but got very busy during the day up until siesta time when everyone spanish vanished and as they made up the majority of holidaymakers the beach was nearly empty in the afternoon which was great! As you can see this is a very difficult review to write because on the one hand the centre resort itself was very nice, but there was just something about the place that wasnt quite right. I think it was just such a vast development that it was souless and had no history or character to it. The backdrop of the mountains is lovely and the coastline is attractive but with this endless view of high rise concrete blocks cutting the view in two, it completely spoilt it. I guess it is just the norm in spain to overdevelop. Personally i would not go there again but if you speak spanish or want to practice it if you are learning it it could well be an ideal place to go. The weather is certainly excellent so you can guarantee the sun.

Soul-deprived Marina d'Or is one of the worst excesses of coastal property greed in Spain. It's a line of ugly brick and concrete buildings on what used to be a beautiful stretch of coastline. They are still expanding further northwards (ruining a delicate natural park in the process) so chances are your apartment will be surrounded by construction noise. Safety is also an issue here, with numerous incidences of bike and car theft. The nearby town of Oropesa is nice along the seafront, but creepy and seedy inland.

We have just returned from a trip to Marina D'or outside Valencia. We stayed in the four star Marina D'or hotel. There is also a three star and a five star hotel here and all next to each other. This is an up and coming resort but we were delighted to find it just the way that it was!

The largest spa in europe is located in the five star hotel and we spent three wonderful hours in this on Monday. We even swam in the heated outdoor pool at 7pm! I felt like I should be on a movie set! We sampled all the different area's like the numerous bubbling jacuzzi's, the roman baths, the red sea bath (actual water from the red sea)the scottish showers, turkish baths ect. It was absolutely exquisite!

We stayed in our hotel on a full board basis and the food was really good. This included all wine, beers, water, coke etc. All buffet style but changed every day. The deserts were incredible!!

As the weather was beautiful, we spent time on the beach and even went swimming! Very safe beach and lovely sand. The main area of Marina D'or is lit up with a beautiful arch of lights which is very impressive and there are a number of good bars close to all the hotels.

Would really recommend this area outside Valencia (50 mins drive) for a break. It has really good facilities for children also including a miniture theme park just across the road from our hotel. I was nearly tempted myself to check it out! It is €10 for the day and you can dip in and out of it all day.(child wears a wrist band).

Enjoy your stay in Marina D'or!! We certainly did!!