To quote Warren Buffet "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."

Or maybe not get! This is an hotel that will charge you a price that is probably the highest on the Costa del Sol, but that gives the worst value of any hotel that I have ever stayed in.

It used to boast a fine Asian inspired bar and restaurant (Felix) in it's entrance courtyard. The food served was comparable with the best in the area. It also featured a Michelin starred restaurant, El Lido, for more formal evening dining. That was when it was under previous management.

Today, it serves snack menus and two star garbage for seven star prices. In other words the prices still reflect it's glory days but the food compares with the local burger joint. In fact there is less grizzle in the burger served in the local cafe than there was in the inedible offering that I was presented with from their snack menu in the Courtyard.

The buffet lunch served beside the pool area is covered in flies, so much so that guests that we invited to lunch refused to eat there and after doing so, I suffered a tummy bug for 24 hours afterwards.

The "kid's club" is a timber shed in the corner of the garden, staffed by a childminder.

The standard of the room that we stayed in was acceptable, but the ants in the bathroom were not.

With the exception of the management, the staff were friendly and efficient.

The deterioration in the food and high level management of the hotel is reflected in the area generally. Since the jailing of the Mayor, the Assistant Mayor and most of the Marbella Council members on bribery and corruption charges the maintenance of the landscaping in the town has virtually ceased. The grass verges are burnt or non-existent as the hydration system is not functioning, the palm trees and shrubs are no longer being trimmed and have 3 to 4 years of dead leaves hanging from them. The public park on the "Golden Mile" is overgrown and weeds are growing through the pathway shaped in the form of a Saudi sword. The garden and sword were installed in front of the Saudi King's "palace" (a copy of the White House) when the former local Mayor was sucking up to the Arabs. Combined with the stark outlines of the skeletons of unfinished buildings caused by the collapse of the Spanish property market, the whole area is starting to look like New York's wasteland in Will Smith's "I am Legend" movie.

Mr Buffet's value is no longer to be found here - to find that and a real five star hotel; one not living on it's previous reputation - you need to look elsewhere.

We recently stayed at Las Dunas for three days to celebrate our wedding anniversary and by all accounts this resort deserves its five
star rating and Leading Hotels classification. There's a bit of a James Bond feel to the hotel with a range of supercars parked outside
and opulence around every corner. The hotel itself offers a combination of excellent cuisine, a first rate spa and rooms that clearly show the recent refurbishment was expensive but well worth it! We spent the whole time enjoying the sun by the pool, stuffing ourselves and enjoying the spa so as a getaway for a few days (especially with London's weather recently) LD is a fantastic option.

The best part of the stay apart from the comfort was the attitude of the staff, good service and a genuine concern to make our stay as pleasant as possible was apparent from everyone working there and that is incredibly important when you want to celebrate a special occasion. Complimentary champagne, flowers set out in the room every night and live music with open air dining all made this a break to remember. I would say that this is not a cheap option but you do get what you pay for and we would definitely go back again.

Viva Las Dunas!!!

KA

My wife and I stayed at the hotel at the very beginning of September for 1 night whilst attending a wedding close by. In my opinion, this is one of the best hotels along this stretch of the coast and the only one to be listed in the 'Leading Hotels of the world'. We know this area very well as we spend most summers here in an apartment complex close by.

I booked directly and received a confirmation email along with a reminder about 2 weeks before that my booking was confirmed for a deluxe beach facing room. I emailed them a few days in advance to confirm whether we could have an earlier check in as our flight was arriving in the morning - no problem.

Check in was fast, shown to the room by the check in clerk and bags promptly brought to the room. Nice size, very clean and luxurious with four poster bed and a good view. 10 minutes later a basket of fruit, freshly cut pineapple and a bottle of Cava was brought to the room compliments of the management. We had a slight problem with the internal safe but after a short while it was re-booted and we were able to use it.

We had the buffet lunch by the pool which was excellent, albeit expensive at €62 per head. We sat by the pool - nice comfy chairs and towels are laid out for you. The beach along this stretch is not good. Although the beach obviously stretches along the coast, this section of it is stoney and is no more than 20ft deep. The sunloungers on the beach are on a raised section.

In the evening we noticed the only niggle with the room - the bathroom. Beautifully presented and very clean however the taps for the bath ran alongside the wall where the double sinks were installed. Between the sinks and the bath taps was a glass shower screen. This came out about 3 ft which meant there was no way of reaching the bath taps from the bathroom floor, you had to get into the bath to turn on the taps! Now I don't know about you, but I tend to put the bath on before I get completely undressed - clearly not something the designers ever did! In addition, the bright spark had installed a towel rail in front of the double sinks. No problem with that apart from the fact it stuck out about 4 inches which made it very difficult to lean over either of the sinks to wash your face, etc...

Although we didn't attend dinner at the hotel because of the wedding, we did arrive back at around 1.15am on the Sunday morning. The Barry White dinner dance (this guy was Barry White's Godson) was still in full flow and we watched the show until it ended at around 1.30am. This takes place in the courtyard by the entrance of the hotel. This guy was excellent - a real showman and well worth booking if you get the chance. Dinner and show costs around €150 per head and kicks off at around 11pm.

We got up at around 10am the following morning and helped ourselves to the buffet breakfast - also excellent. At midday we checked out to attend a lunch locally and that concluded our trip to Las Dunas.

This is a great hotel with excellent service. Definitely a place we would return to however I would definitely query the bathroom configuration before I confirm which room I took next time. I can't believe all the bathrooms have been designed so badly so maybe it was just room 310.

On arrival we were shown in a poorly located room (despite an expensive direct booking) - looking over the car-park in front of the hotel to one side of the suite.

Room (family suite that is) was dark and not very attractive though there was a patio. Bear in mind there's no nice garden view except some rooms in the separate wing behind the pool, so book the sea-view. THankfully we could move to a sea-view family suite (2 bedrooms living room 2 baths) but this was the most expensive stay we ever had! 2500 euro per night! we had to because the other room was even worst value for the high price it cost!

However beautiful the interior was, the good value it was not. Especially as the sea-view is not direct but has restaurant under the windows, still very nice but doesn't warrant the price. The suite was great and so were bathrooms.

Another complaint was that in the beginning of the week only one restaurant is open, and the food there is very hit and miss (again v.expensive. Entertainment there is good (jazz from the US) but the same every night of the w/end. The formal Lido restaurant is very good, on a nice open terrace nearer the sea. But when closed you have to go out of the hotel to find variety - and this means travelling by cab to puerto Banus about 10-15 min or Marbella (further). It's strange to have one choice of restaurant ifor half a week n a 5 star hotel!

What was really good is the lunch buffet (no buffet in the eves) - fresh and great choice of meat and fish (you can also choose a piece incl Lobster to be grilled - that's extra). BUt even with no extras - good choice of hot and cold dishes for ..60euros each!

The worst feature of the hotel was the beach! They could have cleaned the sand possibly, but also there are no umbrellas or sunbeds on the sand, just a rather carmped wooden terrace (not too safe for small children as steep) - all looks very unkempt and the sea is full of stones and weeds when you come in, but then once you are past that it is clean - obviously hotel decided not to improve natural conditions. Tha pool area is nice but not large, but as the hotel wasn't full (not surprising with the prices) it was always possible to find a place. The pool itself is nice temperature (not too cold), not too much chlorine - but again not large enough for this type of property.
It's good for a short break if you are not too fussed about hte beach quality, and don't like crowded resorts, but too pricey and not good enough for a long stay.

Tha spa is quite good (esp products) but small and hard to book for next day. I marked it above average only due to the stunning suite with 3 balconies, but if you stay in small suites, expect only average.