Very disappointed in the hotel (half board - mid September 2011). Read the write ups and took the gamble. The external fabric of the Hotel was fine as well as the gardens. The Hotel had apparently won an award for the garden area in the 1970s. However, the Main Reception area very dark and dismal. In need of serious refurbishment including other common parts and particularly the dining hall. Bedroom was on average clean but very damp musty smell continually. Furniture seriously outdated with broken drawers - bedclothes, matresses and towels has seen better days. Security safe hired for the week but didn't work for 2 days until repaired. Majority of balconies small and only capable of seating 2 people on plastic chairs. Only ate in dinning hall on 3 occasions. Breakfast also avoided most mornings - same as evenings - selection was poor. To cap it all staff were grumpy - except for the nice lady on Reception most evenings. Local shops, Bars and cafes saved the day but it was a 15 minute hike to the beach over a busy motorway. Definitely will not be back.

After reading the bad reviews I was a bit worried about my choice of accomadation for a cheap all inclusive break for 2 couples. We were pleasantly surprised by the food as we had some enjoyable meals for lunch and evening accompanied by a pleasant white wine.
The rooms would benefit from an update but were clean and the shower was surprisingly very powerful. The gardens are lovely and the hotel runs a free bus to Marbella centre and back and there is also a lovely beach 10 mins walk away. There is some nice bars restarants and shops around the area. We chose to hire a car for a few days and enjoyed trips to Gibralta, benal Medina, puerto benus and fuingerola which meant we did not spend all of our time at the hotel but enjoyed a few drinks in the evenings which would have been very expensive if we had not taken the all inclusive option.
The staff are mainly friendly and some were particularly keen to learn the english language as they can then get higher paid employment so we had some really good laughs swapping Spanish and English words.
We all enjoyed our stay and although this could not be described as a luxury hotel its a good base at a reasonable price.
The hotel guests were mainly Spanish, but we like Spanish people and Spanish food, this is why we chose to go to Spain.

We had read many of the reviews on this site so we were prepared for Las Chapas. We are a couple, mid forties who were in desperate need for a low cost holiday. We booked with Easyjet Holidays and paid 700 pounds for a week, half board, including flights. First, the good stuff: Our room was basic, clean, towels changed every day and beds made. The beds were changed once during the week. The bathroom was very large, very good water pressure, plenty of hot water. The grounds of las Chapas are pleasant, with beautiful trees and exotic plants. The pool is lovely in the afternoon though the music is very loud for no apparent reason. We spent three afternoons at the pool and enjoyed it, people watching and drinking inexpensive cold beers. The sun beds are uncomfortable, some people brought their pillows down with them for the day. It is quite strange to be so close to a major motorway but its fine. You can walk to local bars and restaurants in 2 minutes, again a great place to people watch and cool down with cold drinks and shade. The beach is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel and is absolutely gorgeous. Very unspoilt and wonderful to watch the sunset in the evening. There is a lovely bar/restaurant on the beach, El Laurel which we went to every day. the waiters were friendly and laid back, so its ok to just have a drink and watch the world go by. We had lunch there a few times and treated ourselves to two evening meals while the sun set. We loved it. You will pay 10 euro per couple for sunbeds on the beach but they are yours for the day so well worth it. We spent 20 euro on a pedalo one day and that is really good fun (20 euro for an hour for four people). The local area near Las Chapas is called Elviria and there are lots of nice restaurants and bars there also (5 minutes from hotel). The area is quiet, with lots of property shops and lots of ex pats. You can take the free bus from the hotel into central Marbella. It takes about 20 minutes and worth it for a change of scenery. The old town in Marbella is lovely and there is a pretty square called the Square of Oranges which is worth seeing. We spent one afternoon in Marbella and were very relieved to get back to the calmness and quiet of Elviria. We did not go all inclusive and would not recommend anyone to go AI. The food is not great, though you can get plenty of fresh salad, bread, fruit at any meal. My husband ate breakfast in the hotel every morning but I didnt. I went to the local cafe and had good coffee, toast and fresh orange juice for 4 euro. We just had a bit of a laugh about the food calling it mostly unidentifiable pork products. Stick to salad, fruit, bread, dessert, yogurts. The coffee is not good and it would probably be worth bringing a small kettle and your own supplies if you like coffee/tea in the mornings. There are two supermarkets close by the hotel. Cant say anything about the entertainment because we're not interested in that on holiday but we did see a poster for performing parrots and were sorry that we missed them. If you have a sense of humour and you are prepared for las chapas you will enjoy this area of Marbella, it's lovely and relaxed. we found the staff fine, neither great nor terrible. The spanish we met were all very laid back. Dont expect anyone to jump to! Enjoy your holiday.

Although the room was clean, smelled musty, the towels had seen better days and the shower fixing was broken. Our friends were all inclusive food terrible! Staff rude and unhelpful.........spanish version of Basil Fawlty!!! We were room only thank goodness for that as we found some nice places to eat and drink not far from the hotel. The sunbeds were uncomfortable, the music in the pool area was too loud, the staff at the bar ingnored the guests who wanted a drink, we walked out after being ignored. Would I recommend this hotel in one word................NO, it is well past it's sell by date.