I went to Playaluna for a week, to relax and read some books.

Good stuff:
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- Rooms are 4 star, with air conditioning
- Beach is right in front of hotel, great sand and sea
- This is a family-oriented hotel. That meant no drunk folk. I didn't go to party here, but to relax, so that is a plus. Also, not too many British. and only a few Germans. Most people are Spanish. Again, a plus in my mind (though I came from the UK --- a relaxing break from the dreary pub culture).

Mediocre stuff:
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- Too noisy. Hard to get decent sleep. This hotel is very very big. Chances are someone will go to bed after you do (average bedtime seemed to be midnight, with a large variance). The doors bang terribly. Chances are also that someone will wake up before you. Again, the doors bang terribly loud. Also, to make things worse, room cleaning starts early. I got knocked on my door at 9am, which is early for me, considering this is a vacation after all.
- Food is mediocre. Cafeteria experience. I had breakfast included. Couldn't eat that much although it was buffet. reverted to corn flakes eventually. The problem is that you are talking about 200+ people descending down for breakfast, hard to get quality food for that many people I guess? I'd give it a 2 star on the food. I dind't go for all-inclusive. Instead, for the same amount of money, it's worth checking out the restaurants nearby.

We went to the PlayaLuna the second week in August the hotel was very busy,mainly Spanish people(but thats what we would expect in Spain) the atmosphere felt very good.
We had a double room which had air conditioning and was kept spotless by the cleaning staff,which we found very friendly,in fact all the staff we met went out of their way to make you welcome.

Quite a few of the staff could not speak English,but we can't speak Spanish,thats the way it goes,we got by,we comunicated.
The restaurant and food was excellent,expect to put on a few pounds though,also the pool area very spacious and plenty of beds with clean towels every day.Once you go thro' the security gate in the pool area the beach is approx 20 yards then miles of golden beach and the weather was very hot.

We would certainly go again and again and again.

Thank you PlayaLuna for making our holiday.
Best Wishes

We just got back from a week at the Playaluna. We had a very pleasant stay and would happily go back. In terms of comments people have made regarding the staff, I can see where they are coming from but I would describe them as busy and efficient rather than unfriendly and rude. I would, however, say that speaking Spanish, or at least attempting to speak Spanish with the staff is necessary. I'm not sure whether the staff were meant to have different languages they spoke displayed on their name badges but when I looked I didn't see any and they seemingly either don't speak English or were unwilling to. As long as you are prepared to make the effort, however, you are fine and in fact, we had fun trying.

Our favourite thing about this hotel was the food which was very good. Perhaps a little samey but I think it's only to be expected when catering on such a large scale and there was plenty of variety. There was always fresh fruit and fresh bread at every meal and at lunch and dinner there was always pasta and a wide variety of salad including the usual lettuce, cucumber and tomato but also olives, pickled onions, beetroot, beensprouts, a selection of cheeses, cold meats, quiche's and more. As well as the buffet options which always included some meat, fish and vegetarian dishes, there were chefs on the grill cooking up different meats and fresh fish at lunch/dinner or bacon, eggs and sausages at breakfast.

In terms of the hotel entertainment we didn't really stay there in the evenings - what we saw was all in Spanish.

The resort was a bit quiet but we really liked it - there were a couple of late bars with music and dancing which were almost opposite the hotel but tucked away. There were also plenty of bars and restaurants to choose from. We spent a lot of time in The Miners Arms and Theresa and Phil, the proprieters, were very friendly and welcoming and I would definitely recommend a drink there.

The one negative thing I would say about the hotel which is not exactly the hotel's fault but it was incredibly busy with Spanish families and lots and lots of children which isn't exactly what we were looking for in a holiday being a young couple. I hadn't realised when I booked it that Spanish children break up from school at the beginning of June and I would advise people like us looking for a more adult environment to go a few weeks earlier or try somewhere else. We tended to avoid the pool and chose the beach instead which was a stone's throw away and lovely and quiet so in fact, the hotel being busy didn't bother us as much as it might have done.

The flies were, however, a real pain. We were told that they are caused by the many greenhouses growing fruit in the area and that they get much worse in July and August which is worth considering if you're thinking of holidaying in the area.

Finally, because I looked for this information and couldn't find it anywhere, a taxi from the airport took roughly an hour and cost us 51 euros. Not sure if this was overpriced but it was quoted to us from a pricing sheet. On the way back we took a bus into Almeria for 2 euros and stopped outside the hotel (one an hour on a Sunday) and then a taxi from the bus station to the airport which cost 13 euros. This option was much cheaper and wasn't too much hassle.

My brother and I stayed for 10 days on a self catering basis at Playaluna. We were a little hesitant after reading some recent reviews. Well trust me, I am very fussy and could not find fault with this hotel.
We arrived at 10am and were given us our room immediatley, it was a one bedded apartment and had plenty of room for the two of us. The standard of cleanliness was excellent, cleaned daily, towels and sheets changed every other day, beautiful cotton sheets. Lots of wardrobe and drawer space. Beds and sofa bed very comfortable. Small kitchenette but with enough equipment needed for breakfast, simple meals etc. Only pain was not having a kettle so take a travel kettle with you.
Our room was overlooking car park with a bit of a sea view, at first wished we could move butsoon realized much quiter side of hotel.
Outdoor pool extremely cold but lovely and clean, slides and two jaquizzis. The indoor pool was much warmer. We spent most of our time on the amazing beach. Right outside the hotel was a sunbed hire place, run by a lovely lady. Sunbeds were soooo comfortable. Cost 4 euros a day or 25 euros a week, worth every penny! Some days there was only us on the beach.It was stunning.
To the left of the hotel on the beach was a super beach bar/resturant called oasis, well worth visiting. ( WE DID DAILY!)
During the week the hotel was very quite, but weekends it got full of very , very loud Local Spainish holiday makers. They truly talk 10 decibells higher than everyone else. Even when the hotel was full there was still plenty of sunbeds around the pool if somewhat noisy.
We never ate at the hotel, most people said food was fine but we did find the dining room a bit noisy at the weekends. Nice spacious bar by reception, you could take drinks out from there but they were pricey.
Right opposite the hotel was lots of bars and resturants. All had various offers, free tapas, buy 1 get 1 free etc, and all bars were very very quite. We loved it but amazed us how they stayed in business. Our favourite bar was el jardin, an irish bar who do live music/kareokee, brill night.
Oasis, classics, los flangos, franks and Theos are all worth a visit. Theos do a drag act show which was excellent.
At dinnertimes we always went for tapas, our favourite tapas bar was on the same side as the playaluna to the right, caled bar de tapas, locally known as red chairs, below the fittness centre, excellent tapas, free with any drink. Amazing.
We walked along the beach path, about two hours walk to the port, then onto the grand plaza shopping mall, worth a visit, a bus stop is right outside the hotel if you dont fancy the walk down the beach.
Overall we loved roquettas and would go back for a very laid back chilled out holiday. we would also stay self catering at playaluna again.