Melia Isla Canela

we have visited the melia approx. 8 times almost yearly since it changed from being a riu hotel. since the rooms have been refurbished there is a lack of drawer/storage space for swimwear/nightwear/underwear. we have also found the food choice/quality to not be as good as our earlier visits. we went half board and preferred to have lunch in the hotel and our evening meal in ayamonte as felt the lunch choice was better. I emailed the hotel reception. prior to our visit and did not even receive the courtesy of a response. we will return as love the area and the general ambience of the hotel and hope our future visits are. a 5star experience as they used to be

We returned yesterday from this fabulous hotel and are missing it already. The hotel is beautiful, spotlessly clean and the refurbishment has really made improvements. We were standard customers (not level) and found the service excellent. Food is plentiful, well presented and offers a great choice. The staff in all areas are amazing and so helpful. It is a quiet area but well positioned for access to the working harbour, beach and promenade. It’s a beautiful authentic Spanish resort and the local people make you feel very welcome and even try to help you improve your Spanish. The hotels strength is truly the staff who cannot do enough for you. We are already looking at when we can return.

We stayed at Melia Isla Canela, for 1 week from 24th April - 1st May. Firstly we were very lucky with the weather as it was lovely and hot every day. We had a The Level Suite, which was lovely, beautiful sea View, super comfy bed, lovely pillows, fantastic hot rainfall shower, spotlessly clean. Coffee machine and Kettle, tea/coffee/sugar. Fridge. The place was tranquil, which is what I had read and that was perfect for me. Why some people write negativity about this is beyond me, as it clearly states it is a laid back quiet place. To have an Adult only area, with no thumping music around the pool was heaven. The people looking for the noise, music around the pool, then go to Benidorm! To be able to chill in the sun read a book and totally relax is so lovely, rarely have I found such a peaceful environment. My life is very hectic and this was just what I needed. The beach is also very quiet but very beautiful and a nice quiet stroll down to it. There is a long promenade running alongside the hotel and a very enjoyable walk. The hotel is beautiful to look at, very stylish. There is an estuary next to the hotel and it is nice to watch the boats drift up and down. I enjoyed watching the fishing boats going out in the evening. There is a harbour close by and some restaurants nearby too, we did not try the restaurants as we ate at the hotel. We were half board and with The Level we had access to a lounge area serving snacks, which was fine for as kept us tied over till evening meal. We had breakfast in The Level lounge, there was a menu to choose from, and there was a selection on display. The Breakfast was very nice, we had breakfast in the main buffet also this was also very nice. The weekend was a bit hectic in the dining room, as many locals where in dining room and we had got used to it being peaceful with plenty of tables. I think the food could do with being kept warmer as the hotplates do not feel very warm. However there is a microwave which is very handy. There was plenty of choice 0f food, I’m sure would meet everyone’s taste I had not realised that drinks were not included with an evening meal, not even a glass of water or coffee. However there are drinks juices and coffee with breakfast. The bedroom was very peaceful at night could not hear anything, perfect. We attended the nightly entertainment and this was very nice. We had the power cut whilst there and we had not realised to begin with as to busy chilling on a sun lounger. The hotel had its own generator so most communal areas had electric, however no electric or WI-FI in rooms. Reception charged our phones for us and we had to use them as torches. The electric came on 7am just in time for morning coffee. We will definitely go back, so if you want a peaceful relaxing holiday in a very Spanish hotel and area, this is the place for you. If you want lots of music, noise, activities, this probably is not for you.

We travelled late April 2025 for 1 week with TUI, for the price paid it was a bargain and the weather played ball, 24/28c with one cloudy am and 2 great day trips to Faro and Seville. Reading some of the recent reviews on here I wondered whether we were staying in the same hotel. We found the hotel spotlessly clean, all the staff very pleasant and prices in the bar for a Melia 4 star hotel very reasonable, €5.50 for a large beer, under €4 for a good slug of local wine, €2.50 for a coffee. We had booked a Standard room but were given a Superior twin overlooking the estuary, it could have done with more room lighting but a large ceiling fan took pride of place. Quality bedding and very large bath towels here. There is an in room fridge that only works when the key card (or a similar plastic card) is in place, so we always left one in there when we went out. Breakfast was very good, a huge choice, while in the evening the main courses could be better though with such a choice of salads, meats, fresh fruit, bread and freshly cooked options you really had to be pretty critical to find fault. Tables were quickly cleared and drinks orders promptly taken, the waiting staff in the main speak little English, but make an effort, it's their country after all, just learn a few words to order drinks etc, it's not that difficult. The Reception area is airy with large steps leading down to a huge atrium with lots of quality seating and this leads out to a lovely pool deck, turn off to the left and head down to the grassy area where another pool and sun loungers can be found for 16+, it's the quiet area and also used by The Level guests. We found a great bar down by the harbour and would head there at about 6pm and stay in the sun until 7.30pm+, drinks were cheap by UK pub standards, so I don't concur with a previous review saying the resort was expensive. A local supermaket was close by for wine, waters, crisps, beers etc for those balcony and pool side supplies! I would agree the pools were far too cold, it seems no hotel wants to heat them anymore and it certainly did not pass the 'big toe' test for me. We did notice that the hotel was much busier over Fri/Sat as many Spanish come for a weekend away and being April we were out of the busy summer months with lots of children, so I can only comment on our visit in late April when we experienced none of the queues, or crowds. We thought about AI, but TUI wanted another £550+ and being a traditional Spanish resort and previous comments about drinks prices I could not see the benefit. Plus you would feel you had to drink in the hotel rather than visit the harbour bar, we drank whenever and what we wanted and spent considerably less than the AI supplement. The Level did not interest us this time. We were at the hotel when Spain/Portugal had their power outage. The hotel was without mains power from approx 12.45pm on Monday afternoon until 06.45am on the Tuesday morning. The generators kicked in and we had

Ubicado en primera linea de playa y en una zona tranquila. El hotel cuenta con unas instalaciones magníficas y las habitaciones son amplias y muy acogedoras. Hemos pasado un fin de semana en familia espectacular, destacar también el trato de su personal que no ha podido ser mejor, siempre atentos a que no te falte de nada.

Una estancia magnifica en familia, el trato del personal ha sido inmejorable, mencionar desde el recepcionista que nos hizo el check in hasta los camareros que nos atendieron en la cena. Mencionar tambien que tienen un bufet espectacular. 100% para repetir.