I arrived on Sunday, 24th October to Rio Marinas Apartmentos only to find that reception is closed on Sundays. "Fair enough, Sunday is rest day", I conjectured. But I was left wondering how I should enter my apartment. Thankfully I had the telephone number of the owners on my mobile phone. Thank goodness for mobile phones! After several attempts at contacting the owners, someone answered. I was then advised that my key was in a little safe box on a wall to my lefthand side with a key locked inside of it. I asked for the code for this safe box, which I had to memorise.
Having retrieved the key, I then set about looking for my apartment. I walked around and around, asked a few of the other holiday residents until one kindly Belgian holiday maker helped me to locate my apartment.
From the outside the apartments are lovely; all terracotta colours which gives a Spanish feeling. They have lovely contrasting green Spanish style doors entering the apartment. Once inside, the apartment looked fine. It was clean to my untrained eye. And tidy.! There was a kitchenette area with a breakfast bar and two stools from which to perch yourself on at the said breakfast bar if so desired.
The fridge was clean and functional. though the freezer compartment's door was missing. But, it worked all the same. I had no problem freezing water. As for the microwave I didn't even open the door, as I had no intention of using it. It looked fine from the outside though. There was a two ringed electric hob which worked fine the one time I used it.
The kitchen cupboards were stocked with an assortment of crockery, cutlery and cooking utensils. However there was no kettle. That didn't bother me too much as it was way too hot for hot beverages. There was a toaster, but again I didn't try it out, so can't say weather it worked. In the case of the kitchen units themselves they were basic, but fine, though the handle of the cutlery draw wasn't fixed on and came off in my hand.
The bathroom was clean, but had only one toilet roll. The shower worked fine, but only enough hot water for one person to have a relatively short shower. I was on my todd, so I had no problem, but if it was a family or group there might have been an issue. The shower, which has a shower curtain, is fixed to the bath taps. At the rim of the bath there were ants crawling out.
The bedroom was fine, with a huge double bed, which was comfortable. It also had plenty of wardrobe space. There were blankets in the cupboards above the wardrobes, if you required them.
The sitting room area was clean too, and had a bed settee with a throw over it. I didn't bother looking under the throw as I didn't need to use the bed settee. To sit on, it was comfortable enough. Opposite the bed-settee was a table and chairs for indoor dining next to the balcony window, and so gave a good view out, if dining indoors. There was also a TV, with no remote control, and I gave up trying to work it out. The TV was a very old model. Again it wasn't too much of a concern as I seldom watch TV anyway, but would have liked to have seen what Spanish TV was like.
The sitting room lead straight onto a balcony through a set of sliding doors, which are all glazed, and through which you can see a good deal even if the doors are closed. On the balcony was a white, hard plastic table and a matching chair. There were no other chairs on the balcony, so if there were to be a few people sitting on the balcony, you would have to bring out the dining chars from the sitting room area. These dining room chairs are far from comfortable if you're intent is lolling back with a glass of wine and reading a book.
The balcony overlooked a lovely garden area with swimming pool, albeit enclosed by railings, which is great if you have young children. The gardens were well maintained and relaxing to look at! The swimming pool wasn't my best yet experience of the like, but it was fine. However there were no sun loungers, which somewhat disappointed me.
The apartment itself was two minutes walk to the beach, with a restaurant next door which facesthe beach. There was a general dealers type of shop at the top of the apartment block from where I purchased my basic food provisions. It was open from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM every day, including Sundays.
Regarding the beach, it was, in my view, dirty and unattractive. Lots of litter, pigeons, and even horse manure, the latter mentioned of which stood there for days. It was a shingle beach too. At the rear of the beach is an eclectic mix of boat yards, farm animals, dogs, and restaurants. Indeed, the restaurant next to the apartments had a dirty looking farm yard with hens and donkeys. The donkey manure made the venue a foul smelling experience. I did have diarrhoea after dining at this place the first night. This does not mean there is a definite connection, but I suspect there could be.
On checking out, which was 2:30 AM in the morning, as I had to catch an early morning flight from nearby Malaga airport, I was told to leave the keys in a box o a wall; I just had to drop them through the letterbox slit.
Now to the aspects of the apartments which need radical changes. Here is my list of complaints:
1: No reception on arrival, or person to check in with at the apartment.
2: No reception all week.
3: No reception or person to check out with.
3: Had to walk all the way into Nerja town centre, find the property owners (an estate agents) and check-in, having no idea of the town or its streets.
4: No maid service to change beds, or clean. So I was left with the same bed linen and towels all week.
5: One toilet roll for a week, and not even a welcome pack.
6: No draining board for wet dishes in the kitchen.
7: TV remote missing.
8: Ants coming out of the bathroom wall.
9: No sun loungers
10: Near to a dirty, unattractive beach
11: No WiFi
12: No key to the safety deposit box in the bedroom wall.
Overall I have mixed feelings about this.. Would I use this place or company again, definitely NOT!