Hotel Riu Costa del Sol - All Inclusive

This will be a strange review because we were booked into this hotel for 11 nights but had to go home a week early because of a family medical emergency, but I will give my opinion based on what we experienced in the short time we were there.

We travelled with tui for 11 nights first thing I'm going to cover although not part of the hotel is the airport arrival. If you have walking difficulties then please book assistance because you have to walk for miles treacherous the first security check. Then another long walk to actual passport control. Queues are massive and a nightmare. Then get bags and another long walk to coaches if you have a transfer.

Now the hotel upon arrival it looks really nice and arrival in reception is was not disappointed. Check in was smooth as silk and although we arrived before the official check in time and expected to be sitting for a while, we were checked in straight away and our rooms were ready. Reception staff very helpful and friendly. Score out of 5 4.5

Rooms were clean and a good size. Two good sized single beds pushed together and plenty of storage. Bathroom nice, big shower with good sized sink, toilet and bidet. Rooms cleaned every day, beds made, fresh towels daily.
Score 4.5

Pools. We only used 2 so I can only comment on that. They were the main pool and sherry pool. They are a good size 1.2m deep and clean. Plenty of sunbeds but if you want a specific spot you need to get up early to put towels out as people were up as early as 6am reserving beds. The sherry pool has the snack bar which is ok but will cover that in food. Although the main pool should have a snack bar as well. As this is a family hotel expect a lot of children in pool with balls and inflatables. So if this is not for you then choose adult only hotel. Score 4 .

Food. Snack bar has the usual, burgers, hot dogs, chips and other nibbles on the whole not bad. Restaurant is the typical all inclusive fair, plenty of choice even for picky eaters but not always the hottest. Beat meal of the day is breakfast, but that's just my opinion . Score 3.

Bars. There are numerous bars around with very friendly staff. Local spirits other than a few named brands,they gave a cocktail list but if you want something and they have the ingredients they'll make it no problem at all. They also have peanuts and olives another bar as well. The pool bars open at 10am but they gave a self service area with soft drinks, beer, and wine which is available from 9am. Score 4.

When we had to come home the reception staff were very sympathetic and got us a taxi to the airport, not really much else they could do, so a big thanks to them.

Overall a great hotel realistically a 4.5 in my opinion although I gave it a 4 at the top. This is because a few little things means it can't be a 5 but there isn't an option for 4.5

The Food was rubbish like a canteen ,Ate out most nights even avoided lunch some days so we spent quite a lot on food ,Sunbeds too close to one another hated it,drinks watered down also don't listen to Tui when you book it's a Fable to get you to spend your money.

RIU Costa del Sol – August 2026
We stayed at the RIU Costa del Sol for one week in August 2026, in room 5244, right at the back of the hotel overlooking the pool and Pepe’s snack bar.

🛏️ The room

The room was very clean and well laid out, with a lovely big shower and a separate toilet. The maid came very early each morning and did a good job cleaning, although there were no extra little touches.

It was my son’s birthday while we were there, and unfortunately there was nothing from the hotel to acknowledge it. We’ve stayed in other RIU hotels where they have made a real fuss of birthdays, so this was a little disappointing.

You get a pool towel card, which you take to the towel point by Pepe’s snack bar, and you can change your towel every day. One big positive is that there are no real sunbed wars — we always managed to get a sunbed. However, some guests did put towels down and then disappear for hours, which was frustrating.

🍹 Bars & drinks

The bars were really good, with lots of choice and quick service. The cocktails were lovely and freshly made using the machines. My favourite was the Vodka Sunrise. 🍹

The bar staff were friendly and very quick, even when it was busy.

🍽️ Food – the biggest disappointment

Unfortunately, this is where I feel the hotel lets itself down.

The food in the main restaurant was very often lukewarm or completely cold. There was plenty of choice, but temperature was a real problem for us.

The speciality restaurants were also disappointing. Having stayed at other RIU hotels, I expected something much better, but the speciality dining here was basically just another buffet.

Pepe’s snack bar was much better. It’s small, but the food was fresh and served warm, which we really enjoyed.

The Spanish restaurant is open during the day for breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks. Again, unfortunately, we found some of the food to be lukewarm.

🏊 Pools

There are several pools, but they are all fairly small. They were fine, but they did get very busy and packed at times.

📍 Location

The location is excellent. You can walk straight down to the seafront, with lots of bars, shops and places to eat nearby.

We tried quite a few bars during our stay, but one of our favourites was a little place called Tutor Rose English Bar. It had lovely English food and was run by really friendly English people. 🇬🇧

⭐️ Overall

Overall, we really liked the RIU Costa del Sol. The hotel itself is clean, modern, the drinks are great, the staff are quick and the location is brilliant.

But for me, the food is what lets this hotel down. The temperature of the food in particular really needs improving.

This past holiday was my 4th time here and I will be booking again for the future when I can. The hotel is clean, staff are so friendly and helpful and I always feel safe as someone who goes on holiday alone. Rooms cleaned everyday and the maintenance team are always out and about. The food gets better every year. The variety was fantastic this trip, especially with more desserts and meat choices. The pork ribs in the Andalusian restaurant are to die for. Bar service is always so quick. Nothing is ever an issue. No sun bed wars, everyone is really chilled and it made for a great holiday.

Top tips: use the RIU app to check in the week before so it’s quicker when you get there. Also use it to book dinner at the Italian and Andalusian restaurants.

Get the train from La Colina if you want to get anywhere and it’s a lot cheaper than taxis.

The street market in Benalmadena is really easy to get to on the train and is less hectic than the big Fuengirola one.

I was really worried reading the 1 star reviews, however the hotel is well maintained, extremely clean and pleasantly surprised with a room upgrade on arrival. A choice of pools with a quieter pool being available at the back of the hotel. Make sure that you visit Mijas and Malaga as made our holiday. The C1 train from La Colina perfect and cheap for travelling around. Food is what you expect for an all inclusive lots of choice but does get repetitive after a few days or so. If you have booked this hotel there is nothing to dislike and hotel staff always very pleasant. Lots to do outside of hotel and lots of restaurants. Thank you Riu for a lovely holiday x

Good food excellent staff, nice rooms. However very overcrowded and really noisy. Especially around the pool. Not really for me!

Good location. Room ok a bit dated bathroom tiles needed a good scrubbing with bleach!
Bath towels paper thin and tiny. Awful colour. I’ve had bigger better white towels in a 3* hotels.
Went through whole list of cocktails one night and went back to room sober!
Food: yuk!
Tinned hot dog sausages reheated by deep frying!
Everything pre cooked and reheated in a frying pan with oil: peas carrots potatoes stir fry. Everything in oil.
Mixed salad in oil.
Dinning room soo long in shape food one end so all that lovely greasy food on cold plates cold by the time you get back to your table with it.
Ice cream melted by the time you got back to your table.
Good points;
Fabulous entertainment crew
They were all amazing!
Won’t return
Hopefully this is not typical Riu standard

4th visit to this remarkable hotel. Holidays in Riu Hotels never disappoint and I've stayed in them all over the world. Food amazing. Staff here are the most friendly, hardworking guys I've ever met. Nothing is too much trouble. Both grandsons didn't want to leave as they'd enjoyed themselves so much. We'll all be back. Well done Riu Costa del Sol. ❤️

We just returned from our vacation at the Riu Costa del Sol hotel. The descriptions are very different from the reality. The rooms are dirty and not cleaned, and the hotel grounds are not impressive. The food is varied but of very poor quality. There's a daily fight for sunbeds every morning (7 a.m.). The beach is public and not conducive to sunbathing. Most importantly, we were robbed at this hotel, so I don't recommend staying there. It was our worst vacation yet.

Our room was on the third floor with a sea view. Room was spacious, clean and comfortable. Food was brilliant and there was something for everyone. My partner and I usually go out for food during the evenings but we honestly didn’t need to! Pools were big but busy which is to be expected for it being the summer holidays. The main entertainment was fab however it doesn’t start till 9:30pm which can I think is quite late for little ones. My only notes were that there was no games in the big pool only fitness around mid day. It would be nice if they could do water polo or valley ball in the afternoon as this is only done in the small pool at the back of the hotel and we had to walk to the back of the hotel to change our towels. It would be nice if we could do this with the lifeguard at the big pool.

This is a review from a full time wheelchair user and a Daughter with coeliac disease.
Firstly we’ve had a fantastic time as a family met some great people . The hotel is clean and most of the staff go above and beyond. In my wheelchair I could get everywhere very friendly barring the beach volleyball court but hey oh have you ever seen a wheelchair beach volleyball player 😂. There are 3 pools and two of them have working pool hoists , bear in mind that this is a fun hotel so the pools are really not for swimming in as there is to much fun going on , giant crocodiles , ducks and sharks as well as flying balls . The restaurants are typical of RIU something for everyone, I found the main restaurant very busy to get around but I managed without running over anybody’s toes.
The adapted rooms are ok , in fact if you transfer to the toilet they’re great but very tight if you use a commode/shower chair over the toilet.
Reception staff are really friendly and helpful just ask .
Accessible taxis are easy to order and there are plenty of them.
Now if you are Coeliac don’t worry just be wary , there is a good selection of gluten free pastry, bread and buns , you can ask the head chef to show you around to explain the signs showing what you can and can’t have . But do I trust the signage well the answer has to be no , one morning I asked for gluten free pancakes for my Daughter , they had separate mix ready 👍but then went and cooked them where the other pancakes were being cooked thinking just scraping the hot plate was enough, they don’t have a separate fryer for chips just any frying pan they have hanging around even though you have a gluten free toaster. So just keep an eye on things.
Would recommend this hotel yes I would to young family’s not really a couples or families with older children unless they just want to play in the pool and sunbathe on the plenty of beds around the 3 pools .
Accessible room 3029 is noisy but near the restaurants and main pool , doesn’t get any sun and looks out over building and trees full of parrots.
Taxi to Torremolinos €8
Taxi to Malaga €10
We have a few days left so will add more when home .

I had a very disappointing experience at this hotel. The room was not clean when I arrived, the bathroom had an unpleasant smell, and the bed was uncomfortable. The staff were not very friendly or helpful, and it took a long time to resolve even simple requests.

The hotel was very clean, and all of the staff were friendly, welcoming and helpful throughout our stay. The entertainment was good.

Unfortunately, there were several areas that let the hotel down.

The main restaurant/canteen was far too small for the number of guests, and the layout simply doesn’t work when the hotel is busy. It felt overcrowded at peak times. We also found the food disappointing and ended up eating out every evening except one. During our stay, we only had breakfast and lunch at the hotel on one day.

The pool areas were also extremely crowded, with many guests reserving sunbeds before 9am, making it difficult to find somewhere to relax.

Finally, the drinks selection was very limited. Most drinks were served in plastic cups, and for a four-star hotel we expected a much better range of cocktails and premium drink options rather than mainly pre-mixed iced drinks. There wasn’t even an Aperol Spritz or Hugo Spritz available, which was disappointing given how popular they are.

It’s a good base hotel but wouldn’t return as have paid not much more for other 4 star hotels which provided a better holiday overall.

My husband booked a 5 night break for us both as a surprise to celebrate my 50th birthday and it didn’t disappoint. We arrived home yesterday after a fantastic holiday.

The hotel is pristine - beautifully clean in all areas - and the grounds and gardens are also immaculate.

The room was large - we stayed in 5217 which was towards the rear of the hotel and in a quiet location. We particularly loved the large walk in shower which made a refreshing change compared to other hotels we’ve stayed in.

Staff were friendly and attentive and a bottle of pink fizz and two glasses were left in our room on my birthday which was really appreciated.

Food and entertainment excellent. I just wish the menu differed in the Italian restaurant. It was the same the whole of our stay and unfortunately I didn’t like any of the mains so we never ate there.

Riu is always close to my heart - I met my husband at a Riu hotel in Tunisia before the chain pulled out. This is why my husband chose this particular hotel. It’s a part of Spain I’d never contemplated before but was a truly lovely experience and the perfect way to celebrate my big birthday.

Thank you so much for a fantastic stay.

Week long holiday with my son. Lovely hotel with great service. Staff were friendly and the food was very good. Great selection, and make sure you book the Italian restaurant which I highly recommend. Stone throw from the beach, and no problem finding sunbeds around the pool, but of course the best spots are snapped up when the pools open , so be quick. Would definitely recommend to family and friends

The staff at the hotel awesome from booking in to leaving, always had a smile.nothing was to much trouble.the room was spotless,the food was excellent and plentiful.would definitely return.

Me & my husband have just got back from a weeks stay . We were in room 3029 which was a low floor. Suited my needs due to mobility problems. Food great. You have an a la carte restaurant which you csn book as many times as you want ( food was amazing ) Entertainment great. If you want a bed by the many pools, they all had towels on before opening at 9 ( you need to put your towel on around 7) Beach was great , watching the sunsets . We were going to book a room as we had late flight but there’s 2 rooms in the spa you can use for free to freshen up before u leave. Staff attentive . We arrived at 11 and was given our room straight away. You also dont have to drink local drinks ( my husband is a ballentines whiskey man) which they had. Hard to fault to be honest . Concierge in front door deserves a mention , so helpful. Will Defiantly be back soon .

Una estancia maravillosa, ubicación excelente, personal super agradable, super amables.....todo en general perfecto ,seguramente repetiremos!

Es la segunda vez que voy de muchas más, todo es fantástico l y quiero agradecer al grupo de recepción,en especial a Cyntia y José ya que tuvimos un problema con la reserva y han hecho un gran trabajo y un trato excepcional para resolverlo
L@s camarer@s del bar Carihuela estupendos
Volveré pronto🙏

The location is very good Food and the restaurentes bars are very good too but a little bit overcrowded