I guess cleaniness? To be honest, the last 3 times I've been on holiday I haven't stayed in resorts, 2 of the times I've stayed in a cottage and the other I stayed in a hotel. Like I'm not bothered how much there it at the place, I just tend to go out for the days. Even when I've stayed in a "resort" (well more like holiday camp ), I've gone out for the day, not spent much time there.

xx

After checking reviews to make sure it's clean & the food is good I would next choose the pool too Helen . If it's just a plain rectangle or square shape I would move on straight away . Needs to be a decent size and look like it has a fun element to it (although I have no intention of participating in any way)with entertainment and music to tap my feet too.

Must be beachside too.

I think the standard of hygiene is high up there, and the pool area - I can't abide being on top (so to speak) of folks by the pool, I need a bit of space without feeling invaded. Restaurant is important, standard of food and not having to queue - hate queuing for anything

It has to be clean and have decent sized rooms. Close enough to the resort centre to walk but not so close that it is noisy. Not too big and not too much entertainment. Good pool with a kids pool and close to the beach.

Not asking much am I?

Location would be the first thing for me. It would have to be close enough to the centre (not too close) within walking distance. I would then look at cleanliness and food ratings.

Cleanliness first. Then secure. Not interested in pool or sunbeds, prefer a nice balcony

I think our requirements have changed now that we have a child to consider. Whereas in the past, pool size, amenities and room size/type werent important, now we have to consider those aspects. So as long as there is a decent pool with a something going on for kids, one third of my family is happy . For me however its the proximity to the beach and town. We had a villa holiday a couple of years ago and whilst I loved having the private pool and noone bothering me when, on those rare occasions, I wanted peace & quiet, I hated being too far away from everything that we needed a car to get around and couldnt even take a stroll to the nearest shop. Cleanliness is also important. Hubby isnt bothered as long as he can completely chill out for the duration and there is a bar a few feet away for a cold beer

I think that is why we have revisited the same place several times (and hoping to return again this year). It has everything we all require - decent (although not massive) pool with plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas, within walking distance of the beach and resort centre but not close enough that the noise is a bother, a restaurant and shop on site if we dont want to go out, maid service every day except Sundays, lots of people around so I can partake in my daily fix of "people watching" and very friendly attentive staff who know your name by the end of your holiday and treat you like family.

Location first- must be easy walking distance to beach or town.
Then balcony and air conditioning for med beach holidays.
City breaks we don't need those, but like a hotel with it's own bar, and bars and restaurants in the vicinity.
A nice view, either from the room itself or public areas.
We do look at reviews, but they have to be really bad to put us off! As long as the food is edible that's ok.
kate

Cleanliness I guess, but over the years on my travels I've stayed in some ropey places, though usually when I'm touring these days the hotels are pretty high standard.
On my resort holidays, I'm not really interested in a pool though I will have a swim if there is a decent one I do like a room with a balcony and I like a location with easy walking to the shops and restaurants, and car parking, we always hire a car for exploring and quite often there will be a problem finding parking spots.

Must have a bath and a shower. It's very unusual for reviews and hotel descriptions to specify. Most just say "Private bathroom" or similar.

Cleanliness in general, clean bedlinen, windows that open, centrally situated, but reasonably well sound-proofed .......... don't want much do I!

On our usual 14 day holidays, it would be the abilty to smoke either in the room or balcony............as mentioned in other postings of mine, this now seems to be getting much harder to achieve from 2nd january 2011 in main land spain lol...............maybe I will purchase some sand, and build a small area
for it at the bottom of my lovely garden...............now theres an idea lol

harry

Cleanliness, sea view and near the beach. Following on from the last post I would be annoyed if I was put in a room which smelled of smoke.

Cleanliness, (I freak out if I see a cockroach) must have a balcony and comfy sunbeds. ....Caz

Well after cleanliness which I guess for most people is the first requirement, I would say decent outside places within the hotel, ie nice gardens, lovely pools (preferrably multipule) and big pool surrounds. Being beachside is good as well and an added bonus. This is for hotels. Villa requirements differ a lot.

Plenty of hot water!

Location, location, location! Seriously, I think that we ought to be able to take cleanliness as a given and to be honest it's never occurred to me to particularly check this out in advance.

Whether it's a hotel or a villa etc my prime concern is that there should be some outdoor sitting space - even if only a balcony - with a view to sit and gaze at when having a 'sundowner'. It's what keeps us returning year after year to the same apartment on La Gomera. The rest of the facilities can be pretty basic as long as there is somewhere like a balcony or patio area that we can sit out on.

Secondly, I tend to prefer going self-catering rather than being in hotel these days and while I like smaller quieter places (I wouldn't love La Gomera if I didn't) I do like therefore, like there to be a couple of nice places to eat within easy walking distance. And somewhere to be able to buy basic supplies for breakfast and picnic lunches - I don't want to be trekking far for a loaf of bread!

Of course a lot of this goes out of the window when I'm in Cuba The main concern then is a good choice of bars and music venues with good dancing opportunities within a short distance of wherever I'm staying. I have stayed in hotels but too many of them are too isolated from local lfe and culture for my liking - hence why I tend to do 'homestays' when I'm there.

When I think about it - overall the most important thing is the general ambience and that can be so hard to pin down but it does mean that the most important thing is that it shouldn't be a big, busy tourist hotel but something small and characterful where I can indulge one of my favourite holiday pastimes - people watching.

SM

I generally do my homework on the resort to work out whereabouts I want to be before booking any accommodation.

When I find a hotel in the right location, I look for reviews on cleanliness and service issues first of all.

If it's on HB basis, I want a hotel that offers a buffet menu rather than waiter service with set meals.

If all that still fits the bill, the next thing I make sure of is that it's not a hotel that features free child places - if it does, I move on. I can manage a few kids but I don't want to be in a hotel that's full of them and I try to avoid travelling during school holidays for that reason alone.

The pool isn't a big draw for me - unless we're going to Egypt (you can't swim in the Nile ) and although we will spend some time sitting and reading on a sunbed, we tend to opt for the shade these days as we live in the sun most of the year round now. We prefer to get out and about to see the place we've chosen so good, local transport is a must!

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

I'm so glad I asked for the "MOST important" aspect, not all of them folks