Out side there were a few bars ont the street and along the beach. Some were better than others. The only local bar I found that gave FREE tapas while you drank was Bar Alhoa on the beach to the left behind the hotel.

There were more shops and bars 15 min walk further down the road / beach. The shops outside the hotel sell all the usual tourist rubbish, for better clothes, sunglasses, shoes, etc take that 15 min walk down the road. Just come out the front, turn left and keep walking !

I would come back again as it was the type of holiday I was looking for, good bars and good local food to enjoy, there were no louts puking in the street and no excessive thumping music outside.

And not a football shirt in sight.
There was no sign of trouble anywhere I went. The majority of the bars outside seemed to wind down around 1am. By 1.30am the place is almost deserted.

The beach is shingle and gets really hot quite quickly. there is a lovely breeze - sometimes a wind which tends to keep you cool however we had some freak weather days where the temp went up to 42 degrees.

The sea is fine but shelves a little steeply - by which I mean an average adult after about 5 steps would go to their knees a few more steps their thighs. Ok for adults but something to bear in mind if you have very little ones. Sometimes the sea was very choppy and in my opinion not very safe to swim in however the majority of the time it was fine. After the sea had been choppy there tended to be quite a lot of seaweed and marine debris in the sea but this wasn't particularly a problem. We saw a few jelly fish washed up but none of us had a sting and neither did we hear of anyone who did.

The beach has lots of sunbeds which have lovely thick mattresses on. These were €3.50 euros but if you knew you would be going everyday you could hire a bed for the week for €21 euros.

The beach was always spotlessly clean.

Now then the flies..........there are alot of flies just like the type we have in England not the mosquito type. These seem to be a problem during the day but seem to disappear on a night. They do get on your nerves a bit after 2 weeks but it hasn't put us off returning or in any way spoit our holiday. If you really hate flies I suggest you eat inside as there were very little flies indoors that we noticed. We sat outside each lunchtime for the tapas etc and sometimes you would be constantly wafting them away from your food. Once the food has gone they do tend to reduce in number.

There are a number of bars in the local area a mix of British and Spanish. The Tropical bar to begin with left the bottle of spirits on the table for our first 4 or 5 visits this did change after you became a regular but they always brought crisps, fruit, small cakes and sweets round every 10 mins or so in fact somethines it was embarrasing saying no!!!!! A lot of places brought out nibbles with your drink.

All in all a fabulous time was had by all. On the last day we visited the Europa pizzeria - food amazing in there but we did only go once. Our favourite tapas bar was Cullars Bar - a small family run affair - lovely!



For your information there were people who came round and left little trinkets on your table - particularly whch appeal to children. If you touch them or pick (which is waht the children tend to do straight away)them up you are expected to pay for them so be aware of this fact.

After leaving a review of this resort and reading others I think it is important to understand that the resort is rather spaced out with the best access to it all is by the promanade on the sea front.

We stayed at the bottom end of the resort called the urbanization, this end had the Playa Serena golf course close by. We did walk up as far as the Meddieraneo hotel and a little beyond but this did take about 20ish mins.

The harbour took 20 mins on bike to reach from our end of the resort. The bottom end of the resort did have plenty of free tapas bars - more than I can actually remember but some did give you a choice where others just brought out whatever - always usually nice.

I hope this helps explain why reviews are quite differing.

The resort is plagued by flies which is very off putting. You can't have a meal without having to squat hundreds of flies off your meal. If you are sunbathing you are for ever squatting off you. They are everywhere. I spoke to a local ex pat who said it was worst last year when they had open bins but this year isn't so bad as they now have covered bins. That's all well and good but they never use the lids any way. It beggers belief.

It's actually a nice resort although not geared for the young don't come here to party. There is some good little bars and restaurants. Our favourites being Y Da Wakes and the Tavern and Suzy's Tapos bar was great...

The beach was shingle and was hard on the feet. There were many sunbeds for hire at 3.50.euro's per person, which I got to say were very comfortable. The resort entertainment consisted of karaoke at Y Da Wakes twice a week with Phil a drag act at Theos Bar on a Sunday or a singer with backing tracks on the Tropical Breezer bar most nights and bingo in most bars.

This resort is geared up more for the mature person and not the young. If you want to party go to Ibiza. If you want to relax come to Roquetas De Mar. Need to get rid of the flies though.

The resort of Roquetes was very clean & tidy, they were always out cleaning the promenade.

The major problem we found was the flies! We went on 23 June for 2 weeks and for the first week they were unbearable, you could not sit still & relax for 5mins without them over you. It really spoilt our first week there, the second week wasnt too bad as the wind was quite strong but as soon as wind was gone, they were back again, its because they have fruit farms over there but something really needs to be done about this problem, we dont know how long they are there for some say from May till end July but who knows! they even sell fly squatters in the shops!!!

The beach itself was a shingle beach but was kept lovely & clean and there are toilets & showers on beach.

There were quite a few bars around, but the best was the Boulevard bar about 100mtrs from Hotel Sabinal, it plays live music every night and the owners & staff are so friendly & helpful, they really made sure we had a holiday to remember.

Roquetas is a well kept resort with nice beaches a long promenade ideal for a relaxing holiday not alot of entertainment in the resort.

My family and I visited Theos and a beach bar called Boulevard the food was really good and very cheap! There were two waiters who were so helpful and friendly made our holiday so enjoyable there's live music every night its good but can be a little repetitive but well worth a visit.

Very clean resort,lovely beach although shingle quiet and relaxing,resort entertainment is very low key,not for the younger crowd.

Very Spanish but it is spain after all,if you try and speak a little Spanish it helps a lot.

One more thing the flies are a nightmare but cant be helped.

The resort was quite clean. Too many cats for my liking. Beach standards were very high.

Roquetas is clean on the whole, but there is some dumping of picnic rubbish particularly plastic bags. There is a lot of building work going on and with the high winds, there is a lot of dust everywhere.

Entertainment was scarce with most bars having televisions showing football.

If you want a really quiet holiday which is totally different to the Costa del Sol this might be for you, or try Aguadulce (which is even quieter - but nicer) which is just along the coast.

This is the most filthiest resort I have ever been to, what made me laugh was how the promonade was cleaned daily, but the dog dirt was just ignored, and brushed into the bottom of the palm trees, I have never seen as much dog dirt in my life, and as for the flies I couldn't believe how many they were, mind you, with all that dog dirt, is it any wonder? There was nothing in the way of entertainment, there were a couple of bars, but they were really grotty, we ordered 2 pints of lager, and one cheese toastie , the price was e13! Trying to eat that toastie, with all the flies around was a trial in itself! We would never visit this resort again, we have travelled all over the world, and this has been the worst resort/holiday ever.