Sentido Trendy Verbena Beach - All Inclusive

This will be an extensive review of each aspect of the hotel that I experienced. I will make a recommendations/summary section for guests and the hotel at the bottom in a TL/DR style, but I hope the level of detail will assist both future guests and the hotel itself. Couple in our early 30s for reference. RECEPTION/CHECK-IN A few things to sign as you arrive, but after a long trip and being quite tired, the receptionist was very helpful and swift. A friendly chap then took our bags to the room and concisely ran through all aspects of the room – with all detail we would need to know. Rating: 5/5. ROOM We booked a sea view room with a balcony, and the view was quite nice. A large balcony, very private too with screens/dividers along the whole way either side – which is nice and something you do not always get! Room was clean, and well presented. Modern and nicely furnished. Bed was two singles together (great – more space), with the mattress being on the firmer side (prefer softer, but no complaints – that is a preference). Excellent air con. Ample storage space, plenty of hangers (they are the annoying "hotel" ones that cannot be hung anywhere else with ease). Towels and slippers provided. The bathroom is modern, and everything worked very well, separate toilet and shower. Additional large sink as you walk into the room, which is excellent for washing swimwear, make up, etcetera – very handy. The room gets the tea/coffee replenished daily, as well as the mini fridge contents. Towels etc also. I could not fault the cleaner for our room, who seemingly enjoyed the notes in Turkish my other half would leave for her. Her name began with ‘Gü’ from memory (apologies that I cannot recall it exactly!), and she did an excellent job. Would have left a larger tip if we had more cash left! The room has no iron, or no clothes steamer. Services are available for this. But does come with a very handy rack in the shower, so run a hot shower for a while, and your creases will drop out (although most go to dinner with no effort, more on that below). Rating: 5/5. POOL/BEACH We did not use the pool, as the beach seemed so vast and good that it seemed a waste to use a pool! The pool also seemed a lot more cramped, with sun loungers being close together. Much more room at the beach! Sun loungers are NOT at a premium at the beach. You can turn up at any time of day, and you will get one. If, however you are an early riser like me, I would recommend getting to the beach before 7am to get the front row as it is cooler due to a bit of air flow compared to further back, and much prettier to have the sea in front of you whilst reading a book etc – but again, personal preference. Others do “reserve” them and do not appear for some time, but as there are loads around, it is not an “issue” – albeit irritating. The beach is vast, clean, and simply fantastic. With a large section of sea to enjoy too, there are no complaints or faults with it. You can easily walk along the beach for a long section either way also, and for someone that normally bemoans that sand ends up everywhere, I was very happy to embrace this to enjoy the rolling Mediterranean waves. Rating: 5/5 for the beach, cannot comment on the pool but seemed a bit snug sun lounger wise! RESTAURANTS The main restaurant’s food was very good for a buffet style. Quite a bit of variety, good quality, and had zero issues with the food served. Slight Germanic angle on the food (understandable as there are a lot of Germans), but a notable variety and it was always good food. They do have themes seemingly every other night, which are in my view slightly lacking in commitment. There will be a few things that are Asian, or Mediterranean etc, but without a banner and some music playing to mirror that cuisine, I do not think you would necessarily know? Not a complaint at all, just would be good to see them fully embrace it! They have a BBQ/Meat section inside the main seating bit which could easily be missed on your first night, and a few stations outside too, to your right as you enter the main restaurant – so make sure you give those a look! Service was always good and cannot fault them for that. They have multiple signs up stating that men must wear trousers to dinner (which I could not see on websites previously), but I am an advocate of this as it generally promotes better standards/nicer dining experience, I was fine with it. However, it is NOT enforced, and I wish it was. Half the men turn up in sports shorts and sliders to dinner, which I feel is slightly insulting to the hotel. The hotel evidently make notable effort with their service and food, and people turn up with little effort clothing wise, which is a shame on their part. We did not get to use the A La Cartes, as our booking for the French restaurant (Fri 22nd) was cancelled due to not many bookings (or so we were told, but it was quite full when we went past…), and we had to cancel our Mexican booking as my other half was not well the next day. However, they seemed popular. The beach bar restaurant offered similar food each day but again was of good standard and no issues at all. Rating: 5/5. BARS All of the bars had quick service, friendly staff, and I cannot fault them. Only minor quibble would be that soft drinks are served warm, with some ice in. So, after 30 seconds or so, you have a tepid, watered-down soft drink. Other than that, no issues at all. Rating: 5/5. SPA/TREATMENTS I didn't use it; the other half got a pedicure and was very happy with it. Rating: 5/5. GYM Smallish, a disproportionate amount of cardio equipment (standard practice for hotel gyms it seems), but they did have a better variety of machines/weights than a lot of hotel gyms I have used. Good air con, and towels and water are provided – and always available. No need to book the gym, but never too busy each time I used it. Equipment does need a bit of a revamp, but does the job. Rating: 4/5. MISCELLANEOUS The hotel wi-fi is generally okay but can be a bit patchy. Not an issue as I do not use my phone much but can be a bit frustrating if trying to check something. The Patisserie’s coffee/cake (2pm-5pm) is excellent, with a great variety of biscuits, cake, and outstanding tiramisu. TL/DR Recommendations/Advice for Guests: - Steaming clothes in the shower is easy due to the rack in the shower. - The beach always has plenty of sun loungers, but being nearer the back gets very warm due to little air movement. Get near the front if you can. - Trousers at dinner are seemingly not compulsory, despite the signs. - Book the a la carte restaurants on the day you arrive in case they cancel your booking like they did ours! - The Patisserie (2pm-5pm) is excellent, and make sure you try the tiramisu! - West of the hotel is a breakwater/groyne that protects a small fishing harbour (by Turtle Bridge). You can experience a beautiful sunset from there and would recommend people visit that! - Side itself is very interesting and would recommend anyone vaguely interested in history to view it! Recommendations/Advice for Hotel: - Really commit to the themed dinners in the main restaurant. Would be good to see more dishes of those cuisines! - Enforce no flip flops/sliders/shorts for men at dinner. You cannot be a luxury five-star with people in sliders at dinner. The dress code is trousers/shoes for men, and no beachwear. There is a greeter just inside the door, so it would cost nothing to enforce your own signs! It would create a feel of higher standards and luxury – which I am sure the hotel is aiming for. Which leads me on to my final summary: Would I pay the same to stay here again? Yes. Do I have any actual issues with the hotel? No. The hotel offers a great variety of bars, restaurants, areas to sit, places to unwind, all with great service and a very lovely room. I cannot fault this hotel, and my comments of “improvement” are minor things that I think they should tweak.