The hotel was very clean, and the housekeeping staff did an excellent job.
The location is fantastic, right by a very nice beach (perhaps not the absolute best on the island, but still very lovely).
The pool area was a pleasant surprise and actually looked much better in reality than it does in the pictures.
Generally, the staff members were very friendly and welcoming.
While the quality of the food was good, the opening hours (08:00–10:30) felt a bit too short. Additionally, the staff was quite slow at refilling items—especially the fresh orange juice. They only brought out one pitcher at a time, which emptied instantly, and it took way too long for a replacement to arrive.
A big minus for us was that the staff regularly feeds the birds. This attracts large birds that try to steal food and generally bother the guests. My girlfriend is afraid of birds, which meant we could never sit outside because it stressed her out completely.
During the first two days of our stay, we couldn't swim in the bay due to a sewage incident caused by a neighboring hotel. I fully understand that this was not Hotel Playa Santandria’s fault. However, when you pay a lot of money for a beach hotel and only have one week of vacation a year, you expect to be informed about this before arrival. I would have appreciated the option to rebook, or at the very least, receive some form of discount or compensation for those days.
/Michael