Hotel Neptuno Roquetas: My Honest Review After Staying

The Hotel Neptuno made it onto our list because you asked us to go. Last summer loads of our followers messaged us about it: good value for money, a family feel and guests who come back year after year.

We went in mid-September 2026, on full board with drinks, and we paid for the stay ourselves, with no invitation of any kind. Here is the good, the bad and the families I would recommend it to.

The short answer: it was a pleasant surprise, above all at mealtimes. We have rarely paid so little for full board this year, and the food is better than the price would suggest. Its big drawback is that it isn’t on the seafront.

My take on the Hotel Neptuno in two minutes

I give it 7.7 out of 10. The staff score highest, with 8.5, followed by breakfast, lunch, dinner, the bed, cleanliness and the beach, all on 8.

What pulls it down most is what it offers adults. That only gets 6.5, because almost everything is designed with children in mind. The other weak score is room size, at 7.

Its trump card is how much you get for your money. Good food, drinks included with all three meals and slides for the little ones, in exchange for a five-minute walk to the sand at Playa Serena.

The best and the worst of the Hotel Neptuno

Where it is and what arriving was like

The Neptuno is in Playa Serena, the hotel area of Roquetas de Mar, but it isn’t on the seafront. It’s the hotel’s weakest point and worth knowing before you book: there is a short walk between the front door and the sand.

We timed it on Google Maps and on our own two feet: it’s a four or five-minute walk, in a straight line, with no slopes or steps. You’re there in no time, but you won’t see the sea from your sunlounger.

The hotel has around 200 units, half of them rooms and half apartments, or so we were told. It’s on the small side but very well organised, and in mid-September it was pretty full.

The first thing you see is the lobby, and I liked it. It won’t wow you like a luxury hotel would, but it feels welcoming: it’s spacious and bright, with lots of glass and summery blues, whites and soft oranges. With very little decoration they put you in holiday mode.

A quick check-in, despite the queue

When we arrived there was a queue at reception and I feared the worst. Five minutes later everything was sorted, in a friendly way and with no hassle. The room, though, wasn’t ready until three in the afternoon.

We got there just before one, so we left our bags and at 13:30, the moment the buffet opened, we were already eating. If you arrive early, make the most of it and be at the buffet as soon as it opens: it’s the best time to eat in peace, and I’ll explain why in a moment.

The food: the best thing about the hotel

This is what surprised me most about the Neptuno. We were on full board, all of it buffet, and for what the hotel costs the quality is well above average. It isn’t gourmet cooking, but you really enjoy your meals.

Lunch

At lunch there was salmon, sole and redfish, and the salmon was superb, really good quality. There were also several meats, stews, vegetables, salads and cold cuts. The desserts, on the other hand, were ordinary, nothing to write home about.

What I appreciated most is that the meat was juicy and full of flavour, not dried out at all. At a lot of buffets the meat is dry and the fish overcooked, as if they had been sitting in the tray for hours. Not here.

The flaw: queues at peak times

The problem isn’t on the plate but in the serving area, which is too small when the hotel is full. At 13:30, when lunch opened, about twenty people were already waiting in the lobby. At the start, though, the queue moves quickly.

The trouble comes at peak times. You have to wait for the people in front to serve themselves and, at the live meat and fish station, for the cooks to make more, because it runs out fast. It won’t ruin your day, but factor it in.

That’s why I keep saying it: go down for lunch and dinner as soon as they open. Even the hotel says so, on the sign at the restaurant entrance, which asks guests to avoid the busiest times.

Breakfast is from 8:00 to 10:30, lunch from 13:30 to 15:30 and dinner from 20:00 to 22:30. And a handy tip if you’re going on a day trip: packed lunches have to be ordered by 21:00 the day before.

Dinner

Dinner was on a par with lunch, with good-quality ingredients. Some of the fried food let it down, like the battered squid, but everything else was very good. Even the chips were so tasty we thought they were homemade; it turned out they weren’t.

Breakfast

Breakfast follows the same pattern: good ingredients and plenty of choice. There are pancakes made to order, eggs, toast, churros and quality cold cuts. You can tell they haven’t gone for the cheapest option.

And if you prefer a savoury breakfast, there are also fried eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms and beans, like on my plate in the photo, which I had with a coffee and toast with tomato.

Drinks included

This is one of the hotel’s best features: drinks are included at the buffet, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Beer, wine, sangria, soft drinks and whatever comes out of the machines, with nothing extra to pay.

And you notice it in your wallet. At another hotel on the same trip, water cost us €1.80 (about £1.50) and beer €3.20 (about £2.70), and one way or another we were spending €20 or €30 a day (£17 to £25). Here that cost disappears.

The café and the pool bar

Outside the buffet there are two more places, and at both you pay extra. A café with sport on the TV, for your usual coffee or drink, and the Lobe Pool, a poolside bar with soft drinks, ice creams, snacks, sandwiches and fast food.

To give you an idea, on the snack bar menu a burger with all the trimmings was €11 (about £9), a ham and cheese toastie €7 (about £6) and pizzas €11. Salads range from €9.50 to €11 (£8 to £9), and baguettes are €7.

The pools: fun for the little ones

The pools aren’t spectacular and there’s no water park, but there’s plenty to keep children entertained. And this is exactly where you’ll find out whether the hotel suits your family or not.

The main pool is pretty well equipped. It’s deep almost all the way across, except on the steps and at the entrances, and it has waterfalls, a ramp and games in the water such as water polo. It’s very lively during the day.

What catches the eye most are the inflatables. There are inflatable slides that drop straight into the pool, plus two more slides built into a tower, which aren’t tall but are very fast.

For the youngest there’s also a very shallow pool, designed for babies and toddlers. And there’s one more: a smaller covered pool that can be closed or opened depending on the weather.

If you’re thinking of coming in the low season, the covered pool is a plus: on a rainy day you still have somewhere to swim. It’s nothing spectacular, but it’s welcome.

There are plenty of sunloungers. Even with the hotel full, we could still find free ones, and right next to them is the pool bar, with loads of tables and chairs where you can sit down for a drink.

The room: it does the job, but it isn’t the hotel’s strong point

We booked the standard double, the cheapest room in the hotel. We looked out over other buildings and a car park, with the sea far off in the distance between them. It wasn’t a sea view in any real sense.

From what we saw, there are no proper sea views here: you either look onto the pool, with its noise, or outwards, at other buildings. So I wouldn’t overthink it and would book the cheapest, which is exactly what we did.

The room has only been half renovated. The decor, beds and mattresses are new, with touches of the hotel’s branding that make it feel cosy. The rest of the furniture and the bathroom haven’t been updated yet.

It isn’t big either. The two queen-size beds take up a good part of the space, although the terrace is a good one and makes up for it. Either way, this isn’t a hotel where you spend the day in your room.

The best thing about the room is how well you sleep. The bed is very comfortable, and the built-in air conditioning barely makes a sound. The pillow is average, neither good nor bad: I would put two per person, which costs little and makes for a much better night.

The bathroom

The bathroom is spacious and practical, although it hasn’t been renovated. It has a bath with a glass screen and does the job without any nasty surprises. As with the furniture, a refurbishment would lift it quite a bit.

As for cleanliness, everything was clean, but not spotless: in the bathroom we found the odd thing that shouldn’t have been there. That’s why I give it 8 and no more.

The beach: Playa Serena, five minutes away

The beach is Playa Serena, the same one the beachfront hotels in the area sit on. From the Neptuno it takes four or five minutes, straight ahead. It’s a very long, wide beach, typical of this part of Almería.

The sand is coarse, with small pebbles, but it gets finer once you’re in the water. Depending on the wind there can be some waves, and it gets deep fairly quickly, so keep a close eye on young children.

It shares the beach with the Bahía Serena, the Alua Golf Trinidad, the Playacapricho and the Playasol, and we’ve been to all of them. On value for money, for me, the Neptuno beats every one of them, even though they are closer to the sand.

For kids: ideal up to the age of 7 or 8

For young children, the hotel works really well. The facilities aren’t huge, but between the inflatables, the slides, the kids’ club and the entertainers, at that age they won’t get bored.

The kids’ club is big, although it looks a bit dated. The good part is what goes on inside: activities during the day, games and even film sessions at siesta time.

The entertainment is very much aimed at families. We saw the team on the go all day long, and in the evening there are shows on the stage by the pool; now and then there’s also live music or a quiz for the grown-ups.

For those who’ve outgrown the kids’ club, there’s an arcade area, with table football and air hockey, which we saw packed with children. They were having a whale of a time.

I would set an age limit, though: I recommend it for children up to 7 or 8. Once they’re over 8 or 9, the slides and most of the games will feel too tame for them. If your children are older, have a look at the family hotels we’ve stayed in across Andalusia.

For adults: not much

This is where the score drops most: for adults I give it 6.5. There’s hardly anything designed for them beyond the pool, the pool bar and the occasional night of live music. The hotel is made for families.

The gym doesn’t help either. It’s fine for a basic workout, but it’s pretty run-down and could do with some maintenance. If you train seriously, it won’t be enough for you.

A plus point that sounds minor but makes a real difference: the lifts never let you down. There are quite a few and they’re fast, so we never had the problem we’ve had at other hotels, where you wait so long you end up taking the stairs.

The staff

We didn’t deal much with the staff, but they left a very good impression, which is why I give them 8.5. At reception they were friendly and efficient, and check-in, queue and all, took five minutes.

In the dining room there were always one or two people doing nothing but clearing plates and keeping an eye on the tables. And the lifeguards played with the children and splashed them, without ever taking their eyes off the pool. Touches like that create a good atmosphere.

Hotel Neptuno scores, category by category

Category	Score	Why
Overall	7.7	The average of the twelve categories
Cleanliness	8	Clean, though with the odd issue in the bathroom.
Bed and pillows	8	Very comfortable bed; average pillow.
Bathroom	7.5	Spacious and practical, but in need of a refurb.
Room size	7	Just enough for two queen-size beds, with a good terrace.
Breakfast	8	Pancakes made to order, churros and good cold cuts.
Lunch	8	Salmon, sole and juicy meat, better than the price suggests.
Dinner	8	On a par with lunch, apart from some of the fried food.
Pools	7.5	No water park, but inflatables, slides and a covered pool.
Kids’ facilities	7.5	Made for little ones: inflatables, slides, kids’ club and arcade.
Adult facilities	6.5	Hardly anything designed for them, and a run-down gym.
Beach	8	Playa Serena, long and wide, a five-minute walk away.
Staff	8.5	Quick check-in, attentive dining room and hands-on lifeguards.

The average of the twelve categories is 7.71, which rounds to the overall 7.7. It falls short of excellent, but it scores 8 or more in seven of the twelve categories.

Who the Hotel Neptuno is for, and who it isn’t for

It’s your hotel if:

• Your children are 8 or under.
• You want to eat well without paying for an expensive hotel.
• You don’t mind a five-minute walk to the beach.
• You’d rather not pay for drinks separately.

It isn’t your hotel if:

• Your children are 9 or older: have a look at our family hotels in Andalusia.
• You’re travelling as a couple or with friends and want facilities for adults.
• You want to walk out of the hotel and be straight on the sand.
• You train seriously and need a good gym.

If the Hotel Neptuno isn’t for you

• Alegría Colonial Mar Aqua Fun: also in Roquetas, with more for the kids.
• Family hotels in Andalusia, every one we have stayed in across the region, scored out of 10.
• Family hotels in Spain, all the ones we have stayed in, to compare it with the rest.

Do I recommend the Hotel Neptuno? Yes, especially with young children

Yes, without a second thought. It doesn’t earn an outstanding score, but it’s a very well-rounded hotel and one of the best-value ones we’ve seen. It loses points for how little it offers adults and for not being on the seafront.

If you’re coming as a family and want good food, a pool with slides, entertainment and a good beach nearby, I think it’s a very good choice if your children are no older than 7 or 8. For older children, it falls a little short.

It’s one of those hotels you leave thinking it was well worth it. And thank you to everyone who recommended it to us: if you know more good, cheap family hotels like this one, tell us about them in the comments.

And if you’ve already been to the Neptuno, tell us in the comments how it went and how old your children were: families who are still making up their minds get more from a real experience than from any hotel listing.