Review date: 21 January 2008 - A HotelStreet visitor from Scotland wrote:-

Review title: "Sand Club"
Travel date: May 2007
Fed up of reading bad reviews about the Sand Club apartments. We had a great time. No lager louts. Very quiet. Very clean. All restaurants great. No beach close by but pool area lovely.

Can hire a car very cheaply and see rest of island or travel by bus, very cheap too. If you like quiet relaxing holidays, it's highly recommended. Plenty of shops in San Blas to keep you amused and it's literally across the road.

Review date: 25 January 2007 - A HotelStreet visitor from Dartford wrote:-

Review title: "Rent Direct From An Owner"
Travel date: January 2007
This is the second time we have stayed at the Sand Club. We rented it direct from the owner of the apartment via holiday lettings. The apartment had everything we needed including a dish washer; we were only staying for a week! The apartments have been repainted on the outside since we last went last year.

Apparently, talking to a chap who has lived on the complex since it was built, the complex is a mixture of privately owned apartments and ones that are owned by one company and sold to the holiday companies. These are ones he gets complaints about as it appears that the holiday company is not bothered, but he has nothing to do with it. So there are two types and the best ones are privately owned.

The pool side bar is now permanently shut, but you just bring your own drinks down instead. The weather was good and the pool is a good sun trap. We go for the golf and the local course is challenging and only a few minutes walk away. We will be back and recommend you book direct from the private owners, we are glad we did!

Review date: 15 November 2006 - A HotelStreet visitor from England wrote:-

Review title: "Don't Go To Sand Club"
Travel date: November 2006
Don't go to Sand Club. Tour operator photos must be from when it was first built. It is a sad, sorry, run down place now! Privately owned apartments are probably ok, but not those the tour operators rent out. The apartments not even worthy of one key. Its obvious straight away that the place was probably nice once, but was now rundown. The curtains of the apartments, as we walked past, were so dirty they should have been thrown out

As soon we opened the apartment door, the disgusting, dirty smell hit us. There was rubbish on the floor, dirty towels, sofa so filthy you could never have sat on it. The glass of the balcony doors looked like they'd never been washed and the frame looked like it had been kicked in many times. There was filth and grime around the edges of all the floors. A grotty kitchen area had a dirty two ring hob and disgusting kettle, the sink was also stained & dirty.

The man at reception was ok, he said would send a woman to clean. Meanwhile I phoned the travel company in England to ask to be moved. I had to do this from my mobile phone so will cost a fortune when the bill arrives. Eventually saw the so called cleaning lady - not a bottle of bleach or disinfectant to be seen!

The kids found the pool and said it was just ok. We went for a walk waiting to here from travel company and the grotty room to be cleaned. The area was quiet - a shopping precinct close by with a supermarket, some tourist shops, few bars and places to eat. We would've been bored after one day, with nothing on the complex either

Back to the apartment, it had been so called cleaned - windows not touched, edges of floors not touched, all that was done was a wipe round with a damp cloth, not a proper clean. Floor mopped down the middle of everywhere, cleaner towels and bedding. It still had the disgusting, dirty smell, not the smell of a freshly cleaned place.

We couldn't stay there! I don't mind basic accommodation, but I it expect clean! It was a horrible, grubby, dismal place. We spoke to other families staying there. They felt the same as us, but were putting up with it as they were out most of the time! And they had the attitude 'well, what do you expect for cheap'. I expect a clean, hygienic place, no frills, that's all.

Had I read all the reviews before booking, I would not have booked. Be warned, if you want 'basic and clean', you won't like Sand Club at all!

Review date: 11 October 2005 - A HotelStreet visitor from Leeds wrote:-

Review title: "Great For Golf"
Travel date: May 2005
We recently stayed at the Sand Club for a week. It was booked direct with the owner via the internet. Although there is a reception – we were sent the keys directly, got a taxi from the airport, and ten minutes later we were in. The apartment was nicely furnished, spacious, and very airy. The kitchenette was fully equipped, but did not have an oven, not that we needed one. The fridge looked fairly new, as did the microwave and hob. The owner later told us he had refurbished the apartment last year after he had bought it. I did have one gripe though that the television only had two English channels – CNN and Euro Sport. However, there was a small collection of books and there was a DVD hire shop nearby which made up for it.

The Sand Club itself is not over endowed with facilities it just has a reception and pool with a bar. The pool itself was quiet, but in good spot as it caught the sun and was out of the breeze which seems to blow constantly on the Golf del Sur.

The apartments, after talking to the chap upstairs, are owned either by people who live there permanently, or rent them out or by a local property company. The better apartments are those rented out by the private owners as they also use them themselves. There are also signs around the complex saying that pets are not allowed but I saw at least two apartments with dogs, not that we heard them. Some parts of the complex seem to be in need of a lick of paint. Overall the complex itself was quiet.

It's not an area that teenagers will enjoy - only one night club – great, because you do not get everything else that comes with drunken youth!