Casa Rural Arenas de El Rocio

There weren’t any other suitable options in El Rocio for our family at the time, but the condition of these rooms was completely unacceptable because of the mold. The rest was simply embarrassing. We had to wash all our clothes after leaving because of the smell. In Room 6, which was much brighter than the first room, mold covered the walls in both the bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom had no window or ventilation, and its shower head holder was loose and unusable. The trash can lid was broken, the towels were paper-thin, and the pillows were hard, high, and uncomfortable. Even the bedside lamps had no switches. The receptionist told us to either unscrew the bulb or unplug the lamp, which is ridiculous when a hardware store sells cords with switches. We were first shown Room 11 on the ground floor. It was dark like a cave and smelled strongly of stale cigarette smoke and damp, and the shower head holder was broken there too. This hostel should have been renovated at least 15 years ago. The place felt indifferent and neglected. The one positive was the friendly staff across all three hostels in the group. Breakfast isn’t offered at Arenas, so we went to El Cazadero Real and El Palacete Real instead. It was very basic, mostly small prepackaged portions with a long shelf life.