Esplendid Hotel

As visitors from England, we found it a good place to stay while visiting Blanes. It’s clean, friendly, quiet, and close to the beach. We also planned to eat out during our holiday, so there isn’t really anything negative we can say about it. Thanks to all the staff for having us. It didn’t meet our particular needs because the hotel doesn’t serve alcohol or pork, and doesn’t allow guests to bring their own food or drink into their room to make up for that. Still, I wouldn’t call it a bad place to stay. The negative reviews seem a little exaggerated to me. We were greeted politely, staff were helpful throughout, the hotel and pool were clean, and the other guests were friendly.

I had a lovely stay here. The staff were fantastic and always happy to help, and breakfast was very good with a great selection. My room was cleaned every day and I got fresh towels daily. I’ve read reviews saying it isn’t that good, but the only thing I’d say is that the rooms could do with decorating.

Blanes is a beautiful place and we enjoyed the holiday, but we won’t return to hotel esplendid. The location is great. After we complained, they changed our first room without fuss, and the second was much better, though that wasn’t hard. The first was horrible, dirty, had stained sheets, and the air conditioning didn’t work properly. The reception staff on arrival were really rude, although others were nice. The cleaning staff on floor 4, especially Mimi, were lovely and kind to our five-year-old son, even though she didn’t speak a word of English. You could hear everything through the walls: couples arguing at midnight, babies crying in the night, and kids running through rooms and corridors like a herd of elephants. The road out front is very busy. The indoor pool stinks, the swimming areas are shabby, and the whole hotel needs a revamp to bring it out of the 70s and 80s. In my opinion the food was terrible, like feeding time at the zoo, and it was food roulette with no signs saying what anything was. The canteen machine coffee was not coffee, though I’m not sure what it was. We didn’t know there was no alcohol in the hotel before arriving. The pool bar staff member was so miserable we didn’t want to ask her for anything, and after the first day there were no ice creams or iced lollies. The list really is endless. If you don’t mind a hostel, you may not mind it here.

The outdoor pool was small and crowded, and the indoor pool smelled bad with water that looked disgusting. We enjoyed the pool anyway. The beach was lovely, warm, and clear, with bars nearby. There weren’t too many bugs, shops and restaurants were close, and we went on some nice walks. We saw a huge jellyfish. The kids laughed but were scared too. The salt water made my skin sting, as it always does for me. The hotel itself wasn’t so lovely. The rooms didn’t look like the pictures, at least the one I had seen, and felt boring inside. You have to rent things that should already be in the room. If you’re out all day and only use it to get ready, it’s good enough. Some people were rude, but most were nice, and I didn’t experience bad service. Check out The Shack, the chicken burgers are delicious. The room was alright for cleanliness. We got fresh towels every two days, the bin was emptied, and the sheets were changed. The bed was average, and while it wasn’t uncomfortable, our backs hurt when walking, which never happens, so maybe it was the bed. I’m angry there’s no fridge unless you rent one for 5 euro a day. The air conditioning breaks easily or doesn’t work at all unless you ask them to fix it. They have nice drink options.