Pension Castil

The bed was comfy, the room was clean, and the staff were friendly. Still, that green light over the door is much too bright, and noise from both the street and other guests was a lot.

Being so close to the center was handy. We had a comfortable room and the place was clean, so we had a great stay.

The staff were the highlight, really kind and helpful. She even helped lift my luggage up from the ground floor. For the price, the place is decent and pretty central. Just be aware it's on the second floor and reception isn't open around the clock. They contact you ahead of time with instructions for getting in. I'd recommend it.

I was charged for a room we never stayed in, after Pension Castile said they couldn't accommodate our bicycles. This happened three years ago, but I only just realized my review hadn't been published because of wording that Google Maps didn't allow. I've edited it now. My partner and I were cycling to Granada as part of a world bicycle tour. The night before we expected to arrive, I booked Pension Castile through booking.com. We'd stayed in plenty of hostels, hotels and pensions around Portugal and Spain, but hadn't used booking.com before. Its free cancellation wording made me think we were safe. At 9am the next morning, I called the pension to explain we had bicycles and gear. The answer was a quick no, there was no space for bikes. No apology or attempt to see if anything could be worked out. When I asked if I should cancel, I was told yes, they couldn't take us with the bicycles. I'd never been dismissed so abruptly, despite four years of cycling through many countries. I cancelled by phone, but didn't get the person's name and didn't formally cancel through booking.com. Around 4pm, when I got online, I saw a message from Fernando at P. Castile, sent at 9:36am asking when we'd arrive. I only have phone service when connected to the internet. I replied that I'd cancelled that morning because of the bikes, hoped I wouldn't be charged, and said we'd still love to come if there was some way to park them. I got no response. A few days later, the charge appeared on my card. I asked for a refund and explained what had happened. Carolina, who called herself Fernando's representative or workmate, replied that the cancellation was outside the policy window and that I'd need to contact booking.com. That was the first time anyone said sorry. Booking.com told me the pension had to grant the refund. When I passed that along and pointed to the free cancellation shown on booking.com, P. Castile replied rudely that I was a no-show, that cancellations were accepted only up to two days before, and that I'd booked the day before. I couldn't find that two-day policy written anywhere. They said I was trying to cancel for free because they couldn't adapt to my needs, and that wasn't acceptable, then told me to sort it out with booking.com. Booking.com again said the pension had to approve a refund. I was charged in the end. I'm astonished by the hypocrisy, rudeness and lack of interest in accommodating a touring cyclist. Their booking.com page says they promote environmentally friendly travel, including using low-consumption LED bulbs for most lights. They also list paid car parking and luggage storage, but neither was even mentioned to me. The location might be superb and the place may be clean, but as a cyclist, I wouldn't try to stay there.