Hotel Los Jarales

The location is a real strength. The hotel is surrounded by the mountains of southern Spain, with a nearby dam lake and the Mediterranean on the horizon. It’s peaceful, with panoramic views, and close to the coast. There’s a lovely garden with fragrant flowers and shady trees, plus private parking for more than ten cars. The rooms have a comfortable, rustic country style, with views from more than one window. The AC worked well, and there was a hair dryer, though the TV was very small. Resting in the room was comfortable enough, and the internet was quite good for a rural spot. Angel was the only staff member I saw during my stay, but he was really nice, flexible, and helpful with check-in and access information. The breakfast was the most disappointing part. It was advertised on booking.com as a superb free breakfast, but the portions were rationed. Around 9:00, the one staff member had to serve all the guests at once. For two people we got one coffee each, a cup of peach juice with no choice of flavor, two slices of bread, some cheese and ham, two small pots of butter and jelly, tuna pâté, and two small Magdalene cakes. There was no fruit at all, not even an apple, orange, or peach. For such a nice countryside setting, that was a poor offering. The bathroom also had only two small shower gel and shampoo sachets, and the soft shower curtain didn’t stop water from flooding the floor. The jacuzzi room needed to be reserved in advance, which was inconvenient and frustrating. The pool had good summer hours, 9:00 to 21:00, but didn’t seem to get daily maintenance. There were lots of leaves floating in it and greenish algae on the bottom. For a place with a rating above 9.1 on booking.com, I found it overrated. With a genuinely superb breakfast and a better balance of quality, service, perks, and price, it could have been a solid four-star review, maybe five. But it was understaffed and undermaintained, and too expensive for what it offered. Still, it’s a very nice place to spend a countryside holiday in southern Spain and enjoy views toward the Mediterranean.