Hotel Europa

Lovely place, and the staff were VERY pleasant.

The room was clean and tidy, and the bed was cozy with several pillows. The staff were easygoing and helpful. At breakfast they make coffee to your instructions, so there’s no watery machine coffee, and although there aren’t many options, the bread and olive oil are delicious. The shower had a good flow and enough temperature range. Still, the room had only a tiny window facing an interior courtyard, so it stayed dark all day and felt a bit depressing. The bathroom is separated from the rest of the room by a pane of glass, with no privacy at all. There’s no fridge, and the TV’s HDMI connection is disabled, so I couldn’t use my Chromecast, although the free Wi-Fi worked great. A few mosquitoes kept bothering us now and then. The location is very convenient, an eight-minute walk to the cathedral. If you come by car, forget about free street parking. If you won’t need the car during your visit, there’s a public lot five minutes from the hotel near the Bullring for 13.60 Euros per night, a rate agreed with the hotel.

A quirky three-star hotel with a very clean room that was a reasonable size for a city centre stay. The staff were really friendly and helpful, and the location is great, close to all the sights. Breakfast was very local, definitely different from home, but a real experience, especially if you want to try five kinds of olive oil. Parking was tricky only because we arrived on the Saturday evening of the local Feria.

Our stay wasn’t too bad apart from one desk clerk, but the customer service issue means I wouldn’t recommend this place unless you’re willing to put up with rude staff and attitude. The day manager had a terrible manner. He demanded our passports before showing us the room, then approached us at checkout about a misunderstanding over the included breakfast. We would have been happy to settle it, but the way he acted and made a scene in public was no way to treat a hotel guest. His smart remarks and devious attitude made me wonder why someone in a customer-facing job would risk damaging the company’s image.