Hotel SB Plaza Europa

The main letdown was the unreliable Wi-Fi and the very weak gym. Otherwise, it was a decent hotel for the price, in a convenient spot near both a shopping centre and the exhibition centre. The rooms aren't large, but they have what you need, though things feel a little worn.

The staff were super nice, and the bed was comfortable. I really liked the rooms, breakfast, and the gym and sauna/hammam. There's also a great à la carte restaurant serving Catalan/Fusion food.

The food selection felt limited compared with other hotels in Spain, and most people seemed to stick to breakfast. In our room, whenever the neighbours flushed the toilet, a loud sewer noise came straight out of the sink. Apart from that, the hotel was really pleasant and works well for tourism or other kinds of trips. Everything was beautiful and clean, and the design was lovely. There are pools, a sauna, and a gym, and you can get drinks while in the pool. Thanks, SB Hotels!

I waited a month to write this because I needed to sort out how I felt, decide on a rating, and give the hotel a chance to take responsibility and offer some compensation. They did, but the offer was small, and it was less than the increase in the price between when we booked through mybooking and when we arrived. Maybe we were unlucky with the room, but we booked a family room because it looked lovely in the pictures. The off-season price wasn't cheap, but it didn't seem unreasonable for a four-star hotel in this part of town. After travelling all night, we arrived to find the room wasn't ready, which we'd expected. They said they'd hurry and call as soon as it was ready. We left our bags and went into town, then came back in the evening without having received a call. After showering, we discovered the bathtub wasn't draining. We got dressed again, reported it, and were told someone would fix it right away while we went to dinner. When we returned, the dirty water was still there. It was late, so we had a very quick shower and went to bed. We complained again in the morning and explained that my wife was on her period and we had small children. They again said they'd fix it right away. We kept complaining that evening and the following day, three times. On day three I emailed mybooking and central marketing, and then someone came and fixed it. The room was half the size it appeared in the pictures, and instead of an extra bed there was a folding metal spare bed. It was old and in poor condition, with broken, squeaking things. The fan didn't work, and humidity was awful alongside the water left in the tub. The pool also looked nothing like the pictures: it's tiny, less than a metre deep, and was freezing cold in early September when it was 30 degrees outside. It was probably warm for only one month of the year. So our family holiday ended up being a terrible experience. The breakfast was great, though. The staff were friendly in words, but there was no action.