Hotel RL Anibal

The room was fortunately very clean, and the stay exceeded my low expectations based on the reviews. Still, this is by no means a four-star hotel and needs improvement. The bed was noisy, the sheets were too small to tuck in and too thin, and the towels felt like rags. We were given a quiet room facing inward, but since the shutter couldn’t be opened, it was effectively windowless.

Avoid this hotel. We arrived around midnight with guests, despite having told them our arrival time in advance, but there was no reception staff and we were told we couldn’t use the room until morning. They said this was in the terms and conditions. Aníbal doesn’t reply to emails. Other guests who had gone out for a drink couldn’t get into their room either. Incredibly bad, and truly incomprehensible. For 10 euros more, you can stay at hotel Santiago.

The wood paneling in the hotel bar, which is almost abandoned and now called a cafeteria, hints at a more grand past. These days the place looks very tired and feels more like a motel than a hotel. I’d wanted to visit for some time to take in the atmosphere of the place sometimes called the Wimbledon of chess. A board of champions in reception recalls that until 2010 it was home to the greatest chess players in the world. Gary Kasparov announced his retirement from chess at this hotel.

I’ve never stayed in a hotel this run-down. Apart from the lobby, nothing seems to have changed since the 70s. I still wonder how it got four stars.