Hostal de la Playa

The manager was really friendly and helpful, and the location is great, a few hundred metres from the beach with a large free car park nearby. We stayed a few nights. Our room was spacious and had its own shower room, but the shower sprayed water everywhere, leaving the floor damp all day. The floors creaked, and the building itself is very old. Breakfast could be better too, since most of what was served was packaged rather than fresh.

The location is hard to beat, with an excellent beach just steps away. They have parking and even an elevator, which is unusual in a building that must be about a hundred years old. Breakfast was adequate, nothing special. We made two requests and they weren't ignored, though there is only so much that can be done when the rooms are such a mess for €95 a night. Then again, it was Llanes in July, so perhaps we got a deal. We spent two nights at Hostal La Playa (Barro), in the spectacular town of Llanes. We're a middle-aged couple from Oviedo, both working professionals, and it saddens me to see a profession brought into disrepute this way, though the owners are good people. The first night, our room had a 1.20-meter bed with a terrible mattress and an even worse pillow. We mentioned it the next morning, and they moved us to a better room straight away. It had a 1.50-meter bed, a more decent mattress, and a bathtub with a shower tray. The first room had a bathtub too. But the sink drain leaked, leaving a puddle between the sink and shower, so we told the staff and they changed our room again. In the last room, the mattress and pillow were acceptable, and the old bathroom did the job. The house has no soundproofing, and some young people coming back from a party went into the adjoining room at 6 a.m. We could hear everything, though luckily they fell asleep quickly. There are other things I could object to, but I'm a nice person too, so I'll leave them out.

The owner was lovely and made us feel at home, always checking that we were all right. We arrived a little late, but she waited for us to check in, was super friendly, and let us choose between two rooms. It's right by the beach, with parking nearby ;)

We travel to Asturias a couple of times a year, but I wouldn't book here again even if they paid me, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It could be the most beautiful hostel in all of Asturias, which it clearly isn't, and I'd still avoid having to speak to this unpleasant woman again. Ten days before our stay, after a very close relative died, I asked to cancel the charge on my reservation. She cancelled it immediately and rented the room again. But when it came to refunding our money, she spent a month pretending not to understand. We sent all the details and confirmation emails showing the cancellation charge was 0, and even offered to send the relative's death certificate. She only paid attention after we said we'd report it. It's disgraceful to run such a despicable business. There was a lot of false empathy at first, while she rushed to rent the room again, then she ignored us over money that wasn't hers. She has to be shameless.