Alameda Palace

The location is great, but I’d only stay if the rate were very cheap. The old-style decor has some glamour, then it stops there. The rooms don’t have the amenities I’d expect from a 5-star hotel, not even tea, coffee, or a box of tissues. At the bar, they charged 2 Euro each for two cups of hot water, and wanted 1 Euro for a small wooden takeaway spoon when we asked for one to eat something in our room. Breakfast was very average, and the coffee was so bad we went two doors up to the cafe. This is 3 to 3 1/2 stars at best, definitely NOT 5 STARS.

The decor and design give the place a lovely atmosphere, and my room was clean and well kept. It was a pleasant place to come back to after a day out. Breakfast, though, was a massive letdown and felt completely out of step with the hotel's quality. The choice was extremely limited, maybe aimed mainly at tour groups. The danish tasted rancid and spoiled, as if it had been sitting out for days, and was inedible.

The buffet breakfast was the big letdown. It was pretty average: chocolate rice bubbles and cornflakes, badly made scrambled eggs and bacon, lots of sliced meat and cheese, and boxed juice that wasn’t orange and was impossible to identify. The coffee machine was good, but the pastries were poor and the serving staff weren’t friendly. I’m sure they don’t like yours, as they’re overwhelming and demanding, and you could tell. Such a shame, because it spoiled the property’s old-world charm and lowered my rating. This is an Italianate-inspired hotel full of marble and mirrors, with reproductions of old masters and reproduction chests of drawers and desks in the rooms and hallways. There are a LOT of mirrors in the rooms, especially the bathroom, which might feel off-putting depending on your body and self-esteem. The 9th-floor terrace restaurant and pool were closed, but the view over Salamanca is beautiful.

Lovely hotel with friendly staff, and the room was lovely too, apart from being uncomfortably warm. The garage was very, very tight.