Hotel Torre San Juan

Our booking was cancelled on the day we were due to arrive, so I can't really review the stay itself. They'd told us a late check-in was okay. Car hire then took 2.5 hours, and while we were waiting the hotel said they were cancelling because we hadn't arrived. We explained we couldn't get there until we had a car, but they were rude and said it was our problem and they were closing. No apology or attempt to help. We booked through Booking.com, so they had all the card details they'd need, two cards in fact. We had nowhere to stay that night. Thankfully, at 1pm we found a couple of rooms at the Ibis, where the service was great. What's happened to hospitality and customer service? We still don't know whether they'll try to take money from our account. And don't use Centauro in Alicante.

We have never been so relieved to get home from a holiday. The whole stay felt like a living hell. We were a 70-year-old couple stuck in the middle of nowhere. The hotel is out in the sticks, apparently catering to Spanish business people passing through. Language was a major barrier, and even taxi drivers didn't speak English, so asking them for restaurant tips was no use. There were no restaurants or shops nearby, and we needed taxis to get anywhere, even the beach. It was February, but people still need to eat, and no evening meals were provided. There were no kettles in the room for making drinks, and no English-language TV channels. The room was small and cramped, not suitable for a week-long stay and nothing like the photos. The garden with the best pool was off limits because the owners still live there and keep that pool for themselves. The smaller pool in the public area was filthy. After the gardener sprayed something toxic on the plants one day, that area was closed off too, leaving nowhere to sit in the sun or lie down and relax. I'd say don't stay here for more than one or two nights.

The room we’d originally picked wasn’t available, so we ended up here by chance. That worked out very well. This is now our favorite hotel in the area, and we’ll definitely come back. The double room was clean, comfortable, air-conditioned, and well equipped. Staff were attentive, caring, and multilingual, the chef was great, and the little garden looked spectacular. One evening we were craving Wiener Schnitzels. They weren’t on the menu, but the chef was happy to make them for us. What a gem!

The room was basic, with ants all over, including on the bed, and an unpleasant smell in the bathroom. There was no kettle, though the AC did work. We’d brought instant noodles because we expected a kettle and arrived hungry after a late journey. When we asked reception for two bowls, since we knew there was a kitchen, the answer was just “no,” with no explanation. That was really disappointing. We’d arranged a late check-in with the host months ahead, as we were due to arrive at 11 pm. Our flights were delayed, and we let them know before boarding. Once we were in the air, of course, we had no reception. We reached the hotel around midnight, but the owners had gone to bed and another guest had to let us in. After waiting a long time at the buzzer, staff finally let us inside. They said they’d gone to sleep because they “thought we weren’t coming,” which made no sense to us. Where else would we have gone? Surely they knew we were on the plane. An older woman then scolded us for not contacting them and said people needed to sleep and that we were inconveniencing her, even though we’d just had a long, tiring trip ourselves. On top of that, they charged us €20 for late check-in, a fee we hadn’t been told about when we agreed to arrive late. It felt a little made up. It was cheap, but you get what you pay for, if even that. We won’t be back. It just isn’t worth it.