Hotel Porcel Aida

I had a sleepless night in room 215, followed by physical discomfort, extra costs, and considerable stress. I developed several itchy skin marks that seemed consistent with bedbug bites. I have a previously documented allergy to their saliva, so I can recognize that kind of reaction. After I reported it the next day, the hotel moved me to room 229, where all the symptoms stopped. That strongly suggested the problem was specific to room 215. I gave the hotel photos of the marks and offered to let them check the metadata, which would show the pictures were taken during my stay and inside the hotel. They said the evidence wasn’t “objective” because I hadn’t photographed an actual bedbug on the mattress. Given that the reaction occurred in one room and the timing of the symptoms, I don’t understand what more they expected. Bite marks and when symptoms appear are widely accepted clinical signs of bedbug exposure. I had to wash my clothes at high temperatures, risking damage to some garments, and worried I might carry insects home. As a precaution, I asked them to remove and discard the bedding and mattresses from room 215 before putting anyone else there. They told me everything was in order and no insects had been found. Despite the symptoms, photos, and circumstances pointing to bedbugs, the hotel did only a superficial inspection and denied responsibility or compensation. Customer service and the manager I tried to reach gave no meaningful help and seemed focused on shifting the blame away from the hotel. Between the incident and their dismissive handling of it, I can’t recommend this place to other travellers.

My wife and I spent two nights at Hotel Aida, and things seemed fine until the second night, April 19. I spotted an insect behind the curtain in a corner of the room. I thought it was a cockroach, killed it, and didn’t tell reception because I assumed it was an isolated thing. When we left the next morning, April 20, my wife had pink marks on her cheek and arms that looked like bites. By evening they were swollen and extremely itchy, and she developed a fever overnight. We went to a hospital on April 21. The doctor said they were bedbug bites that had triggered an allergic reaction, prescribed Deflazacort, a strong corticosteroid, for two weeks, and explained that symptoms can take 2-3 days to appear. That delay explained why we hadn’t noticed anything during the stay. Only after the diagnosis did I realize the insect I’d killed was probably a bedbug, not a cockroach. We asked the hotel for a refund, but they refused, saying we hadn’t reported a problem while we were there and putting all the blame on us. That ignores how bedbug reactions can appear later. My wife went through a painful, very stressful experience and still faces a long recovery because the inflammation and discomfort from the bites persist. If you’re feeling lucky and want to find out whether you’re allergic to bedbug bites, go ahead and book at Hotel Aida. Otherwise, you could end up with a ruined holiday, a visit to a Spanish hospital, and serious medication instead of a restful trip.

The room was very cold, and the air conditioner didn’t work. Breakfast was awful too: the milk was sour and spoiled, there were hardly any choices, and what was available was stale. We were given only half an hour to eat, and staff started taking food away before the time was up. The food and drinks were all bad, and the racial discrimination was obvious. I didn’t like it at all and wouldn’t recommend it.

They wouldn’t provide an invoice, and my emails got no reply. When I called and asked to speak English, they just hung up. The after-sales service was awful, with no courtesy and a downright rude manner. Not recommended.