SH Valencia Palace Hotel

The hotel is right by jardin de Turia, and it took us only ten minutes on foot to reach the old town. el Museu de les Ciències was about 15 minutes away. The lobby is beautiful, the rooms are big, and the bathrooms spacious. Service was great and the staff very helpful. We'd absolutely book here again.

It's easy to get around Valencia from this superb location, and the staff were generally very friendly. Breakfast was okay to good. The whole place doesn't quite feel like a five-star hotel, to be honest. The rooms are pretty beige, there's no obvious concierge, and it lacks that bit of polish.

The staff were very pleasant, and they're the main reason I gave it three stars. The breakfast was a lot of food but low in quality. I booked a suite for three people and got a room that was nowhere near good enough. There were bloodstains on the couch, no headboards on the beds, peeling wallpaper, chipped furniture, and nothing matched. It felt like old pieces had been grabbed from a junk sale and dumped in the room. I don't understand the four- or five-star ratings. Wouldn't recommend it.

The rooms were spacious, clean, and the bathrooms stylish. The beds were extremely comfortable, and we had a nice view of Palau de la Música and the park. The location was decent too, about a 20-minute walk from the city center and close to the metro, bus routes, and City of Arts and Sciences. The pool was the reason we booked for our three-night city break in València, so it was a real letdown to find it closed for refurbishments until the end of May after a storm earlier in the year. I understand the storm was outside the hotel's control, but no one told us. We only found out in the lift on the way to our room. At check-in, staff said the main platforms had been informed and the notice was on the hotel website. They said the same at checkout, and didn't seem very apologetic. I booked in January and had called ahead specifically to ask about the pool. I was told it would be open, perhaps covered, by April. It's fair to expect someone to check the website before booking, but not to keep checking it after booking and before arrival. We got no email or message from the hotel or booking.com about the closure. I struggle to see how we should have known. It's not a five-star hotel, maybe a good four-star at best. I'd probably recommend it if you're after a decent luxury stay, as long as you're not expecting anything amazing.