Casa Bizu

The location is genuinely handy, just a short walk from everything going on. But our stay was a mess. We weren’t told where to find the keys, and although they said they’d send photos, none came. The room had no towels, and we had to go looking for them. We also had to make the bed ourselves with sheets we fetched from the rooftop laundry, and took pillows from another room. It’s listed as a hotel, but it’s actually a shared house. We thought we’d have a private pool and kitchen, so the listing gave us the wrong impression. There was a lot of mould below the bedroom air conditioner and in the shower. Nobody cleaned the room while we were there, and they asked us to take out the rubbish. I don’t recommend it. Booking.com didn’t post my full review, and I feel the site deliberately misleads people.

The owners were friendly and effective, and the pool was a lovely place to cool down. Our studio worked well for our family of three, including our four-year-old, and the shared kitchen was decent, though it could use an update. At the price we paid, it was good value. The surrounding bars could be loud at night, mostly until around 11:30, but that didn’t bother us much. What did cause trouble was the owners returning and ending our reservation early. We lost time and money finding another place.

Josephina and Maria were warm and caring, and we had a delicious breakfast during our one-night stay. It’s a pleasant house, with a very comfortable bed and a good shower. The front room downstairs gets some street noise. I thought the price was a little high, though perhaps that’s what happens when the owner isn’t Mexican.

We stayed two nights and the room wasn’t cleaned or given fresh towels. It also smelled odd, the shower was poor, and there was no bottle of water in the room. At night, the music was loud. The WiFi downstairs was okay, but the signal in our room was so bad that we had to use the city WiFi. Breakfast was disappointing and didn’t really look like the photos we’d seen. For €40 a night, among the more expensive hotels, we expected more. It didn’t live up to what we’d hoped for after reading other reviews.