Hotel Matilda, a Member of Design Hotels

The service was very good. When I had an upset stomach, staff went to the pharmacy for medicine and even made chicken soup for me off the menu. The massages were good, too, though the spa itself is small and has no shared relaxation area. The Hammam is just a tiny steam room for one person, with a makeshift massage table. If two people need to sit there, keeping your feet dangling for 30 minutes is uncomfortable. The hotel is beautifully designed, and the bedroom was nicely decorated, with comfy bedding, great bathroom products, and superb towels. It’s on Aldama Street, just a stroll from the central plaza. The pool area is small but nice, though the water was very cold and could definitely be climatized. I also would have liked a bathroom near the pool. The bar serves excellent drinks, but it’s mostly empty, perhaps because they’re small and overpriced. The restaurant is good but pricey. Continental breakfast was included, but it was the same each day: a choice of drink, fruit with granola and yogurt, very good juice, and toast. The bread was poor quality, with hardly any density or crust, and the espresso drinks were so weak and watery they seemed almost like they might be made with pods. Bad bread and coffee really surprised me at one of the premier stays in SMA. There’s a large round table in the restaurant that’s always empty. They could use it for a continental buffet with better coffee and pastries. A positive stay overall, but a few things could use tweaks.