The hotel has much more to offer than its impressive location. The interior of the hotel tries to evoke some of the opulence that visitors to the Alhambra would have encountered. The entrance hall, lounge, lobby, bar, dining room, even the toilets have tiles and arch patterns that recall the style of the Moorish artwork in the palace over the road. The reception area is spacious with a high ceiling, and you are led down towards the lounge, beyond which is the terrace bar. The hotel is built on the side of the hill and overlooks the city of Granada and the hills beyond, so you do not actually get views of the Alhambra itself. The views from the terrace bar are impressive nonetheless, with glimpses of snow on the mountain tops when I was there at the end of April.
The rooms seem to vary in size, but none of them are small. They are all modern, with air-conditioning and great bathrooms. One word of warning though is to ask not be too near the lifts, which have to be the noisiest of their kind in any place where I have stayed. A colleague who was also there for the conference asked to change rooms because of the noise.
If you like Spanish food, you will certainly not complain with the standard of fare in the restaurants here. The breakfast buffet was good, although the service was variable in terms of reliability and attentiveness. Getting served on the terrace bar also had a certain lottery element. However, once you were able to place your orders, the service included something I had never seen before. If you ordered a gin and tonic for example, the waiter would bring a measure (more generous than the standard 1/6 gill) in a gin bottle. This seemed to be the case generally for all spirits. According to a Spanish colleague this is for two reasons: because this gives you the opportunity to ask for slightly more or slightly less (ie they do not necessarily have standard measures), and also because people in Spain are very suspicious that the barman will substitute a different, cheaper spirit for the one you have ordered. I cannot vouch for which is the more likely explanation.
I was at the hotel for a conference, for which the facilities were very good, including WiFi in the conference rooms. I did not get the impression that the staff would go out of their way to solve any difficulties you had, but that they were efficient enough. The location was great - it was five minutes walk to the Justice Gate to the palace, and it took about 20 minutes to walk into the city centre and visit the Cathedral. The walk back up was less gentle, bearing in mind that Alhambra is a hill-top fortress, but there are regular buses or a taxi if you are not feeling energetic.
The quality of accommodation is good, the food good and I particularly liked the terrace bar as a place for relaxing with a drink or two. The two question marks I have are the quality of service, which was variable, and above all the value for money, at over £120 a night excluding breakfast, although I'm sure there must be better deals out there on the internet. It is a nice hotel, with a premium, top-of-the bill location. It is a pity that its prices reflect the location rather than the overall experience.
Pictures of Alhambra Palace Hotel, Granada
View from terrace bar
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Come and enjoy the Moorish splendour of the Alhambra – one of Europe’s most remarkable ... more
buildings – from this hotel, set right outside the ancient walls of the palace itself.The interior of the Alhambra Palace Hotel is full of exquisite features inspire...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
very helpful by (100%):
