Francisco I Hotel

Comment

I hate not being able to recommend this hotel as it's in a great position and the staff could not be more friendly and helpful. Trouble is it's not easy to get a good night's (or day's) sleep. The rooms on the front of the hotel overlook calle Arenal which is really noisy all night long. The rooms on the inside of the hotel suffer from the building work that is still going on 18 months after I last stayed at this hotel. The builders start work at about 7.45am and continue until after 6pm, even in December. The rooms on the 5th floor offer a much better level of comfort, but are likely to be more expensive. The rooms on the 4th floor tend to have a half sized bath which means they're only good for a shower and the rooms didn't have a hair-dryer. Also be aware that there are three flights of steps from the entrance to the lift which only serves the 4th floor rooms. There is another flight of stairs from the lift to the rooms on the 5th floor and yet more stairs to get to the restaurant on the 6th floor. Breakfast was included but is pretty basic. The coffee is poor which is inexcusable in a country where you can get a decent cup of coffee in even the grottiest bus station. And the stuff that looks like orange juice is in fact orange squash which leaves that artificial sweetener taste in your mouth for hours afterwards. You can make a decent cup of tea though!

Top Tip

If you want a proper old-fashioned place (hectic, not stylish) for lunch and your Spanish is good enough for food and drink, try Vina P on Plaza Sta Ana.