"Hotel Suizo is a quaint 3-star hotel located smack-bang in the centre of Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter and directly next to Metro station Jaume I (L4, Yellow Line). It’s right around the corner from the Cathedral and had plenty of cafes nearby.
We had contacted the hotel before arriving in Barcelona to see if an early check-in was available, we were advised by Angel that it’s subject to room availability on the day - thankfully we were able to book in at around 12pm when we arrived. City tax came to €77 for two people over 5 nights. Breakfast on-site is offered for an extra €14 per person, per day.
When we arrived in our room (206), there were a couple of little sweets on the bedside table, which is always a nice touch. We were in a corner room that had two sets of double doors that led out to the veranda overlooking the street.
The room itself was a little on the smaller side, but not especially cramped. In the room there were two bedside tables, one double bed with two pillows and two bolster cushions, a desk at the foot of the bed with a footstool and a small bin. There was also a wardrobe with ample storage space and a small fridge which can hold about 16 x 330ml cans. The wardrobe also had one spare pillow and a heavy blanket, which admittedly did smell musty. We found the bed to be comfortable, firmer, but springy, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Of course with it being in a busy area, you get noise, a lot of police/ambulance sirens, but we found that the veranda doors when closed did a great job at minimising exterior noise.
The en-suite is similar to the bedroom, on the smaller side, but manageable. There’s a bowl-style sink, a large mirror above it, a shower with two sliding doors and a toilet. The bathroom had two sets of body and hand towels as well as a towel mat. Amenities in the bathroom were generous; two sets of toothbrushes with small tubes of toothpaste, a small bar of soap, cotton buds and pads, two toilet rolls and a bottle of shampoo/body wash in the shower.
I didn’t feel the quality of the room met a 3-star level. There were a myriad of things in the room which suggest poor maintenance/upkeep as well as other issues which just cause plain inconvenience.
- Our room had two AC vents either side of the room, only one of which was working. The AC itself at full blast only allowed a gentle whisper of cool air in, which only made a marginal difference when walking in to the room. The working vent also aimed the air at the wardrobe and not the room/bed, which made the AC feel even less effective. The one vent that did work also appeared to have mould/mildew above it, which is a health and safety concern.
- The plug socket at the bedside nearest the en-suite does not work. The adapter we had worked on all the other plugs, but it would not click into that one socket.
- The TV was poorly mounted to the wall, it has an adjustable hinge at the back so you can change the angle, however, the screws are missing so it drops to face down. The remote control is also a dummy remote which only has volume and channel changing capabilities, no settings button to access subtitles or change language, making the TV inaccessible to those with hearing issues or anyone wishing to change the language output, and no guide button, so you’re left flicking through channels trying to guess where something is.
- The curtains and sliding track for the en-suite door had quite a bit of dust on them. The curtains also had holes in them which let light through.
- The en-suite door was difficult to open/close, did not have a privacy lock and even when you closed it as much as you could, still left a visible gap. To open/close the door was a small knob which dented the door frame.
- The WiFi only worked in one half of the room, when I was on the side of the bed furthest from the en-suite, the WiFi would drop out. Even when there was a connection, the Internet was low speed.
- There was a considerable chunk of flooring missing by the veranda doors, which may pose a trip hazard.
- The mirror in the en-suite had excessive rust on it.
The cleaning staff were polite and very efficient when tidying up, but do remember to put the sign on the door if you want it cleaned, they will skip you if you do not.
Overall, I wouldn’t consider this a 3-star hotel, but it has a lot of potential to be even better if the simple things above were addressed and not left neglected. I can’t speak for the state of any of the other rooms, but the one we stayed in does need some TLC to hit the benchmark for a 3-star. The price you pay for the room is a premium for the location, not the room itself."
