Barcelo Costa Vasca

"We booked through Booking.com on what we believe was a deal that included breakfast. We had a number of reasons for being sure this was the case, but we had no actual proof after we had made the booking, although screenshots I sent showed the deal was still available. Unfortunately, I only checked the dates were correct when the initial paperwork came though (my mistake) and despite contacting both booking.com and the hotel directly a number of times, and raising the issue at check-in, neither party were willing to include the breakfast we believe we paid for. We asked for management to get in touch with us during our stay (to discuss this and the email hacking - I received a scam check-in email), but they did not, although this might have been down to a misunderstanding on the part of the reception staff due to the language difference. In later correspondence, the hotel told us our room had been upgraded to one with a balcony, which we were unaware of, assuming it was the one we had been allocated as Booking.com website didn't offer that option. Obviously, we would have preferred to have had the room we believe we'd booked and breakfast. This is the most expensive hotel we have stayed at in Europe, but unfortunately it didn't come close to matching the standards of many other, less expensive hotels we have stayed in - several of which included excellent breakfasts. The hotel was clean and modern and our room was comfortable and had all the expected amenities. There was a spacious bathroom, but it had little useful storage space and a badly designed bath screen meant the floor became dangerously slippery whenever the shower was used. Understandably, as we feel we paid over £300 for breakfasts we did not receive, we were not willing to spend any more money in the hotel , so cannot comment on the bar/poolside services. There is a large, cold pool shared with the neighbouring health club, which has exclusive use of the front terrace and loungers. The smaller terrace at the back of the pool is reserved for hotel guests, but in our experience it would be hard to get a seat at peak times. The loungers were not particularly comfortable, nor the view particularly attractive as a fence blocks the view of the pool and the hotel is in a residential area and surrounded by apartment buildings. The hotel is about a 30 minute walk from the old town, It is on a steep hill, so anyone with mobility or fitness issues would probably need to use a bus or taxi to get back. We are frequent travellers and I think this is the only poor review we have left as we know how hard it is for hospitality to please some people, but understandably we feel very disgruntled as we believe we did not get what we paid for. In future , we will be checking our paperwork thoroughly straight away and will take screen shot with dates what we have booked."

"Nice hotel with balcony, dining options and outdoor pool. Huge bed in a good-sized room. Breakfast included. Pool area was enjoyable and had drinks, food options. Good dining in restaurant and bar area. Largely residential area and an uphill walk from Miramar - some of it dark and quiet at night, but there is a handy bus option or Uber. We walked to beach and into Old Town. Felt a little pricey - possibly due to film festival and European football match."

"We picked this hotel because of the ease of getting from the motorway, and generous underground parking - it delivered. We appreciated the safe, mini-fridge and tea kettle found in our room. The leafy suburb was a pleasant antidote to the hubbub of the old town; it was hardly a trial to walk in for 25 mins past a ravishing view. The staff were very nice, the (unheated) pool and its snack bar were great. The Barceló business practices were very poor - having booked via booking.com in January, we were contacted by the hotel to demand we paid 100% upfront NINE MONTHS in advance or lose the room. Their email looked like a scam, and given this was explicitly NOT the policy advertised at the point of sale on booking.com its legality was questionable. After this performance they still tried to palm us off with a twin on arrival rather than the double we’d paid for. I haven’t encountered the Barcelo chain before and after that experience I won’t rush to use them again."