Hospes Palau de La Mar, Valencia, a Member of Design Hotels

Honestly we could not fault this hotel for our first visit to Valencia for an anniversary celebration. Location is excellent, we arrived by Metro (short walk from Colon or Alameda) we used the bus service from the same street which runs along the Turia gardens all the way to the sea. We could easily walk to the historic old town and see the popular sights. Our room was comfortable and spotless, we slept well, it was surprisingly quiet with good black out curtains bed. Breakfast was fresh with good quality local produce, freshly cooked eggs or omelette and delicious coffee. Service was the best we have had anywhere in Europe and all of the staff are a real asset to this hotel. Everyone from check in, housekeeping, the bar and breakast room were so helpful, friendly and professional. My only regret was not having time to use the spa but we had 4 wonderful days and even got a taste of the early las Fallas celebrations. We would definitely return to this hotel, I don't think you could beat it to be honest!

We spent a weekend at the Hospes Palau de la Mar in Valencia at the end of January. It was wonderful! The hotel was comfortable and well-appointed; the staff were delightful; the location perfect for sight-seeing. Special thanks to Jesus at Reception, who went out of his way to make sure that we had a nice weekend.

This is a fabulous hotel in a great location to access the historic centre and the Turia Park. Friendly and helpful staff, very comfort rooms, and a great bar.

Good location and walking to main attractions very close. Staff are very friendly and helpful. Breakfast also very good and pleasant. Overall is a very nice and pleasant experience.

We very much enjoyed our stay from check in to check out. Room was bright, clean and comfortable. The breakfast selection was excellent. All staff were friendly and helpful but Miguel deserves a special thank you!

UPDATE 16/01 Following a submission of this review and a "Hoja de Reclamaciones", the GM and Head of Housekeeping invited me for a personal meeting to provide their point of view. I saw this as a gesture of willingness to listen and negotiating. In summary, the meeting concluded that the incident occured to the following misunderstandings: • The receptionist didn't forward my request to send the iron and iron board later (not immediately) • The room attendant didn't follow protocol by knocking on my door despite the "Por favor, no molestar" hanging on the door • The room attendant wasn't aware that I was showering, and as such was fully naked when I opened the door • I pinched her fingers accidentally when she handed the iron and iron board to me, which upset her a lot • Amid the frustration, there was a translation confusion leading to her asking me whether I need more tea bags or not, and I said yes • She came back banging on my door with tea bags, and I said no, and she was upset that I flip-flopped my words, then cursed at me when I bang-closed the door on her The meeting left me with the impression that - while they kept saying that the room attendant has been working for 12 years there and is not the person that she was - it wasn't the first time this incident occurred. However, this time they take it seriously because I exercise my right to submit a "Hoja de Reclamaciones", which apparently they take seriously. I did appreciate their time to meet me to explain their sides. Needless to say, it's very unlikely that I'll be staying here again because I don't want to be caught in another awkward situation. ----- Let's just say the hotel is beautiful. The room is perfect. The location is perfect too. So why one star? Simple: aggressively rude room attendants. They're not even passive aggressive. They're simply actively aggressive to your face, as if what I requested was simply impossible. On my first night of stay at around 19:00 (7pm), I requested the receptionist via WhatsApp for an iron and iron board because I need to iron my clothes and they weren't provided in the room. The receptionist said that a staff member will come to my room to deliver the iron and iron board. I requested that the iron and iron board to be delivered later as I was showering and I was naked and I had the DO NOT DISTURB sign on. A couple of minutes later, the staff member came literally banging on my door as if there's a fire breaking out in the building. Naked, I came out of the shower and stood behind the door as I got the iron and iron board from her. She had this exasperated, upset face and tone of voice when handing me the iron and iron board, as if my request was simply too much for her. After I closed the door, I can clearly, LITERALLY, heard her swearing at me in Spanish outside my door. She didn't even wait until leaving the hallway. Is it too much for me to ask for an iron and iron board? Is a request at 7pm too much? Did I distract her merienda or something? Beautiful hotel, but questionable service. But one thing for certain: be careful of the room attendants. They're not necessarily the most hospitable. If they don't like you, they won't hide their displeasure, and they'll act aggressively rude in front of you... even when you're naked and have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on.