Hostal Rural Villa Vieja

The challenge with this stay was a room mix up. Normally I book the superior double rooms which have a nice view and spa tub. I needed 2 rooms and when I originally booked only one was available. So I booked one superior double room and anther standard room. However I kept checking to see if a superior room opened up and two weeks prior to the trip I was happy to see that one had so I cancelled the standard room and booked a separate reservation for the superior double room so we'd have two superior double rooms. We arrived at the hotel and no one was at reception but we easily entered using the provided codes. When we got to the rooms we discovered only one was a superior and the other was a standard. I went downstairs and no one was available. I called the number provided on the front door for service - no one answered. I called again and explained to the person that there had been a mix up and we had reservations for 2 superior double rooms. She immediately replied that I had cancelled the superior room and reserved a standard. I had hard copies of my reservations and also checked online at Booking.com. Both showed that I had 2 superior rooms reserved. I also contacted Booking.com and they confirmed this. I tried to explain this to the hotel representative on the phone but they insisted that I was wrong and they did not have any remaining superior double rooms (it is a small hotel). There was no one at reception the rest of the day to show my documentation. The next afternoon someone was at the reception desk. I showed her the hard copies along with my phone and Booking.com. She continued to insist that I was wrong. I said that I would never be returning and her response was "good". I understand the room was not available and there was no way for me to have the superior room. It was the blaming of the customer and rudeness of the staff that will cause me to never stay here again.

Horrible rude staff, nearly non-existent. Don't expect to get the room you have reserved. Towels in bad shape. Stay at the Parador for better service. Or stay at the Apartamentos Ducay for good value and space. Also to clarify: I had made one original reservation prior for 2 rooms, one superior and one regular. When I saw that another superior was available I cancelled the regular room on my originial reservation and created a second reservation for the available superior room. This is not a complicated change or "several modifications and cancellations". At the hotel the staff insisted that I was wrong and would not acknowledge that they had made a mistake. This was my main issue. I understand the superior room was not available because the hotel had made a mistake. But they never acknowledged their mistake (until they responded on booking.com) and instead blamed the customer.

Automatic check-in so no staff present on arrival. Checking in and access to rooms was not difficult but personal staff only present between 8 and 10 in the morning