Hotel Cigarral el Bosque

Not much. good views of the old town.

This was our second stay at the hotel on our drive from London to the Costa del Sol. The location is good away from the narrow streets of the centre with plenty of safe parking. However the hotel is looking very tired. The rooms are not clean ( stains everywhere) and the shower could only be turned on to roasting hot! I was lucky to get out of there without being scalded! The sink taps were set to only hot too. The breakfast was average. This hotel has great potential if only the owner would invest in redecorating.

Upon arrival, the outside of the building looked pretty grand once you stepped inside it’s a different story. The whole place is run down, if I had read the reviews here I would have booked it at all. Got a room with terrace everything is ancient, tables are all chipped old, grotty. Mini fridge with no mini bar service, we were early and I honestly must say there was probably 2-3 cars in the car park however they said they were so busy the rooms are all not ready. We went to the restaurant for lunch and was greeted by a gentleman who would rather be anywhere else but there…just wasn’t friendly or inviting, so we turned back and left better spend our money where it’s wanted. I am going to cancel my return visit here that’s how bad it is and try somewhere else. I might have guessed when the price tag was much lower than most truly 5 stars…I wonder if this hotel has been reaudited to retain their stars because it is not a true representation.

There is absolutely no way this hotel deserves its advertised 5 star rating and it would be very lucky to get 3. On arrival, the hotel looks promising with a pretty entrance facade and pleasantly decorated reception. The promise is not fulfilled. Beyond reception there is a pervasive smell of drains. The layout is bizarre and there are laminated signs stuck to the walls explaining what is on which floor. Our room was large but smelled strongly of drains. The shower tiles were cracked and there were yellow stains on the grout. In the separate toilet, the plastered wall had large brown stains that seemed to have been caused by a leak or damp. Because it was raining heavily and we were tired, we decided to eat in the hotel. The restaurant was closed until 8pm so we went in search of the hotel bar. There wasn’t what we would call a bar, just a bar counter in the cafe which is essentially an anteroom to the restaurant. 4 bar stools at the bar, but you couldn’t sit there as the counter was full of napkins and promotional beer bottles etc. and no bar staff. There was nobody in attendance for so long that thought it must be closed. The lighting and decor did nothing to create an ambience. We perched on high stools at a table for 2 and decided to order from the cafe menu as by then we had read the reviews for the restaurant. To be fair, the food was passable. The bed in our room was enormous but uncomfortable, with ridges digging in all night. We didn’t risk breakfast. After a day in Toledo, we checked out a day early. It’s the strangest hotel we have ever stayed in. I would not want to be there on Halloween.

Pool Area and Bar Terrace. Restaurant service and food was good.

Everything