Palacio de Mariana Pineda

Great staff, interesting palace, good but modest breakfast clean and great bathroom. If you have any mobility issues this is not for you. Stairs from front door up to reception. 2more flights to our room no 5. These are very difficult to manage as they are not usual size. At one point I considered going down on my but! I had checked the hotel info and reviews and only found a hotel comment referring to ‘a few stairs’.

This is the first palace built in Granada after the Alhambra so centuries old. What could have been a lovingly and beautifully restored property, full of history, beauty and charm, is instead a warren of staircases leading to uninspiring rooms with nothing to recommend them or the hotel in general. Everything is old, tired, worn and in need of a major renovation, paint job with bright Andalusian colors, and updated lighting instead of the series of dated lamps and hanging cords. If you arrive by car, as we did, the hotel does not offer parking, instead making you find and park in a public garage in town, then take a taxi to the hotel. They pay for the cab ride but not the return. If you have to leave early, as we did to catch a tour in Cordoba, the “picnic breakfast” consisted of a white bread sandwich with one slice of turkey lunch meat, an apple, bottle of water and bottle of peach juice. The hotel is at the entrance of the historic Albaicin neighborhood, a UNESCO World Heritage site, hence the traffic restrictions and difficulty to reach. The palacio should have used that to highlight Granada’s rich history and culture. Sadly, it did not. Fortunately, the staff was welcoming, friendly and accommodating. Otherwise, you can find much, much more comfortable hotels to rest your weary feet after a day of sightseeing Granada.

There is a lot of history in this hotel and it has some charming features, but there were a lot of problems. Firstly, for the mobility-challenged, there are a lot of steps to negotiate and they are quite deep and uneven. A staff member did help with luggage to and from reception, but there are still steps to the room and even inside the room. We had the junior suite and had to remember the steps between the bedroom and the bathroom in the middle of the night. The WiFi was very slow and the TV kept cutting off and was buffering a lot. The double bed sagged in the middle and the shower head was too low to stand under. Both the hair conditioner and body lotion containers were empty on arrival. The free water in the room was a nice touch and the mini bar prices were quite reasonable. Thankfully, the bedroom aircon worked well. The breakfast was simple but tasty. Reception staff were very friendly and helpful, but it was very slow on most occasions with only one staff member at the desk. I’d like to say that the old world charm overcame the obstacles, but it didn’t. It was an uncomfortable stay and would recommend something more modern and efficient when staying in Granada.

Nice clean room, super position

The hotel is very well located, and was able to accommodate a family of 4 in one room. They also helped us store our luggage after check out since we had a late train ride.

location, style and comfort, friendly staff