Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel - Gran Lujo

A palatial hotel in the centre of the city. Booked this last minute due to our holiday to Madeira being cancelled. Had half an hour on the airport to make a decision so not really time to research. Near a Marina with lots of restaurants they said - sadly not the picturesque harbour we had anticipated but more of a modern industrial port! To be fair there were a few pretty good restaurants along there. The hotel is very impressive on arrival and we were welcomed with a glass of Cava. Sadly the deluxe room we had booked was not really deluxe at all but the staff very kindly showed us several other room choices and we settled on a disabled room as it had much more space and was in the same category. Very grateful for the extra space as I ended up living mostly out of a suitcase on the floor as there were only two tiny drawers in the room. Staff quickly provided us with extra coat hangers so at least we could hang more clothes. The quality of the towels is excellent - always the sign of a good hotel. I did rather get the feeling that this was more of a business/events hotel rather than a holiday getaway. The pool area is very nice - but heated? I don’t think so. Plenty of sun-beds and not too busy. The male pool attendant was always cheerful and helpful. The staff are very pleasant and professional . Our thanks in particular to head of PR - sorry don’t know his name - who looked after us admirably and was most helpful. Also to the staff at the Sunday jazz brunch which was the highlight of our stay! Be sure to book it before you arrive as it’s quite hard to get into. Reception and concierge are both very slow - seems they might be understaffed and we had to wait a long time for attention particularly at the concierge. That being said they were very helpful in booking us a couple of trips out which were wonderful. The location of this hotel is probably the biggest downside. Walks in either direction are just not pleasant. One way takes you to the old town which is ok once you get there, and the other to a very commercial beach. Breakfast was amazing with plenty of choice. A little disappointed that the hotel insisted on charging us a €30 late check out fee even though I requested the decision to be escalated. The cocktail bar on the ground floor is lovely - be careful they free pour the drinks! The roof top bar is also nice but can be a little chilly. Overall a lovely stay but perhaps not the best location for us.

This is a beautiful hotel, the staff are charming and the breakfasts are excellent. However we had a very miserable time and will not return. Unfortunately we had bad weather with a storm so most evenings we had no option but to sit in our room. The indoor bar was very small with only about 7 small tables which were often reserved. The rest of the seating with a piano was outside the front door open to the elements or two small tables inside either side of the open door. There is no other seating in the hotel which was very strange. We ate in the Bodeguita restaurant for three evenings but as there was limited seating inside each time we had to sit outside huddled in our coats. Often we had to wait for breakfast as there wasn’t sufficient seating inside. The hotel is situated in a dismal area next to a working harbour where there are a few places to eat reached by a very busy underpass. The gardens outside are in fact a public park and very noisy. Even the rooms were disappointing as there was no adequate storage with only two small drawers so some of our clothes had to be kept in a suitcase This wasn’t the five star experience that we expected..

This is a lovely traditional hotel in attractive grounds with modern facilities. Breakfast was very good and substantial (although sometimes rather busy), served by helpful staff. While staff overall were very friendly we found service tended to be rather varied. On check-in it wasn't explained to us what services we were entitled to and, although our room was immaculate, we found the two small drawers inadequate. Housekeeping in terms of supplies of tea, coffee and water was rather haphazard and on a few occasions didn't happen at all. A small point, but not something one would expect in this class of hotel. While we enjoyed our 10-day stay, this hotel is quite a walk from both the old town in one direction and the modern town and beaches in the other although a bus route is right outside.

Fantastic hotel - top notch. If you come here you must try the Sunday Jazz brunch. Get there early and reserve your table on the terrace. You may be as fortunate as we were to be served by Gonzalo and Ainloa. Who were excellent.

Everything and everyone was great! Most comfortable bed, impeccable design, amazing balcony, superb high-quality breakfast buffet (with unlimited Cava and Iberian ham), great bar service at Carabella and Ali's, and opulent dinner at Poemas.

We booked 6 nights at pretty short notice as a holiday to Oman was cancelled. The hotel's lovely overall - the breakfast buffet was excellent, the gym is well equipped and the wellness centre and spa treatments were also good. The staff are lovely and very friendly and helpful. The only letdown was our room. We booked a grandly named junior suite deluxe. The room was a bit disappointing we both agreed, if we can again we'd book a Junior Suite premier. The bathroom was small - a sliver along one side of the room by the bed with pull aside doors fitted with Venetian blinds that rattle badly when you pull the doors open. No bathtub which we had requested just a shower and loo. The shower is very good though. Because the bathroom is so close to the bed there's no sneaking to the loo in the night without full lights and rattling of the blinds as well. There were no suitcase racks in the room so we had to leave our stuff on the floor or unpack and put everything single item away (which I wouldn't do for 6 nights). One bottle of water only provided on arrival but the rest is room service. We did have a balcony overlooking the front of the hotel (324) and with a junior suite you can visit the rooftop pool which we did (adults only) and it's heated and lovely. The main pool bigger and I'm not sure it's heated but the area is attractive and there were both sunbeds and Balinese day beds.