Royal Hideaway Sancti Petri

Barcelo: Barcel-NO! Royal Hideaway: Sancti Petri is a hybrid operation of a Convention Centre and Hotel and the Meeting Rooms for the Convention Centre are located in the central core of the hotel. The effect is that the hotel feels that it is half-closed all of the time. Further, the bars that service the Convention Centre are listed as part of the facilities for the hotel but they never open because the Convention Centre is closed. The Buffet Restaurant is also located in the central area and if you wished to have a pre-dinner chat and a drink, the choice is yomp down a hill to a bar near the beach (and then an uphill return for dinner) or descend down about 30 steps to the Dublin Bay Pub. The Dublin Bay Pub is a windowless room with MTV blaring from various televisions plus four lanes of American Bowl in the middle of the Pub? The noise is not exactly conducive with a quiet chat and a drink before dinner. Neither option was attractive and the other bars were closed. The same options apply after dinner of course. On the night that we arrived (2nd September 2024) I went to Reception to ask why everything appeared closed and to enquire if there was any other option to go for a chat and a drink. I was told that they could call a taxi to take us into town. We went back to the room and looked in the mini-bar and found a couple of beers, (no wine - in Spain?) but there was a small bottle of champagne. I looked around but the only available glasses were bathroom glasses. The champagne remained uncorked. We went out and purchased a bottle of wine locally only to return and find that the room didn’t have a corkscrew (in Spain?). We gave up. The room was small but adequate; the only real issue was the very limited wardrobe space. I can only assume that the Hotel was designed with the Convention Centre in mind with wardrobe space for delegates on short stays. Tea making facilities were provided but only one teabag (I’m not a fan of herbal infusions)? So, we tossed a coin to see who had the morning cuppa. Initially, I lost until it was discovered that the only milk was powdered. I haven’t seen powdered milk in a hotel room since the 1980’s. There were numerous other issues, but in summary, the holiday was booked on the strength of the hotel claiming to be 5-star under a decent brand name; Barcelo. The reality is that the holiday fell well short of our expectations. It was indeed pretty poor and certainly not 5-star. In future, Barcelo: Barcel-NO!

Quiet and chilled hotel. Great facilities.