Hotel Palacio del Mar

Having stayed six times at this hotel dating back to 2015 we decided to stay again as we wished to be near Sardinero. We have not experienced any of the issues identified by previous reviewers in any of these visits, in fact quite the opposite, the staff were welcoming and the rooms were in decent shape and always large. The price was high but for the luxury of a senior suite I was prepared to pay over the odds. On arrival we were told that no senior suites were available and we had been upgraded to the Imperial Suite. Sounds good, but here the good news ended Issue 1 the whirlpool bath didn’t work. Reported to reception and was quickly attended by the maintenance man who after breaking the tile to access the motor reset fixed the problem! Issue solved - nope. It lasted 20 minutes and then tripped all the electric. On reporting to reception the switch was reset but no whirlpool bath. Ok, we’re not here for the bath and having been offered a move the next day at 12 noon we decided to stick with the room as otherwise it appeared ok. Issue 2, the air conditioner sounded like a jet engine. It wasn’t so warm anyway so we tolerated this. Issue 3, at around 5 am it became clear there was multiple pigeons roosting in the roof space above the bed therefore couldn’t sleep until they stopped making noise. Should have moved but we are quite tolerant. Issue 4, around noon time the noise from the AC was so load we had to trip the electric breaker to stop it. Again we should have moved. Issue 5, on night 2 we were again awake for a significant period because of the lift continually moving even in the middle of the night. Issue 6, on night 3 again the lift was not moving up and down almost constantly. This seems to be the overnight cleaner moving items to the storeroom, and guess where this is, next to our room 601. I politely asked receptionist to ask the cleaner to stop and she said he was going home now so it would be ok. She couldn’t move us as there were no other rooms available. On approaching the hotel director the next morning she was aware of all the issues even knowing that the lift was noisy and kept people from sleeping. I was offered a free breakfast which I refused purely because there is no soap in the toilets and this is being used by waiters and chefs to prepare and serve food. After much argument I was told they would refund me the last night stay, still not received it though. All bored by now no doubt. This hotel had deteriorated badly in the 7 years we have visited. There are so many easy fixes to make it better but nobody seems to care. Lights don’t work - replace bulbs AC noisy - stop it vibrating Bath doesn’t work - either replace the motor or borrow from another room given the Imperial suite is the best room in the house Lift - get an engineer Noise - stop the cleaner working all night making noise No soap - buy soap The list is endless, we won’t be back and I wouldn’t recommend anyone else does either. Ou