5 of us stayed 3 nights at El Rey Moro, taking up one junior suite and one double room. Overall we enjoyed our stay but there are definitely room for improvement as well. Here's the breakdown:
1. The good:
-The hotel's location is extremely convenient. It's a quick walk to the cathedral and alcazar, and you pass by many interesting and tasty food options on your way there. It's also located in the Barrio Santa Cruz area, which really gives you an unique flavor of the neighborhood and a sense of being somewhere "foreign". Every room is decorated differently with it's own furniture and design and the spacious courtyard makes a great place to relax and take a break from your sight seeing activities.
-Overall the service was very good. We had to leave the hotel early for 2 mornings because of our schedule so we had to miss breakfast. I noticed in the check in information they gave us that it said they can provide "cold breakfast" prior to their breakfast serving time so we requested that for both mornings. They ended up packing us water, tea, fruits, pastries, and ham sandwiches for each person and we were thoroughly impressed.
-We appreciated the free waters, bicycles, business center, and internet. The waters especially came in handy since we're out all day sight seeing and it's nice to be able to grab a bottle on our way out and replenish ourselves throughout the night. The business center even came with printers so we were able to print out maps when we needed directions.
2. The Could Be Better:
-The breakfast itself was good. The only thing that was tricky was some of the hot items were freshly made on a grill by a staff (bacon, sausage, eggs). Depending on how large the crowd is, you might have to wait a while before getting your order. By the time my egg and sausage came to me, I had finished my breakfast. Also, because she had to make a lot of orders, one of the sausages we got were not fully cooked and that was pretty disgusting.
-The noise. Well, it's one of those things that you just have to deal with. Depending on where your room is, you'll either gonna have to deal with the noises coming from the courtyard, or the noises from the streets and restaurant downstairs. For me, I always travel with earplugs and I was on the side of the courtyard so it wasn't a huge deal after people have gone to bed. The other room in my party though, was facing the street and while it was cool during the day to hear the music and see the hustle and the bustle from the bars/restaurants, it can be a little difficult to sleep at night if people are staying out late. They also mentioned that it can get pretty noisy when people are taking their trash out and when the bins are getting collected.
-For a boutique hotel, I feel like the service could have been even better. Maybe it's just a matter of going for that "extra step"? I've emailed the hotel prior to our arrival regarding the best way to get there, and I was told to just grab a taxi. There was no mentioning that the hotel is actually not accessible by cars and that once we got off we'd have to find our way to the hotel front door somehow. I feel like just adding that extra comment would've made us feel that much better because honestly when we got dumped off by the taxi driver for a second we were like, wait, where is the hotel? Also, when we asked if the hotel can help us make a reservation at casa de la memoria, we were quickly told that if we want to see real flamenco show, we should get tix from them for a different place. While I appreciate the recommendation, I felt like it was unnecessary to make us feel "stupid" with our choice and if we wanted to go there, it would be nice if the hotel could still help us with our needs anyway.
All and all an extremely cute hotel with a great location. The rooms were clean and the hotel comes with lots of amenities that you will find useful and thoughtful. With just some slight improvements this can definitely be a perfect stay. read more