Granada, Spain hotel choice
 

I have miles which I plan to use for our hotel in Granada for our May 2015 visit; I'm looking at the following hotels:

1) Hotel Casa del Capital Nazarei
2) Palacio Santa Ines
3) Monjas Del Carmen
4) Puerta de las Granadas
5) La Casa de la Trinidad
6) Hotel Macia Plaza

I'm leaning toward the first one: Casa del Capital Nazarei, though I don't understand why it is so much lower on TA's list of hotels than the others. What about the others? Any that stand out as worthwhile? Palacio Santa Ines, for instance, looks comparable and ranks much higher in their rankings (which I do know can be deceptive).

I'm a little confused about staying downtown vs. the Albayzin area. Generally, I'm drawn more to the charm of the Albayzin than the convenience of the downtown area, at least for the first time, but I'm open to hearing other opinions. My impression is that the first 2 hotels on my list are not deep into the Albayzin hill, so walking from them to go downtown at night would be relatively easy. Am I right?

Thanks for all your help!

Paule

Look up hundreds of actual guest reviews and overall ranking/grading at booking.com, for example:

Palacio Santa Ines: http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/pala...nes.en-gb.html

Monjas del Carmen: http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/monjas-del-carmen.html

kimhe,

I've been using booking.com a lot and the reviews are helpful, but I wondered if anyone could speak from personal experience about any of these hotels.

I've noticed on the board, for instance, a few positive mentions of Casa del Capital Nazari (spelling error corrected!), but they were a number of years ago. I've not seen any mentions of the others, and I'm especially interested in knowing about Palacio Santa Ines & Monjas del Carmen.

****but I wondered if anyone could speak from personal experience about any of these hotels.****
All of the reviews on booking.com are from personal experience, unlike some other websites which allow reviews even though you have never stayed there.
Reviews on Booking are rolled over so after around 14 to 24 months (I cannot remember exactly) the reviews are removed so everything is up to date.

Ribeiasacra,
I appreciate that the reviews on booking.com (as well as TripAdvisor) are from personal experience -- I've contributed to them, too. The difficulty is that these reviews are very varied and sometimes become overwhelming in trying to make a decision. I'm simply wondering if anyone on this board has had personal experience with these hotels--this is different than reading scores of reviews (which I do use) and can really help me to feel more comfortable with making the decision as to which hotel to stay in.

Thanks for the clarification and taking the time to post.

Paule

Note the reviews on Tripadvisor are not necessarily from personal experience. They can be anybody, the owner, the owner's uncle, the neighbor who doesn't like the noise and foot traffic. Ditto for many of the Internet review sites. I eliminate the very good reviews (the uncle) and the very bad reviews (the grumpy neighbor). But I'm relying more and more on booking.com, both for reviews and for making reservations.

That said, I'm interested in responses to your question about staying in the Albayzin. So anybody?

Trip Advisor reviews can be purchased, which happens far more often then you think. Forget the grumpy neighbor or owner's uncle, anyone can buy a good review. Some are so obvious they need to be taken with more than a grain of salt.

Booking.com is probably the best out there for now since the days of professional reviews are a thing of the past.

Okay, I hear you all! I'll pay more attention to booking.com than TA! I promise!

I'm getting blitzed reading the reviews, whether it's on booking.com or TA -- for every one that I find that says "wonderful", there's another one that says that there are serious problems. I know that there are real differences from room to room, as well as expectations that vary individually. What I do like about TA, however, are the personal photos that are posted -- hotel photos are notorious for being beautifully shot so really don't give a true flavor of a place. The warts show up much better in travelers' photos!

Back to my question, then -- is there anyone here with their own experience with the hotels listed?

What about staying in Albayzin vs. downtown?

Thanks, all! I love the spirited responses!

I'm not overly familiar with the hotels you listed, but you may want to check out Casa Morisca (www.hotelcasamorisca.com/en/). Great location, excellent property and staff, and the price might fit your budget. It's good enough for Matt Damon and his family, among others.

Hi, Robert,

Thanks for your recommendation, although it's not an option with AA miles and it is over my budget.

It does look lovely, though!

So you ask and it is too pricey. But you have not given us a budget or any other clue as to your needs. ;-(
If TA reviews are not to be trusted then how can the photos either?

ribeiasacra,
Did you read the original post? I am planning to use airline miles and I identified 6 hotels I'm considering and asked for feedback. I didn't ask for any recommendations for hotels so there was no reason for me to give a budget.

Somehow, the thread took off on a discussion about the accuracy of reviews on various sites, but this was really not of concern to me. I do find TA reviews helpful, although clearly others don't, but to each his own. And real life photos are helpful to see hotel rooms that are not prettied up for the camera.

All I asked for was some feedback on hotels. If someone is nice enough to make a suggestion, that's great, but really, I'm trying to use my miles for this stay!

Sorry but you only used the word miles. I do not have a clue what that means (and seemingly neither does Robert). The only thing that miles are for me is a unit of measurement which is not in the metric system.
So how many "air miles"means you can afford to stay in a hotel you list? I do not have a clue.
I would be grateful if you could make yourself clearer as we are not all American who post on this international forum. I was not the one to recommend you looking at Booking I just confirmed the post. TA is rubbish, that is why rankings are out of skew.
Have nice trip.

Does anyone have any thoughts about staying in the Albayzin vs. staying in the downtown area? The hotels I mention that are in the Albayzin are at the foot of the hill, so a relatively easy walk, I believe, to the downtown area.

Of the hotels you've listed, I would limit my choices to the 3-star Monjas del Camen, 3-star Palacio Santa Inés and the 4-star La Casa de La Trinidad. All are about the same size and quality and decently located. The Carmen is fairly new, but I would lean toward La Trinidad. If you want to stay in El Albayzín, then the Palacio Santa Inés should work.

Thanks, Robert, I appreciate your feedback. That helps me to narrow things down a bit.

Paule

Untrustworthy TA reviews. (once again) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...ipAdvisor.html

Sorry - that is not false reviews - it is a joke. Like the thread that appeared on the europe forum for a long time about traveling to "Molvania" was it?

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/molvania.cfm

Along with the one about tipping the pilot.

Hi Progol

We stayed at Hotel Casa del Capital Nazarei and I mention it in the second message on this trip report. It was back in 2007 but I remember the hotel well. Of course, it's been a good few years since we lodged there and things can change but if we were ever to return then I would take the chance and make it our hotel of choice simply because of our previous experience. If it's any help, our vacation was arranged by a small independent Spanish tour operator who had the Nazarei listed in their 'small unique hotels with character' list and that was the reason for our choice. It didn't disappoint.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

Joe

nytraveler,

I don't know how I missed the 'Molvania' thread before this, but it's wonderful! I'm ready to stop stressing over my Granada hotels and spend all my days in Lutenblag!

Thanks for posting this.

Paule