Saray Hotel Granda Hotel Review
I spent a weekend in this hotel with my boyfriend in the middle of August of 2020.
Pool Area
This area design-wise was stunning, this included a bar, sunbeds and you can get fresh towels every morning from the bar. You're supposed to give a 5 Euro deposit, but both days the bar staff just gave us the towels. The only problem with the pool area was that the hotel building covered the sun, so you only start to get the sun at around 11 am, which was personally fine for me, but everyone who likes early morning time by the pool will be heavily disappointed because this type of thing isn’t mentioned in booking site. We didn’t spend the whole day at the pool, as we went sightseeing around town, but in the afternoon and other times of the day you can see that the sun moves and some parts of the pool area are in the shade, so basically, you can’t stay all day in one place, as you won’t have the sun all day.
Location
The location was quite good, as it only took us 10min to get to the beginning of the main street, then an extra 10min and you are at the heart of the city, from where you can keep going and wander around the old town of Granada. The famous Alhambra Palace is 25min walking. As the hotel is located on the other side of the river, you have very quick access to the biggest shopping centre in Granada (if you have a car). Note, that if you wish to stay closer to the city centre you might have difficulties with the parking.
Parking
The hotel has its own underground parking which is a big plus in Spain, as it is always so hard to find parking there. Parking was big and wide enough so our arrival was very pleasant, as we parked and took a lift straight to the reception.
Reception
Probably the only bad thing I can tell about this hotel is the reception. The slowest customer service ever! As we waited every time we needed something in a queue for at least 30min if not more (and I am not being too dramatic here, actual 30 minutes both times we queued), I got to realise that the reception was so slow because of the system they are using, so can’t really blame the receptionists but the hotel management for using a slow system. Other than that every receptionist was nice, polite and helped with our queries immediately.
Room
We stayed in a double-bed room. I can’t speak for all of them, but the one we got was above and beyond what we expected. The room itself was huge with a discrete design, minibar, a bathroom with a tub and all the amenities included. The cleanliness was first-class, the cleaners were so quick, that the room was done in the morning during our breakfast and we didn’t even notice them. We didn’t try the room service, but it is available.
Restaurant
The hotel’s restaurant is a typical breakfast buffet in the morning. We didn’t try dinner there, so I can only speak about the breakfast and it was absolutely fantastic. The breakfast buffet had a wide variety of choices, starting from muesli, fruits & yoghurts to toasts, eggs, ham & cheese. What I adore about Spanish hotels is that they offer typical Spanish breakfast options too, and this place was not an exception. Different types of coffees and buns were offered too, as well as juices and of course water.
Gym
On the good side, there is a gym. The bad side – it was quite small. Although you could theoretically fit there around 7 people, realistically I believe 4 people max. I am not sure if that was only because we were travelling during Covid, but you had to book the gym in advance and you could only be there for 45min. We, of course, spent more time there, but no one really came to ask us to leave, so we just finished our session and left. I wouldn’t be surprised if that rule is permanent as the gym is so small you somehow need to control the attendants.
Additional Extras
On the first floor of the hotel, you can find a bar/restaurant which is open to the public too. So you always can have a quick dinner just outside the hotel.
Also, they have really really cool lifts!
Covid (influence)
As we were travelling there during the Covid pandemic, we faced a few restrictions – the breakfast buffet wasn’t a self-service. Tables were covered with protection and the hotel staff were passing food to you, albeit, whatever you wanted. Also, of course, you have to wear a mask in public zones. As I mentioned before, the gym might have had restrictions because of Covid. Overall I personally rate this hotel as Covid safe, as the breakfast buffet was protected well, hand sanitisers were offered at the reception and staff wearing masks all the time.
My Review
