Shine Albayzin

Charming hotel in the heart of Granada: typical building organized around a patio. Small rooms overlooking the patio but clean and well appointed. Common area with coffee available. Near the Alhambra, in the heart of the city.

Even before we arrived in Grenada, we received WhatsApp messages from the amazing staff full of useful information about everything from parking to restaurants. The most important asked: Do you have tickets to the Alhambra yet? It’s our busy season and you must get them immediately. They also very nicely included a link to purchase tickets. When we arrived, with our tickets, we learned that the Alhambra was sold out for the next two months. If we hadn’t received that message, we would not have been able to see the iconic Grenada experience. But honestly, that is just the beginning of everything. The amazing staff here does. I confess, I didn’t love the lobby, which looked very barren and even downscale. But we were lucky enough to have the room on the top floor with a perfect view of the Alhambra, and a bottle of wine waiting for us there. I have read other reviews that complain about the view, but at least from the room we had it was fantastic, especially at night when it was all lit up. Of course there are many things to do in Grenada and this hotel is perfectly located to do just about anything. We were close enough to walk to so many great tapas bars and to explore several neighborhoods. Parking is an issue if you happen to be driving, but once again the staff gives you perfect instructions on where to go to park and you even get a discount because you’re staying at the hotel. It is disappointing that they don’t offer breakfast, but instead have a pretty mediocre café connected to the hotel. The coffee was meh and the pastries were pretty dismal. Even so, I would highly recommend this hotel because service goes a lot farther than coffee.

The hotel is perfectly located for the old town, which is a short walk. As a 3 star hotel it completely delivered. The guy at reception when we arrived was friendly and helpful. We had the basic room with a window to the inside courtyard, that was unusual, but it was a good size with a nice bathroom and good shower. Two bottles of water and a bottle of red wine was supplied, which was a nice tough. We liked the adjacent coffee shop but the hotel offers free coffee and tea if you’d like to make your own. In summary, a good, reasonably priced hotel in a great location.