Casa Jardin

The best hotel in Nerja in my opinion. You can feel The quality as soon as you walk through the door. The hotel oozes luxury and the hotel manager is the loveliest person so helpful, charming and friendly.

We had dinner at this establishment the night before we left Nerja, at the end of June, after a quick ten day break and wished we never had. We have been visiting Nerja for the past 11 years and twice a year for the past 5 or 6. We found this beautiful restaurant years ago and always make a point of going for a meal here. The owner, a very elegant lady always circulates amongst her guests and checks that everything is to your liking. We remember having a conversation with her a couple of years ago about how she was trying to sell up and move on, however she is still there. We always thought this place to be a hidden treasure as you walk through to a beautiful outside patio dining area. It has always been a hidden oasis in the middle of Nerja but as soon as we arrived this time we thought the place looked shabby and dirty. The garden was unkempt and grass dead, the patio was full of bird poop and the tablecloths looked as if they had been rolled up in a ball before being put on the tables. Our first instinct was to get up and walk out but decided to give it a go as the food had always been so good. What a mistake that was. There was one very pleasant friendly waiter who was running around like Manuel from Fawlty Towers whereas there were always two or three immaculately turned out gentlemen. He looked as if he was wearing someone else clothes and his shoes were filthy. The place wasn't that busy but we were by no means the only ones there. I ordered leg of lamb and my husband steak with a sauce (can't remember which one). When our food came we were warned about the plates being too hot to touch it's just a pity that the food that was on it was cold. My husband asked for a rare steak and it came over cooked. The sauce that was served with the steak was the same gravy that my lamb had been cooked in and nothing like what he had ordered. The veg and potatoes were inedible, as if they had been cooked a couple of days in advance and reheated. I sent mine back to be heated up but my husband hates fuss and just ate his. We tried to attract the owners attention as I always believe that you should complain at the time but the entire time we were there she was fussing over an Irish couple whom she obviously knew well and on this occasion had no time for her other guests. We got the impression that this once hostess with the mostess has lost interest. A piece of advice close your restaurant before the lack of hygiene makes someone very ill. Our bill came to €59.40, €18 each for the two main courses and a bottle of red wine and €5.40 in tax added on at the end, which in other establishments is usually included in the price you see on the menu.

This was our second visit to this restaurant and, as before, the very professional waiter was trying to look after everybody while the owner sat at her table looking at a screen. Lovely outdoor setting in the garden and the indoor restaurant is very elegant but if the owner cannot be bothered with her clients then I, for one will never go back. A word of warning. The message outside said "menu del dia" for around 14 euros and several people entered to have this but were told this was not available at weekends. This is not clear outside and caused some annoyance.