We stayed at Gran Hotel Guadalpin Banús as two couples and really enjoyed our stay. The location and views are excellent, the pools are clean and very well maintained, and everything throughout the hotel is exceptionally clean.
The best part of the hotel is the staff. Everyone we encountered, from reception to maintenance, was friendly, helpful and attentive. You really can’t ask for more. Breakfast is excellent, with special kudos to the omelet chef. She is very good at what she does, but also genuinely nice and funny, and somehow makes ordering an omelet part of the morning entertainment.
Now for the criticism. The hotel is well maintained, but it is tired. The style is what I would call 1980s chic. Nothing is falling apart, but it clearly needs an update. The balcony doors in particular have seen better days. On the positive side, the air conditioning works very well.
Then there are the light switches. Turning the lights on or off is a quest. You press one switch, then another, try to remember what happened, reconsider your strategy, and eventually the room does what you wanted. After several days we more or less learned the system. The electrical outlets are also located in some rather inconvenient places.
The elevators misbehaved a few times during our stay. Nothing serious, just occasionally temperamental.
Parts of the lower level, below the reception area on the way to the sandy beach, are currently closed because of an ongoing legal dispute. That area does look a little sad, but unless you are going down toward the beach, you really don’t see it, so it did not detract from our stay.
Despite these criticisms, all four of us enjoyed our stay and liked the hotel very much. The excellent location and views, cleanliness, pools, breakfast and, above all, the wonderful staff more than compensate for a property that is overdue for modernization.
With a good renovation, this could once again be a truly outstanding hotel.
For us, overall: 9/10.
