Parador de El Saler

Probably the most disappointing stay in recent years. The hotel is in an enchanting location within a protected area which makes it fascinating but, on the other hand, the beach is therefore wild and natural and is fine for walking but not for classic swimming activities. The outdoor pool is perhaps the most painful point, both for the very cheap synthetic grass carpet and for the towel management that reminds one more of a two-star boarding house than a 5-star resort. The gym is not up to the standards of a hotel that would aspire to maintain the glories of the 80s but struggles to keep up Breakfast is an even more painful point; perfect for a business hotel but totally insufficient for a 5-star resort and honestly the quality did not meet our expectations. The rooms are spacious but a bit sparse and need an update. The hotel is dog allowed and not dog friendly and anyone who has a dog knows very well what I am referring to with this difference. Dogs are allowed only in the room and in outdoor areas including the breakfast room where you cannot keep the dog even if it is closed in its airline carrier and you are therefore forced to have breakfast outside (today 33 degrees and 95% humidity, imagine for yourselves) or separately: having tried both solutions I cannot tell you which is worse. The service and the staff were not up to par and did not make us feel welcome (in their defense, an international golf tournament was underway so I imagine they were very busy). Valencia city center is a 30-minute drive from the resort.

We went to visit the parador in Valencia and take a break, and upon entering, the guard demanded €30 to enter, an amount that would be deducted from our consumption. We had four Aperols in small, poorly flavored glasses and they charged us €14 each, and although they deducted the entrance fee, €56 seems disproportionate and abusive for a very average terrace.

This weekend, the last of May, my wife and I took the opportunity to go to the Parador del Saler, which enjoys an enviable location by the sea and the beach. On Thursday we arrived, the crystal-clear pool was perfect. The next day, Friday the 29th, we woke up in the morning and found the pool, the main attraction of the Parador, empty, without water. We went to the reception to ask what happened, and they told us that they were doing routine maintenance. We requested that the Director of the establishment come and give us an explanation. The Director arrives and tells us the same thing, that they are doing maintenance at the end of May. Let's see, gentlemen, who is in charge of this establishment? It turns out that the entire Parador is full, and although they tell us not to wash the towels because we need to save water, they empty the pool, wasting thousands of liters of water. They could have warned us about a senseless decision, and we would have gone to another hotel. The director thinks that customers are minors and therefore there is no need to clarify anything or provide customers with any convincing explanation. Evidently, in the end, the truth comes out; during the night, they left the drain key open, and the pool was left empty. Wouldn't it have been easier to tell the truth from the very beginning and treat customers like adults, with a solution and a clear timeline for when it would be resolved? The Director of the establishment never told us when it would be resolved, simply stating that they were working on it. Can this happen in a 5-star hotel?