Hotel Alcala del Rio — Hotel in Providencia

First of all, I don’t know why they won’t let me review this hotel after I made a booking on booking.com . Pretty unusual?

First of all, the hotel is actually great and pretty decent for the price. The payment is where the problems start.

When you book, they say if you pay in dollars you won’t have to pay the local tax. What they don’t tell you is that they won’t take payment from a debit card, forcing you to either pay in cash (I’m from Ireland, we use euros), or pay in the local currency and pay the tax. Unfortunately, I had to pay the tax, but would have appreciated if anywhere on booking.com it was stated that their card terminals don’t accept debit cards for payments in dollars. Was pretty stressful and annoying.

Other than that, staff were friendly, I felt safe and secure, room was cleaned and left spotless every day, breakfast was okay, but they were very slow to replace anything that ran out, so if there was something you wanted to eat for breakfast, you had to wait half an hour for it, even for certain cutlery or bowls too.

I wanted to give 4/5 stars and if they actually specifically state which payment methods are accepted, it would be great. In saying that, it was hot when I arrived and I was a bit agitated, but the hotel didn’t help. Also, if you’re the manager of the hotel, please unblock me so I can review you on...

Hotel was located in a business neighbourhood a 5 minute walk off Providencia and one block from the river walk. There were a few restaurants and mini-marts on the street. Walking up to Providencia provided bus service, metro station (2 blocks) and EKONO market. Hotel was somewhat older; however room was comfortable with a refrigerator and mini-bar. Bed was comfortable. Breakfast was standard – scrambled eggs with ham, cereal, sweets, cheese and meat, toast, fresh fruit variety, juices, coffee, tea and milk. Desk staff was very friendly, courteous and helpful. Some spoke very good English, others spoke a little; however we managed to communicate very well. I had no problems with the wi-fi. Hotel also provides 2 PCs in the lobby. Hotel is a 20 minute walk down the river from the Gran Torre Building and shopping center. San Cristobal Hill was a pleasant 40 minute walk down Providencia past the parks along the river. I enjoyed my stay very much and...

Quick side note: It cracks me up when fellow Americans complain about the size of a hotel room outside of the states. I had a double room here and it was quite a bit larger than most rooms I have occupied in other countries. Welcome to the world of international travel, where clean, cheap, and safe are the important things!||||This place really wasn't all that bad. Dated? Yes, but still clean and I did like the location on a side street that kept the noise relatively low. It a bit of a walk to downtown, but I went in April so the weather was very nice to enjoy it. Those at check-in knew were not fluent in English, but I was proud that all of my high school/college Spanish classes paid off. We were able to get our luggage held until our rooms were ready in the afternoon. ||||In short, this place makes for a decent home base. Nothing luxurious, so might not be the place for your if that's what you are looking for. Clean, cheap, and...