Hotel Cádiz Bahía — Hotel in Cádiz

My wife studied in Spain for a year after graduate school, and she and I lived in Madrid from 1994 to late 1997. ||But neither of us had ever been to Cadiz.||Having never stayed or even visited Cadiz, we had no idea what to expect, and found the Hotel Q Bahia Cadiz through researching Cadiz from our home in the U.S.||The Hotel's prices were within our budget, and not as expensive as a number of other hotels.||When we booked a queen bed room with a view of the Playa Victoria beach, we had no idea it would literally be essentially just below our balcony. ||Our room literally had a balcony from which you could survey the Playa Victoria, across a paseo/narrow street. ||The amenities and location of the hotel across a wider street from the more expensive Hotel Playa Victoria were amazing, considering the savings.||The shower alone is worth the visit, with its 'rain' and hand-held shower heads.||Breakfast, which was included, was a full buffet-style - not the 'continental' breakfast we were expecting - which included juices, eggs in various forms, bacon, cereals, churros and chocolate, yogurt, croissants, even mimosas with cava, a wide variety of coffees, etc. And all within view of the beach, and the Atlantic Ocean.||The swimming pool for guests was L-shaped, and a treat, if you didn't feel like walking to the beach or preferred hiding from the sun under a canopy, or sunning on a cushion so comfortable it was too easy to fall asleep on.||It was also the perfect place to rest and relax after walking around Cadiz - a must - or on the beach after breakfast.||But it was the always helpful staff, particularly the multi-lingual front-desk reception staff, of the hotel that made our stay most memorable. We arrived early, and still were shown to our room, which was reached from a bank of elevators seemingly in the rear of the hotel. ||In our room was the usual mini-fridge, but with complimentary drinks (water, sodas) for each day. ||When we decided to explore the area for dinner, the staff directed us first to the La Sacrista restaurant, which was closed, for traditional food. We wound up eating tapas for dinner essentially across the street from there.||The next day, we asked directions to take a bus, which we learned stopped near the hotel, into Cadiz. The staff was very helpful, virtually walking us to the bus-stop, and telling us how much and how to pay for the bus - we had been using mostly our credit card in Spain earlier on our vacation, getting us the best exchange rate, but the bus required exact change. ||When we returned, we told them of our adventures, which included almost literally stumbling upon the Taberna la Manteca, where we had a delicious seafood lunch and learned 'tortilla de camerones' - a sort of shrimp fritter - was a popular local tapas. Also, if you enjoy alcohol, the varous sherries - "Jerez," as it is distilled from grapes grown in the region of Jerez de la Frontera, not far from Cadiz - are worth sampling. We wound up too full to even think about dinner!||The next day, we headed out to the old fort, and La Caleta, and several other sites, managing to have dinner at La Sacrista, which we thoroughly enjoyed - and which served the best tortilla de gambas on that side of Cadiz. ||We left for our train the next day, and the staff, learning of our penchant for 'Bocadillos de Jamon' - Jamon sandwiches - directed us to a restaurant that made them, handing us the 'foot-long' baguette-like sandwiches for our busride to the train station, and our train ride home.||What we loved most about Cadiz, and the staff at the hotel, was how familiar it all seemed, to when we lived in an older and less-touristed Madrid, and the fact it and the staff greeted and treated us almost as if they'd known us despite our never having been there before.||In sum: Cadiz is worth the visit. And if you're going to visit Cadiz, see if you can get a room at the Hotel Q...

We recently stayed in this hotel, for 5 days. Sadly the hotel is more style than substance and left us very disappointed.

Our experience was negative from the minute we checked in, as the check in process took a very long time and required providing lots of duplicate information. After this, when we asked about Ihe location of the gym, we were told this was out of service and was not available. A large part of our decision to choose this hotel was because it had a gym. Their website has a picture of a gym on the front page and the Trip Advisor and Google reviews pages both have photos of a gym. So we not unreasonably expected there to be a gym. Apparently this was now out of service and we stated our disappointment. We asked to speak to the manager, who reiterated that the gym was out of action and that they could not provide an alternative. His manner was rude, unhelpful, confrontational and not appreciated. So, we asked of local gyms which we may be able to use, or if they may have any links with other hotels that we could use, but we were given limited information. We stated our disappointment and that we expected a 4* hotel to offer alternatives if their gym was not available. We suggested a discount to cover the cost of us using a local gym. He replied by saying a gym was not a requirement of a 4* hotel and that they did not have a sushi bar either. A bizarre, sarcastic and unprofessional comment. Having now read other reviews, this seems a common theme and the gym has been out of action for months. This is clearly an issue they have experienced before, so why this has not been remedied yet is a mystery....there is still signage in the hotel directing you to the gym.

So, we left the reception and went up to our room with our many bags and cases, and zero help from the staff.

Generally speaking, the hotel is very modern, but lacks any charm and character whatsoever. The rooms are a good size and the sea view very pleasant, but the rooms are relatively cheaply decorated with basic fittings. Lean back on the headboard of the bed and it bangs against the wall. The layout is also slightly cramped and there is no privacy in the glazed shower/bathroom. WiFi is poor, TV temperamental. When the wind picks up the sliding glazed door to the balcony rattles loudly. This is not a new hotel but a redevelopment of an older buildling, this is most likely the reason why there is no soundproofing at all. Noise from outside on the street, the corridors and the adjoining rooms is very loud.

The maid service is basic. They make the beds and that's about it. Towels generally are not replaced and rubbish not always removed. Oh, and if you get excited and use the tea facilities, there is a notice to advise that you will be charged €1 for a refill 😂.

There's quite a large continental buffet breakfast selection , with egg station. The produce is low quality. Breakfast is very busy and just getting a table is difficult. The hot drinks are terrible.

The external pool area is impressive with views over the sea. This too is very crowded with people waiting for the area to open at 10 to get the best loungers. There aren't enough for the amount of rooms/guests.

Before arriving we were planning to use the spa, restaurant and other facilities during our stay, but due to our initial experience with the manager, we chose to spend our money elsewhere, so we cannot comment upon them.

We can however confirm other reviews on the lifts are correct, I.e They take a long time and there aren't enough of them. They are a long way from reception. We generally took the stairs instead.

Don't get me wrong, there are much worse hotels out there and this hotel has some positives, but the negatives far outweigh them. For the price charged, this place just is not worth it.

We won't be returning to this hotel, or any other Q hotel for...

This hotel is great and overall our stay was enjoyable. The hotel has a lot going for it, but to describe it as a family hotel isn’t accurate. ||Pros - location is amazing, stones throw from a beautiful beach. Food at the pool restaurant was gorgeous, drink choice and price was good and really nice to be able to have drinks brought to your sun longer. Hotel itself is very clean, nicely presented and spacious. I really liked the lay out with the standalone bath in the room, was really stylish. Staff at the pool bar and across the vast majority of the hotel were so lovely, friendly, helpful and made the stay really enjoyable. ||Cons - room cleaning was good and the room was kept clean but it limited (for examples towels weren’t folded up/sorted, glasses taken from the bar weren’t taken away - just left on the side). Lifts were very slow at busy times, it didn’t feel like they had enough. Nothing really for kids to do and this brings me on to the only thing I would say was a real negative. The pool was beautiful and my 9 year had the time of his life for the first few days but the pool attendant on the final day was awful - he kept telling the kids off for jumping in and for playing with pool toys even though it had been fine the days previously. The excuse was that water could go over the side of the infinity pool, but this wasn’t the case as they were tucked away at the end, which isn’t the infinity part and even when they were jumping the water wasn’t going over the side any more than usual, because they’re only small (and there is plenty of protection to stop the water from going onto the street below). He also then told a flat out lie that someone had been hit with a ball when they hadn’t (and to be honest it was only a blow up beach ball!). This ruined our last day as the whole day had a sour feel about it and would be a reason I wouldn’t go back. ||Overall nice hotel but...