Occidental Las Palmas — Hotel in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

We stayed in the hotel for 7 nights, while visiting Las Palmas for a week. We chose it on the basis of recommendations/ratings. ||||The bedroom was good, very comfortable super king sized bed (we requested an upgrade), clean and tidy. Very quiet, despite overlooking police station/main road. Bathroom is open plan into the bedroom which isn't for everyone (lack of privacy, especially with toilet). Also no bathroom fan. Shower water pressure wasn't great, also leaked and caused puddles, but this was largely fixed after we reported it (not fully fixed I should add, possibly a problem throughout the hotel?) ||||Staff were friendly, particularly those on reception who also helped us with some inquiries around transport, restaurants, etc... ||||Breakfast good, a wide range of foods and drinks including the chance to request something bespoke eg omelette. ||||Skytop/rooftop bar wasn't open when we went (the space was, the bar itself wasn't) but you can take your own drinks up which is great. There was a salsa night one night, which was fantastic (didn't join in, but observed). I suspect they run a few events like this during the summer.||||The location was its only real downside for us, but you can't fault the hotel for that as we maybe just chose the wrong spot. To access decent restaurants / 'life', you either have to bus it or walk 20 mins in either direction. Ideally, we'd prefer to be maybe 10 mins walk to a busier spot. The port, which IS walkable, has some good restaurants but your best bet is to bus it to the old town (Vegueta) where there's much more life, and some truly beautiful buildings. Buses are very easy and reliable though, so a small complaint.||||Visited the aquarium too, highly recommend....

From start to finish this was an awful experience. |We arrived early, from a cruise, knowing we wouldn’t be able to access our room. We completed the check in paperwork, including copies of our passports and left our luggage in a small conference room as instructed. On our return a different receptionist was on duty. She spent a while looking for the paperwork, before taking further passport copies. I turned over a sheet of paper that was lying on the reception desk - our passport copies, available for all to pinch. She didn’t initially see this as an issue but agreed to mention to her manager. Our luggage was collected from the conference room, who’s had an open door and was not secured in anyway.|Rooms - why on earth do hotels think that glass doors on toilets and showers are acceptable I do not know. The sink is also in the bedroom. Basic amenities.|The reception and public areas smelt dreadful - of drains. When we mentioned this to one of the receptionists she said she couldn’t smell it. But later on the smell was gone, so perhaps something had been done to remedy the issue.|Finally on our 2nd night we were woken at midnight by revelry from the 8th floor rooftop area. Our room as directly below on floor 7. The noise of young men shouting, singing and moving furniture around went on to 2am. Completely unacceptable. |On a small plus note, the buffet breakfast at €12pp was good and plentiful and whilst inefficient the hotel team were polite and tried to be helpful.|Your experience may be different but I cannot...

We spent 7 nights in the hotel. The staff is nice and helpful, but compared to a four-star hotel, there are many shortcomings or small problems. There was shower gel in the room only for the first night, and even after several cleanings, it was only refilled for the last night, so we had to buy it ourselves in the nearby hypermarket. The reception suggested that we either buy or use hand washing soap. The floor was humped in several places, thanks to the water that got stuck in the shower and came out. The toilet is wallpapered, which is not satisfactory from a hygienic point of view, and the ventilation is also not solved properly (this is also true for the shower). The breakfast was ok, but it's easy to get bored with it in a week. There is no private parking, it's almost impossible to find a parking lot in the area, if you do, it's cheaper on the street, but in the parking lots it's quite pricey for days. The location is far from everything, no one should look for a beach or night life in the area. And the main reason why I don't recommend the hotel at all is the salsa nights and private parties organized until dawn on the weekends without prior warning. On the 6th floor, it felt as if the music was playing in the room, but supposedly you could hear it even on the third floor. Outrageous... They managed to settle our complaint with a bonbon and a small bottle of champagne, apart from the regret, nothing...