Puerta Del Agua — Hotel in Petrer

I considered not submitting a review as Vicente and Julian are the most lovely people. But I am a reviewer after all. They have the most amazing property and I’m sure it had a heyday of wonderful ness. It is gorgeous. An oasis of calm. The best bit about it really is the tapas style dinner served on a Saturday night. We had at least 14 delicious courses ending with limoncello and Haribo of all things. I understand Sunday lunch is similar so despite my sadness at describing the rooms as sadly lacking, maybe one day I will come back for that lunch if we remember the way back!We had two nights. Two fantastic meals and hospitality. |Please go but go knowing that the rooms are very tired, towels poor and sheets past their sell by. Shower room was good and I’m sure we could have got more towels had we asked. The room was not made up during the day and there was little or no service except for the early morning wake up call from the cockerel. Breakfast extremely basic with no second coffee offered. No lunch served except Sunday ( which we didn’t consider ) and as it’s well out the way , you should remember this. We had the pool to ourselves but decided to interrupt the private party in the restaurant to ask for a drink. We were left to our own devices. They should consider an honesty bar / ice cream fridge! Pool and area was very poor so it took us to get into it. Gardens neglected and as the dogs get the run of the gardens when there are no guests, beware of unwanted deposits. So sad. But at night you don’t notice these things and everything came alive with lighting, lovely place settings and an amenable host and waiters. I loved a lot of it but disliked a lot too, particularly the room and the neglect in the pool. Forgive me. A review has to be honest and this is one of the hardest I’ve written as I just loved the hosts and the presentation and celebration...

This charming little hotel is set up in the mountains beyond Petrer and Elda, about 50 mins easy drive from Alicante airport. It is an oasis of calm and the gardens are lush with pretty much every type of plant you could think of - pines, palms, acacias, lilies, vines etc. The rooms are well furnished, spacious and cool with a generous sized shower room adding to the luxury.||||Most evenings, we had pre-dinner drinks under one of the secluded pergolas in the gardens, being serenaded by the unseen tree frogs gently chirping to each other. Dinner itself is in the romantic open courtyard where Vincente and Julian serve course after course of fantastic Spanish food, always rounded off with their very moreish limoncello.||||The hotel has covered car ports so your car will always be cool if you need it. The location is perfect for driving to visit the many pretty, sleepy towns of the area most notable for us was Biar with its ancient castle and charming central square, complete with fountain. If you go there, you must visit the sanctuary just outside the town. If you need a beach, it would take you around an hour to get to Alicante, Benidorm or Altea but for us, a day of exploring area by car followed by a few hours relaxing by the lovely hotel pool was simply ideal.||||We had a great time and would recommend it without hesitation to anyone who appreciates nature, tranquility...

We were celebrating a special wedding anniversary here and found a wonderful oasis. Our charming hosts, Vincente and Julian, were very welcoming and chatty. Two guys who took genuine delight in making our stay special. It was a Spanish bank holiday for a religious festival so the place was a magnet for families eating out. Beautiful setting in the countryside about half an hour from Alicante. Don't be put off by driving through dreary Petrer and Elde. The property has a dozen or so rooms, well presented with walk-in shower and air con. The grounds are lovingly filled with many plants, pots and momentos. Nico, the owner's beautiful albino dog, reminded us of the dog from Peter Pan. There is a delightful, quiet pool for swimming, surrounded by sunloungers for lazing and reading. And then there is the food. They said it was a starter, main and dessert plus wine - it turned out to be 10 courses of ecstasy! All kinds of homemade delicacies. On leaving, our generous hosts gave us a bottle of wine, corkscrew and umbrella because it was raining....