Hotel Alda Bonaval — Hotel in Santiago de Compostela

We have just had our first family stay in Santiago de Compostela. at Hotel Alda Bonaval. It has been an good experience with absolutely amazing and breath-taking architecture.

Pro's: The hotel staff are so friendly and really helpful! They made us feel welcome at all times and were super attentive to all of our needs and efforts of communication.

We had the included breakfast whilst we were staying and their morning spread was awesome, with a multitude of choice. All the produce was fresh, locally sourced, crisp and tasted amazing. It really set us up for our adventurous days ahead.

The staff understand and speak quite good English so when you are lost for Spanish context or have language barrier, it is very helpful that they were able to communicate with us. They are super patient and really understanding. They even let us borrow their stroller for our toddler for the day so we could get round Santiago better with a worn out tot with weary legs.

The location of the Hotel is super handy. From the moment you step out the building you have ample choices of where you want to go, what you want to see and how to get there.

The Hotel room was lovely and clean. They came in and made our beds everyday when we left the room, which was rather lovely of them. The rooms were reset and cleaned on a regular basis (we also had a choice of door hanger to request the room to be left alone too. In case anyone may want full privacy during their stay).

The interior of the building was really cool too, especially the stairs and down the stairs in the breakfast room that adorned a huge fire place with a decorative cauldron in it, an old fashioned aga and marble staircase leading to the downstairs toilets. The breakfast room also had an awesome sun room to eat breakfast in, with views of the garden and orange trees (with fresh pick-able fruit on them!).

Cons:

The first downside to the hotel was the noise!! The floor boards are wooden, worn, and make ALOT of noise! Every time the room above us made any movement, we were wide awake and following each foot step and creak wondering whether they were about to come through the ceiling! Additionally, in the room next to us were two women who decided to practise their guitar and vocal skills during the hours of 1700-0130 in the morning!! We genuinely thought they would give up soon but they did not. We ended up having to go and knock the door ourselves as there is no staff on site after 3pm. The walls are very thin and you can hear EVERYTHING!!

The beds in our room were not very comfortable. The springs were very noisy and they would dig into us here and there. This didn't make for a very nice or restful sleeping experience. We were there for 3 nights and the entire stay, I think I got 9 and a half hours sleep in total!

This one is more so for those with children and/or safety concerns. In our Hotel room they had traditional Spanish shutter windows (which look super cute) but there is not any form of safety on them. If the windows were open it was just a large open sheer drop down to the concrete. This isn't so much a 'con' but more something to be actively aware of as they are very easy to open with just a little twist and push. There is no securing mechanism for the little ones. However it gave us a great view to the tree which was super close to the window and full of sleeping pigeons (which our toddler loved!)

Despite the little issues we ran into, we still had a lovely stay and we would still highly recommend it to anyone wishing to travel to Santiago de Compostela. It is super local to absolutely everything you need or want, and you're continuously surrounded by amazing buildings, structure, history, culture,...

I just stayed here for four nights with family. Whilst it has a lot of pros, there are definitely cons you need to consider when booking:||PROS:|- Staff very professional, friendly and attentive. They speak English for those who cannot speak Spanish or Galician.|- Rooms very clean and cleaned very thoroughly on daily basis by staff.|- Beds ample in size. My wife and I are tall and I am of large build, and the double bed was comfortable.|- Hotel only a few minutes walk from the cultural part of the city including Cathedral, restaurants, shops, etc.|- Hotel on a hill so many hotel rooms have great views across city.||CONS:|- Air con faulty in both rooms we used. Had to have windows open for ventilation overnight and were therefore woken by quarter-hourly church bells.|- No kettle or tea/coffee facilities in room or rest of hotel other than at breakfast buffet time. This is a big standard requirement for hotels these days, which this lacked. Staff confirmed that the coffee machine in breakfast buffet room is not for use by guests at other times.|- No restaurant in hotel; only a room where breakfast buffet is served. You'll have to eat all other meals out or use local supermarkets. This can be quite annoying when you have a toddler, and most restaurants do not start serving dinner until 20:30.|- Paid 24€ for taxi from airport to hotel when I booked it myself. For return to airport, hotel offered to book taxi for us and told us that prices were all the same because it was one company. Got charged 40€ for return taxi. Learning: don't allow hotel to book taxi for you, book...

We stayed here for 3 nights before joining an Amber Road tour of Northern Spain in late August 2018. Situated a comfortable stroll away from the city centre,this atmospheric historic building has been very pleasantly renovated,and is in the street above the 'Camino Way for pilgrims. Our room was at the back of the office, overlooking the street below, and with its mat covered terra cotta tile floor,provided a cool room in some very warm weather. The room was very spacious, the huge bed very comfortable, and the compact bathroom had everything we needed,most particularly an easy-to-access shower door! It was spotlessly clean and quiet. The downstairs breakfast room was a huge compartmented area opening onto a pleasant paved garden,surrounded by stone walls.The 24hr set buffet offered the typical Spanish/European breakfast - cereals, fruit juices,huge assortment of cold meats,cheeses,bread,fresh fruit,etc. Some may describe this as spartan, but it conjured a humble approach to being in a pilgrim city,and it was all we needed,particularly with the huge number of superb tapas bars, restaurants, a fresh-food market (which is a 'must-visit') on offer within a stone's throw. The staff were a delight, and spoke English,and were patient with those who are attempting to speak Spanish. Can highly recommend this hotel,its location and value for money tariff. ...