Pensión Restaurante Casa da vasca — Restaurant in Malpica de Bergantiños

We were really looking forward to our last night in Galicia at Casa da Vasca.||We booked through Booking.com and arrived some time after 3pm, and introduced ourselves to the male owner (never did find out his name). He was in no way welcoming and was actually ‘antipático’. What then ensued can only have been described as a drama, and not a very pleasant one at that.||||We had booked a double room and were taken up to the second floor and shown the sea-view room. It was perfectly fine, but rather small and I asked if there were other rooms, and we were told the top floor, superior room was available. We looked at this room and both agreed we would take it and pay the difference for the upgrade – again the conversation taking place in Spanish.||||We then went back down to the bar, which doubles as reception, and handed over our Visa card for check-in. It was at this point that the owner said that he preferred cash. This was a big surprise as Booking.com clearly states that payment can be made by Visa. Indeed, if you book directly with the hotel, bookings are taken by Visa. He became quite rude and agressive and continued to insist that we paid in cash. We really did not want to drive the 5 kms back into Malpica to an ATM as parking was difficult, and why on earth should we?||||In the end, he said we would ‘sort it out in the morning’, but in all honesty this incident really spoiled our stay at the hotel and we were both left with the feeling we were in for a further unpleasant encounter with him in the morning.||||We did eat in the ‘restaurant’ in the evening (the only customers), and mine host was a transformed character - rather pleasant and chatty. The food was only mediocre and we should have booked to go to the restaurant next door.||||In the morning, and being unsure if breakfast was, or was not in price (there was in any event, no breakfast menu or tables set), we just had a coffee with a view to getting on the road pronto. We then went to pay, Visa credit card in hand and lo and behold, this now seemed to be fine. We can only be left to wonder at the previous day’s encounter.||||Would we return? No. The sea facing rooms do have an amazing view, but standard rooms are small, the food was not good, the prices (room and food) expensive compared to the rest of our trip around Galicia and the encounter with the owner unpleasant.||||(As a post-script – we did report back to Booking.com, who took the incident up with the owner who stated that he told us on the day we arrived that he ‘would prefer cash, but was happy to be paid by Visa’. We maintain our own version of events, as...

We were really looking forward to our last night in Galicia at Casa da Vasca.||We booked through Booking.com and arrived some time after 3pm, and introduced ourselves to the male owner (never did find out his name). He was in no way welcoming and was actually ‘antipático’. What then ensued can only have been described as a drama, and not a very pleasant one at that.||||We had booked a double room and were taken up to the second floor and shown the sea-view room. It was perfectly fine, but rather small and I asked if there were other rooms, and we were told the top floor, superior room was available. We looked at this room and both agreed we would take it and pay the difference for the upgrade – again the conversation taking place in Spanish.||||We then went back down to the bar, which doubles as reception, and handed over our Visa card for check-in. It was at this point that the owner said that he preferred cash. This was a big surprise as Booking.com clearly states that payment can be made by Visa. Indeed, if you book directly with the hotel, bookings are taken by Visa. He became quite rude and agressive and continued to insist that we paid in cash. We really did not want to drive the 5 kms back into Malpica to an ATM as parking was difficult, and why on earth should we?||||In the end, he said we would ‘sort it out in the morning’, but in all honesty this incident really spoiled our stay at the hotel and we were both left with the feeling we were in for a further unpleasant encounter with him in the morning.||||We did eat in the ‘restaurant’ in the evening (the only customers), and mine host was a transformed character - rather pleasant and chatty. The food was only mediocre and we should have booked to go to the restaurant next door.||||In the morning, and being unsure if breakfast was, or was not in price (there was in any event, no breakfast menu or tables set), we just had a coffee with a view to getting on the road pronto. We then went to pay, Visa credit card in hand and lo and behold, this now seemed to be fine. We can only be left to wonder at the previous day’s encounter.||||Would we return? No. The sea facing rooms do have an amazing view, but standard rooms are small, the food was not good, the prices (room and food) expensive compared to the rest of our trip around Galicia and the encounter with the owner unpleasant.||||(As a post-script – we did report back to Booking.com, who took the incident up with the owner who stated that he told us on the day we arrived that he ‘would prefer cash, but was happy to be paid by Visa’. We maintain our own version of events, as...

10/10 recommend. What a wonderful place to stay! Rooms are comfortable and offer beautiful sea view with roaring ocean at night. Although the atmosphere of the restaurant might not suggest it, the food is incredible and the arroz carabinero was beyond anything I have ever tasted. It was so good we ordered it two nights in a row and can say that was one of the better decisions of my holiday. Owner of the hotel, Benny, made us feel very welcome and went out of his way to make us feel comfortable. What a...