I have a hotel bucket list longer than my arm these days and it’s growing by the day with so many magical looking hotels almost opening daily around the world. One hotel that was on my hotel bucket list was the Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville.
My little sister had stayed at this property a few years ago and loved it and I was hoping to fall in love with the property as well. Hotel Alfonso XIII is part of the Luxury Collection Hotel chain operated by Starwood Hotels so I knew to expect a grand hotel and exceptional service.
^^one of the lovely ladies that greets you…stained glass perfection!
We left Hotel Casa 1800 in Seville and walked to Hotel Alfonso XIII with our bags…apparently this was the quicker option than jumping in a taxi and it was a rather lovely walk in the sunshine for a few minutes so I wasn’t complaining. First impressions…no doorman and a number of stairs to drag our bags up…there are doormen but just never there when you need them unfortunately!
We waited to be checked in as apparently on Valentines Day the hotel is packed (and charging silly money hence the reason why we didn’t stay…if they can get away with it why not says the accountant in me!)...we had to wait over 5 minutes to check in as a number of folks were checking out…I would like to say we were checked in with a smile but we weren’t…I dislike reception staff that look like they’ve sucked lemons all day…and they were like this the whole time during our stay! Smiles are free people!
So are you ready for a snoop inside our room…we found our room which was impressive in size BUT…there’s going to be a number of BUT’s in this review…sorry…the room wasn’t sound proof as the windows didn’t close properly (G managed to fix this by shoving a few posh magazines into the window frame to make it sound proof)...
…and as G pointed out…there was dust all over the glasses in the mini bar (and you thought I was picky!).
…the room was very spacious…you could probably swing at least 5 cats in here no sweat…the rooms are tastifully decorated…if I was to be honest I thought they were a bit beige in nature (i.e. my polite way of saying boring) compared to the rest of the hotel…
…but that chair was just perfect for getting cosy with a good book…
…the bathroom was huge and I mean HUGE…
…where Elemis toiletries could be found lurking behind every shower curtain.
We popped into the bar to check out out their drinks menu and maybe consume a beverage or ten…we waited and waited and waited to be served…we actually left as the staff were too busy talking amongst themselves to serve us or even clean the tables around us…we decided to forgo the whole idea of having afternoon tea treats at the hotel as well.
^^the bar is lovely if you can find someone who is willing to serve you.
G and I also had dinner at the hotel on our first night and we weren’t impressed…once again the service in the restaurant was haphazard and we had numerous people serving us…we had one fabulous waiter who knew what silver service was and understood gluten free requirements…the rest were just appalling…they forgot to charge us for our drinks…seriously if you want free drinks in Seville then head to Hotel Alfonso XIII (I did inform reception on check out to add the drinks onto our bill and her response, oh well they should have charged you at dinner…okay!) The gluten free options were limited…and I mean limited…to a couple of fish dishes only.
The gluten free breakfast options the following morning were a lot better…a huge variety and a gluten free corner with so many options…nice to see Starwood upping their game when it comes to gluten free breakfast…
…plus all the fresh fruit you could eat!
The hotel itself is just breathtaking…the courtyard is truly stunning…
…the details…
…another snuggle worthy spot to read a good book…
…and don’t get me started over the staircase!
The stairway to heaven!
Strangely enough…I thought the Hotel Alfonso XIII would be truly amazing however the service was truly abysmal to say the least which just shows you can spend all the money in the world on a 5 star hotel and not receive 5 star service. What makes a great hotel…for me, it’s service hands down! The hotel itself is exquisite and I love the history that surrounds the hotel.
I did have a look through the trip advisor reviews over the days we stayed and most people were having similar experiences to ours…as one staff member pointed out to us…the hotel is running at full capacity due to the Valentine’s Day holiday…hmmm she got my are you freaking joking face…that’s not my problem…if you can’t handle the hotel at full capacity and offer your guests 5 star service then don’t book it to full capacity!
Would I recommend – ummm if you can get a special deal then check it out but in all honesty if we were to go back to Seville we would stay at the Hotel Casa 1800 and pop into Hotel Alfonso XIII for a snoop around…we didn’t think it was worth the money at over 250 euros a night off peak!
We did stay at the Grande Bretagne in Athens which is another Luxury Collection hotel by Starwood and loved it…plus we have booked two Luxury Collection hotels in Peru next month so am hoping this was just a little blimp in the Luxury Collection brand.
So have you stayed at Hotel Alfonso XIII – did you love or loathe it? You can read more about my trip to Seville here.
xx
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