The Hotel America is located out of Granada at AlHambra. It is a quaint family run guest house and sits alongside the far more luxurious Parador Hotel. But it is full of spanish charm and has a gorgeous courtyard, and is in the beautiful surrounds of the AlHambra. Be prepared to walk out to dinner down the big hill to the outskirts of Granada - you can't take a car into the precinct, and if you are staying Friday or Saturday night the hotel does not do meals. But if you want to be near the AlHambra and you want to stay somewhere reasonably priced with lots of Spanish charm, this is the place. Rooms are lovely too, and bathrooms recently renovated and very nice.

We loved the location of this hotel – great for honeymooners on a budget or a romantic get-away (we were celebrating our anniversary). We agree with some comments in previous reports but by no means with all of them. For example we found the welcome friendly and service helpful. We had no examples of the service problems mentioned in some reports and certainly no rudeness, quite the opposite in fact. There was definitely no unpleasant smell and everything seemed clean.

But breakfast was basic and uninteresting, certainly not good value, whereas the accommodation we did think very good value especially when compared to the Parador prices (the only other hotel within the Alhambra).

We also agree that at least some rooms are small and basic (ours was) and that there can be a noise problem both from the central patio area and from other rooms, but I suspect that a lot may depend on which room you are given – a bit of a lottery in other words. Once things had settled down for the night it was very tranquil with no outside noise at all – you couldn’t wish for a more peaceful location.

Our room was small so that with a standard-size double bed we had to climb over our luggage. The en-suite shower room was also small. The bed had seen better days – actually it was perfectly comfortable but it was the noisiest bed we’ve ever slept in, and we were on a romantic get-away! Just sitting on it produced a cacophony of sound and it creaked and squeaked at every movement however slight.

We stayed 2 nights and on the first evening didn’t have dinner as we had eaten a big lunch that day, so we went out early for some tapas in the modern area of Granada. We returned to the hotel for an early night. Strolling through the Alhambra in the moonlight, up the hill to this small hotel was magical.

We went to bed inspired by all that moonlit strolling. There was a room adjacent to ours and we tried not to make too much noise for fear of disturbing our neighbours. We needn’t have worried as they were not yet in, so we had no idea that the intervening wall was just a thin partition. When they came in later, just as we were trying to get to sleep, we realised that sound insulation left a lot to be desired. This was the first of three Spanish hotels on this holiday where we met this problem. Although conversation could be heard, words couldn’t be distinguished. Our room had no TV, probably true of the next room too, removing one source of disturbance. But in the space of 20 minutes we discovered (1) that at least 2 rooms in the Hotel America have creaky beds, (2) we weren’t the only couple romantically inspired by the moonlight, and (3) more penetrating sounds appeared, in my wife’s words, to be actually in our room! To make things worse their headboard was loose and banged against the wall behind our bed. At least the rest of the night was peaceful! We found this experience, as always, an intrusion into privacy and entirely the fault of the hotel, not the guests. We met the young Canadian couple next morning at breakfast and became friends for the day, sharing jokes about the beds and their headboard, and going round the Alhambra Palace together!

Not a big deal for us then, but it might make you think twice about staying here with younger children, and some older travellers might be more easily offended.

We found the America good value and well-situated and for us that far outweighed the downsides I’ve mentioned. We’d stay again if we revisit Granada.

We stayed here due to its proximity to the Alhambra and enjoyed our stay fully.

The man at the front desk was very friendly, professional, and helpful, and our double room (No. 105) was very nice; simply decorated with a nice bathroom. No TV or minibar for those who want it, we are happy to be without...

One thing I would not recommend, is the breakfast. For 8 Euros we got some rather dry breads, a yoghurt and a piece of fruit. Though the breakfast room is lovely, I would suggest getting breakfast in town...

We stayed at the Hotel America for 2 nights, April 2nd and 3rd. As previously noted, the location is excellent for visiting the Alhambra, being right there. We like to walk, so it was not a problem walking down the hill to the old town, and back up. Online tickets to the Alhambra sell out earlier than we realized, necessitating the early morning stand in line routine, so being right there was a blessing.

Our double room was spacious and clean, looking out over the garden at the front of the hotel. The beds were excellent. The staff was friendly and accomodating. We made our reservation by email to the hotel, then mailed our credit card number to hold the reservation.

We did not have breakfast at the hotel, but did have lunch which was good, and convenient. We would definitly consider staying at the Hotel America again.