Having just stayed in Cordoba in one of the Hospes chain hotels, and been delighted with the phenomenal level of service, fit out, catering and attention to detail, for approx €250 a night, paying over €300 a night here had to be something very special...and aside from location it was not . The room was disappointing, with the techonology unnecessary and overengineered. The bathroom was over fitted and simply impractical . The breakfast and dinner were nothing more than average (but extremely expensive) , and as for service, it seems that though the hotel has been overhauled and brought up to date, the staff have not ! A very disappointing visit which over 2 days cost nearly €1000.

You won't get many chances to spend the night within the walls of the Alhambra. The Parador de Granda is a lovely old bed and breakfast. type of accomodation but that description does not do it justice. To stay there is to stay in a piece of history. Dinner is included and will be a local dish and quite good. Make your reservation a full year in advance, as it is very diffiult to get in.

The construction is complete and I would say largely successful. It seems to be the thing now in Europe to go super modern and our room was definitely small, with very overcomplicated light switches, but was immaculate and had a walk in shower with great water pressure, a rare thing! No old world charm, but extremely comfortable.
We truly enjoyed the courtyard for lunch and drinks, and dinner outside by the fountain. The food was quite good, and they even offered a vegetarian special, which I greatly enjoyed, not because I'm a vegetarian, but because salad and veggies seem almost nonexistant in Spain! The waitress suggested an excellent wine which was only 20 euros. I only wish I'd known suites were available. We only stayed one night and I would recommend two. Don't take the group tour of the Alhambra--ask the hotel to set up a private guide.

Having stayed at least twice before - the first time in the 60's, we again visited for two nights, principally to see the Alhambra for, I think, the eleventh time. I am afraid that the enchantment of those earlier visits has not survived- either for the Alhambra or the Parador Nacional de San Francisco. The hotel was in the midst of 'refurbishment', and consequently, access to much of the buildings and most of the gardens was not possible. Our room did have facilities and was well maintained- however, it had suffered the touches of an interior designer with no concept of the needs for the traveller (the very reason the network of Paradores was founded in 1928). The lighting system, for example, was not only non-intuitive, but it had a mind of its own; on our last night it decided to flood the room with light no fewer than nine times! Having a stone horse-trough in the bathroom with twin taps is neither ideal for ablutions nor is it water efficient!
Breakfast was plentiful, but the dinner menu was extremely limited, unimaginative and overall very poor value for money.
With reference to other reviews, it must be pointed out that there are only TWO hotels within the precincts of the Alhambra, the Parador being one, the other the adjacent Hotel America.
Having read the articles in the Paradores own magazine, I would be very wary of ANY of the network's buildings which have had recent 'modernisation.