Having just arrived back from Spain where we stayed at both the Palau de la Mar in Valencia and the Amerigo in Alicante - both of the same chain, the Amerigo was significantly of a higher standard and deserving of it's 5 star rating, the Palau we thought was not.
On arrival we left our bags with reception as we arrived early. On returning from a short trip, we went back to the hotel. Our bags were not already in our room and in fact could not be located. It took three members of staff to find them. We were then given the key to a room which we went to - only to find it already being occupied! We were given a different room which was a little bit of a let down. For 5 stars you expect just that bit more effort and it wasn't here (although the oversize pillows on the bed were quite impressive).
There was no information pack in the room - it wasn't until we stayed at the Amerigo that we realised that one should have been in our room at the Palau - therefore we were in the dark a bit as to the facilities etc. It was good to have read about the free mini-bar on this site otherwise we wouldn't have known.
The jacuzzi area was OK - however there were no details on how to use the facilities (must have been in the info pack we didn't get).
There wasn't a bar inside the hotel itself and this led to a lack of atmosphere. We ordered drinks from the restaurant attached and drank in the lounge area - alone (Friday night). The lighting was too bright and harsh.
Overall - we felt this was more like a 3 star hotel and wouldn't pay more than 150 euros a night.







