HotelTryp AlcanoReviews

Our main reason for visiting Granada was to see the Alhambra which, although it seems to be near the centre of the city, is much more accessible from the ring roads. We therefore decided on a hotel which was close to the main access routes, yet in a peaceful location.
So with that in mind, I booked the Tryp Alcano (part of the Sol Melia group), just 5km from the bustling heart of this ancient city, but conveniently located on a highway close to the ring road.
Just to get our bearings straight, the hotel is 5-6 km from the Alhambra, 40 km from the Sierra Nevada ski slopes and 60 km from the beaches at Salobreña. Granada Airport (GRX) is about 13 km away.


The hotel is situated on a busy highway which can make access difficult as you can only enter from the same side of the road that the hotel is on. This means that if you miss your turn-off, it's a case of driving to the next junction, changing direction, driving back to the previous junction, changing direction, than hoping and praying that you don't make a pig's ear of it again. Phew!

Although the hotel is situated on a busy road, it's set far enough back that there's very little, if any, traffic noise to disturb guests.
It's a two-storied building which is surrounded by around 5000 m2 of tropical gardens, There are 97 rooms in total, all of which have bathrooms, direct dial telephones, air-conditioning and heating, and satellite TV.

The rooms are set around a courtyard (to which only key-holders have access) and in this large, landscaped area you'll find two swimming pools (one of which is suitable for small children), a playground, various seating areas, a small bar at one end, and a larger bar and terraced restaurant/barbecue area at the other.

The reception area was large and airy, with lots of people milling around (the hotel also has extensive conference facilities). Restaurants and bars lead off from either side, with the meeting rooms in a separate building between the reception building and the highway. Checking in, however, was swift and painless. The staff weren't exactly friendly, but they were efficient and pleasant enough and we were soon on our way to our room.

The room was...well, it was a disappointment.
What can I say? I'm sure it looked very nice when it was last decorated, but 60's kitsch is not my idea of cutting edge design, and a colour scheme that combines varying shades of brown and beige hardly stimulates my aesthetic appreciation.
The furniture was worn and ugly - a fake wood desk with curved sides (it's impossible to describe, but trust me, it was gross) with an uncomfortable chair, a mini-bar that barely chilled the contents and was in danger of toppling over whenever anyone so much as anticipated quenching their thirst, and a small TV with crappy reception which was perched on the wall far too high for anyone to view properly - that is, if they could handle the crazy, lopsided angle it hung at. At least the twin beds were comfortable enough. We also had plenty of storage space and, although the furnishings and decor were tatty, the room was clean.

The AC was substandard (although to be fair, the temperatures were extreme) so we resorted to leaving the room window wide open - opening the bathroom window at the back of the building allowed a refreshing breeze to pass through the room and made it bearable.
The downside was that the room window opened onto the walkway that led to the rooms and perhaps leaving it open through the night wasn't the smartest thing to do - not that I'm suggesting for a moment that our fellow guests were a collection of footpads, cut-throats and rascals...but you never know, do you?
What made matters worse, was the fact that the AC wasn't individually controlled, and on waking through the night around 3 am, I noticed that it was blowing out lukewarm air - great!

The bathroom was very clean and very bright, and equipped with all the furnishings that bathrooms are generally equipped with - bath, decent shower, WC and bidet. There were plenty of toiletries to keep us in the spic-n-span manner we're accustomed to, and the towels were soft and fluffy.

The hotel claims to have tennis courts and a sauna/solarium, but I didn't find them - not surprising really, as I didn't go looking for them.
We didn't use the restaurant, but we did make use of the large pool and sat around sipping una caña o dos. Very pleasant, but there was a definite shortage of sun-loungers and outdoor furniture in general.



In conclusion, while this hotel had a location that we found perfect, and had a large garden area with a great pool, the decor of the rooms left a lot to be desired.
We didn't plan to spend an awful lot of time in the room, preferring it as a base from which to explore Granada and somewhere to spend the siesta lounging by the pool. So in that respect it worked out. But the room was so depressingly tatty, that had our plans been different, we probably would've checked out and sought some accommodation which was a little more ambient...like a tent.
In short, I was NOT impressed.

Until the rooms are revamped, I would only recommend this hotel to someone who is looking for the most basic stopover and plans to spend minimal time in the actual room.




proxam2005