Parador de Cadiz

“can I give ten stars??”

I have stayed in quite a few paradores, but this was my best experience ever. I loved the building, the architecture, the artwork, the views out on to the water, the chairs in the bar/ cafeteria, and the room itself. Everything was perfect. Everything was spotless, and comfortable, and the staff we… more

I have stayed in quite a few paradores, but this was my best experience ever. I loved the building, the architecture, the artwork, the views out on to the water, the chairs in the bar/ cafeteria, and the room itself. Everything was perfect. Everything was spotless, and comfortable, and the staff were all helpful and friendly. I'd have to give a special mention to Ana (I hope I have her name right) - she is the therapist who gave me the most wonderful treatment. [The spa area is fantastic as well, as is the outdoor space for lying on sunbeds and looking out on the water.] I thought it was amazing value for money and I'd love to go back. [Not something I'd say about every parador. The parador of Cádiz is exceptional.]

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“Location, location, location ...and wonderful staff”

What a wonderful place and what lovely staff...so professional and so friendly. Everyone we came into contact with was helpful and kind. We were given a room near the end of the building facing the sea and enjoyed drinking a glass of wine and watching the sunset from our balcony. But it was proba… more

What a wonderful place and what lovely staff...so professional and so friendly. Everyone we came into contact with was helpful and kind. We were given a room near the end of the building facing the sea and enjoyed drinking a glass of wine and watching the sunset from our balcony. But it was probably the poolside that was our favourite area. A long deck with three different kinds of pools (one with lots of bubbles, one that was ankle deep so you could in fact just lie in it and keep cool while sunbathing and then the largest), with all the sunbeds looking out to sea. A small bar for refreshments too. the view and the location were the greatest luxury! The rooms are small and modern, lots of grey concrete in the bathroom, and well appointed with clever touches like lighting controls at your fingertips bedside and a small automatic light that comes in when you walk past on your way to the bathroom. It's a smidge pricier than some of Cadiz' other hotels (around 200 euros for lowest priced rooms) but well worth it for the beautiful location. Would definitely stay again.

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“Great location with fantastic modern bedrooms but breakfast service disappointing”

We stayed here for a week and had a superior room facing the park. The views from the balcony are brilliant and so glad we had the sea and park view. The hotel is very modern lots of concrete and steal which is not usually my thing we booked primarily for the location and pool. The rooms were to… more

We stayed here for a week and had a superior room facing the park. The views from the balcony are brilliant and so glad we had the sea and park view. The hotel is very modern lots of concrete and steal which is not usually my thing we booked primarily for the location and pool. The rooms were to a high standard, very clean and huge. Limited tea and coffee provided in the room and powdered milk. The doors inside the rooms are made of heavy glass which I found difficult to close and the door to the wardrobe not really needed. There is no privacy on the balcony, very poor design with a half partition made of glass. Saw too much of the neighbours and heard them as well! Most of the staff were very helpful. The pool area is beautiful, relaxing (normally) and plenty of sunbeds when we stayed. Negatives Breakfast, probably the worst I have encountered staying in large chains and not up to the standard of the Barcelo or Radisson groups. You have to pick a time for breakfast when you check in - not something I like to do! We chose 9.30 to 10.30. Upon entering the dining room we faced utter chaos. Messy tables, lack of replenishment of cold foods and few staff. There were not enough staff and the manager was sorting plates rather than directing his inefficient team. Two out of four coffee machines were out of order so the queues were massive and it was impossible to fine the tea trolley. The whole of the food offering was under strict portion control. I hate food waste but this was unbelievable. Very small plastics trays of cold food items, no salad bar, no hot choc for churros nothing was displayed in an attractive way - so bland. Worst of all was the hot food station. I have never stayed in a hotel where you have to be served the hot food items (bacon, egg and not much else) by the chef. There is no hot food buffet. So you have to join the massive queue of people waiting for omelettes to get any hot food. The chef was miserable (not surprising) and the experience not very pleasant. However I have to add that a few days later a new manager appeared and the service was so much better. No chaos, tidy tables and replenished food. Also a new team of staff who were approachable and efficient!! Pool During our stay there was building work around the pool and new tiles being replaced. The noise was horrific for a couple of afternoons. I raised this with the assistant manager who apologised but was not much help. Considering how long we were staying here for and the price of this hotel a complimentary drink would have been much appreciated!!! Overall this is a nice hotel in a great location with massive rooms and lovely pool area. Breakfast could be better and a hot buffet please. Would stay here again.

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“The worst breakfast in Spain.”

Let’s deal with the positives first. Although out of character this is a modern Hotel with a fabulous pool area and sea facing comfortable bedrooms. Thehotel is clean and well positioned for access to the old city and lots of places to eat and drink. Unfortunately, after checking in and it’s becomi… more

Let’s deal with the positives first. Although out of character this is a modern Hotel with a fabulous pool area and sea facing comfortable bedrooms. Thehotel is clean and well positioned for access to the old city and lots of places to eat and drink. Unfortunately, after checking in and it’s becoming apparent that our air-conditioning in the bedroom was broken we were moved to a junior suite at 11 pm. We slept in the junior suite overnight, but our luggage was in a different room. The next morning when I went to the reception there was no manager available to see me before breakfast as we had a tour booked and I was keen to sort out our accommodation for our second night. breakfast I went back to reception and talked to the duty manager. He acknowledged the problems but was not really very apologetic. He said we could stay in the junior suite for our second night and that somebody would help us move our luggage which did happen. As , there was no apology for the discomfort we had suffered since our check-in at 3 pm, that the air-conditioning was broken or that when we went out for dinner and then returned, we were informed that the air-conditioning was fixed. The engineer who came into the room changed something but did not bother to check whether his work had resulted in the air-conditioning working. The night manager, Alex was very helpful in sorting out a replacement room for us and the upgrade was nice, but being in a largerroom was not really my objective. I had hoped for some kind of gesture from the Hotel. Perhaps not charging for the two nights parking or a gesture of some drinks or contribution to dinner in the Hotel‘s restaurant. But nothing was forthcoming and when I asked, he said the upgrade all he could do. Then we come to the restaurant facility for breakfast. Certain aspects of this were of a good quality. There was wide range of fruits and cold meat. But the hot counter was about us unpleasant looking as we had seen in our previous 10 days in Andalusia. There was a surfer and somebody who prepared eggs but she would best be described as unable to cook and just looked grubby. I requested an egg White omelette. What I got Back was basically a pile of burnt egg White from the bottom of the pan and oil. I don’t know how she had the cheek to present it to me. The same lady was cooking hot food the next day and I chose to just pass. Getting a hot drink was impossible and the teabags were hidden away and in any event you could not get boiling water to make a proper cup of tea. I would just warn anybody travelling around the area to be mindful of what to expect here. We had stayed in hotels with 20 to 30 rooms before this hotel. They all had delicious breakfast with both hot and cold food. The staff were polite in all the other hotels but in the Parado, you really felt that they couldn’t care less and it was just like a canteen. The only other positive was the underground car park which can be accessed from each Floor directly but to add an additional cost of €21 a night.

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