Hotel Rural Las Calas

The hotel is located behind a modern housing development in an enclosed compound. Once inside the tight compound it is pleasant but the lack of outlook doesn't give it a rural feel. We tried to book dinner in advance for 19.30 but were told we needed to be there at 19.00 but a local restaurant would be open for dinner until late. We rushed from the airport to arrive for 19.00 but on arrival were told, along with another guest, that dinner was not available as the single member of staff leaves at 20.00. the local restaurant was firmly closed. We booked a junior suite which turned out to be a room about 5m x 5m, very dark as two of the windows were only 20cm from a stone wall. The bathroom was dated. We asked about an alternative and were shown a glass fronted room that was by the entrance, essentially adjacent to reception, it was light but the bathroom was upstairs and there was nowhere to sit outside so we stayed put in the dark room. We had dinner in the hotel on the second night, set dinner, greeny/brown soup, diced chicken with couscous, breakfast v simple continental breakfast with good coffee. Although we had booked and paid for 3 nights, we left after two nights. Staff were very nice but clearly the manager was absent.

This hotel could be great but it falls down in too many critical areas. We arrived at night and the hotel is basically unmanned - just keys in a box. It was 6 degrees when we arrived and we were cold and wet. One room had no heating at all. The other was just warm enough (although damp). There was no hot water at all. The hotel is pretty and has character. The breakfast is decent and the staff we saw at breakfast were friendly. However that doesn’t make up for the fact that we were all cold, damp and fairly miserable. There is a communal area that is unheated and again unstaffed. There is a wood burner but it was never lit (presumably we could do this ourselves but as there was no staff to ask who knows). I’ve stayed in winter mountain hotels before and I would expect a roaring fire when you come back cold and wet).

The website makes this hotel look so much nicer than it is. It has the potential to be beautiful but it is run down and not looked after. When we arrived, there was a poo from another guest in our toilet. Unflushed. The hotel isn't manned, there are staff around in the morning to cook breakfast - these women are lovely and do a great job but there is no-one else otherwise unless they are requested to cook dinner by a guest. The rooms are cold and damp, there is not hot water, just lukewarm. We asked staff at breakfast and also emailed to try and fix this - but nothing. A staff member showed us how hot the water gets, it is indeed just lukewarm. I am staying in one of the bedrooms above the dining area and the walls are so thin that I can hear the guests in the room next door using their loo in great detail, their conversations and even what programmes they are watching. I'm really p*ssed off about this entire experience - we've paid hundreds of pounds to stay here and feel thoroughly ripped off. It's telling that other guests at breakfast were having similar conversations and there are few recent reviews online - a lesson learnt on my part. I've never, ever given a place a 2* review but this is really terrible. The ground and hotel have the potential to be amazing and it's such a shame to see this go to waste.