Grenada: Parador de Grenada (September 2006)

You just can't beat the location! While we had tremendous difficulty locating the ticket office, once we did, we were able to pick up our tickets the evening before our visit (close to 8:00 pm when the booth closed). This saved us enormous time in the morning of our visit. We arrived at the Alhambra about 10 minutes prior to our 8:30 reservation, which was worth the price of staying at the Parador. For about 25 minutes, we and another couple were the only ones in the Nazrid Palace. Just a half-hour later, the rooms were overrun with loud tourists, and the spell and the magic were broken.

The rooms were acceptable, nothing grand or fancy, but still nice. (They are renovating, supposedly, but we saw no sign of it.) Public areas are nice, especially the bar, terrace, and restaurant. We ate at the restaurant, and while it was a good meal, was not the best of our trip. Service was better than the food, I would have to say. Again, not a bad meal, just not the best of the vacation, although it was the most expensive (about $100 US for two, including appetizers, entrees, dessert--it was a prixe-fixe--and drinks). There are a few other restaurants within walking distance, but I'm not sure whether they are open at night, or just in the daytime when most people are visiting the Generalife.

With all that said, I WOULD spend the money to stay here again, because you just can't put a price on the location (however, had we NOT been able to pick up our tickets the night before, it would have meant traipsing all the way around the gardens to the ticket office and COST us time in addition to money). As everyone says, DO order the tickets ahead of time on the Internet to get the exact slot that you want. The lines were unbelievable! The Parador can also get you tickets, but I still think you must pick them up, and I was worried that they couldn't secure my first choice of time (but I never asked).

My stay at the Parador was well worth the cost (the basic room with tax but without breakfast ended up being more than $325). It was the most expensive room of our vacation, but certainly not our favorite, although the furnishings/size/etc were just what we expected. (We loved our deluxe room at the Alfonso XIII in Seville, our 2-story duplex suite at the Villa Real in Madrid, and our executive suite in the AC Hotel in Algeciras better than the Parador). However, regarding the Parador, you just can't beat the location, particularly if you can pick up your Alhambra tickets the night before your visit and/or if you choose the 8:30 am time slot. It could give you an uninterrupted 20 to 30 minutes in the Nazrid Palaces without many other guests--great for taking pictures. We even popped back into our room during our visit between the Nazrid, Alcazaba, and Generalife to rest and refresh.

 

The rooms at the Parador were adequate--not overlarge large, and ours had two twin beds pushed together to make a king. Not much other space in the bedroom area, although there was a tiny table and two tiny chairs--one with arms that neither my husband nor I could fit between (maybe it was for a child?) There was a decent-size closet, minibar, large window that opened onto the courtyard area. (Please note that I am certain that we were a bit prejudiced after having suites or HUGE rooms at the other hotels. Also, keep in mind that the Parador is renovating right now, so perhaps the room decor will improve a bit. We did happen to see into a room that had a double bed and an additional twin, and that seemed much larger than ours.) The bathroom was big, as the previous poster stated, with a double-marble vanity sink, and there were a selection of toiletry items and hairdryer.

 We had afternoon drinks on the terrace, which was lovely, and they give you a tapas selection with each round. We also had dinner on the patio, complete with a guitarist for entertainment. Food was pretty good, service was great. We had a 3-course prixe-fixe for about $28Euros per person, and there weren't many exclusions and no surcharges from the regular menu (like many restaurants have). We expected it to be the best meal of our trip, and I'm not sure whether it lived up to that expectation (it was the most expensive, though).