Barcelo Aracena

Nice and comfortable hotel nested on top of a hill overlooking the town as well as the old fortification. Rooms are comfortable and well appointed. Breakfast is varied and of good value. Climate control was still set to heating, therefore no air conditioning despite temperatures day time in the upper twenties and nearing the thirties.

Great views of the lovely extremadura region and the Aracena castle. Modern and spacious rooms. Good food at Jamar. Did not use the pool and it is not heated. Did use the gym. Quite a large gyms for weight lifting. There is a spa, but was closed when I arrived (arrived late).

This was a very clean and modern hotel with great views over the town of Aracena. On the night we stayed the restaurant didn’t open so the dinner choice was limited. We opted to walk into town for a meal. The walk to town is quite steep, downhill there and uphill on return.

Hotel reception very friendly upon our arrival. We were allowed to check in earlier. Thank you! Very kind and helpful. Spa reception total Desaster. When you think Spain praises itself as being an advanced country in desexualising men and women we just experienced the opposite of this. nightmare. Never had to put on a bikini in a sauna (which I have no problem doing) just didn’t have to do this ever in any sauna (also very unhygienic) we were prompted to cover up because our nudity in the sauna (not talking about the pool area cause we covered up there with towel and weren’t planning to use the pool at all! I don’t understand this at all? We are in a sauna where people are supposed to be naked men and women and love their bodies. If you feel shy I respect you covering up but I didn’t have a bikini with me and I wasn’t informed so we were literally almost kicked out because we were upsetting adults with our nudity? No thank you. If we were informed about this prior to our arrival we can respect the house rules. But this was not the case at all. Instead I had to ask the reception where this is stipulated and we did get a refund in the end. Defiantly never booking this spa hotel ever again or any barcelo hotels with a spa. So just a reminder for foreign guests that do not speak Spanish and are used to being comfortable in the sauna without clothes. Here nudity is forbidden and not at all tolerated.

Four nights in this gorgeous hotel located next to a very nice town. Loved the reception area and the view (A 'wow' moment!!) Beautifully furnished and decorated and an amazing aroma! :) Breakfasts were good. Rooms had amazing views. Pool area also very nice. We had two rooms with a view over the town. One of them was 'panoramic' which meant it had an undercover balcony. Loved our stay. Very nice hotel and great to be right by the town which had lots of places to eat and sight see including the amazing caves and a fun trip up to the castle on a train. Gorgeous well maintained pool area and very good cocktails particularly the mojitos (!). Very nice and helpful staff at reception. Spa was amazing! Best I've ever been in (despite the jacuzzi being closed and part of the walk through part not working) Handy having an underground car park. (keeping car cooler) A few little gripes Would have been good to have a chef with the option of freshly made omelettes for example. (perhaps we were spoiled by having this in our first hotel on this holiday!) It felt like they were short staffed at breakfast. There was just one member of staff by herself who didn't seem very happy! The member of staff would not let us move the tables so we could all sit together for breakfast (we were a group of five) We ate just one evening in the hotel. Didn't think there was that much on the menu to be honest. We ordered burgers that were very very undercooked. (didn't realise till I had had a couple of bites!)They did take them away and cook them more but there wasn't much of an apology and they just cooked them up some more and returned them. I was surprised they didn't give us a new burger. I think that the manager was there at the time but he didn't bother to come and apologise to us. One time the pool ran out of towels but it wasn't too much of a problem for us as we had brought our own beach towels on holiday. Its such a shame the hotel don't have a shuttle service to and from the town. Apparently it was fine to walk down but not to walk up so every time we went into town we had to drive. There was plenty of free parking luckily but lack of shuttle did mean that we didn't eat out in the town in the evening. I asked reception about ordering a taxi but it seemed that wasn't an option. We had two rooms and one was 'panoramic' with a balcony. It was great to have the extra space of the balcony but to be honest the room without the balcony was much brighter so I think next tie we would opt for two rooms without the balcony. The bathrooms I think were a bit 'tired' and in need of refurbishment. There was no plug to the bath. The showers were not easy to use. We probably will be back..... particularly if there is a shuttle bus!

Stayed here for one night in one of the villas. Really nice. Would highly recommend. Clean and comfy. We are in the hotel and used the pool area to lie out. Very clean. Outdoor bar area for snacks etc. Overall a really nice hotel. Would stay again.

It was our fourth time at the hotel, the panoramic room with views of Aracena was fantastic, good service and the perfect pool to relax. To improve the variety of the restaurant Jamal and cleaning the stains on the bedroom carpets. Recommended, we will return! It is worth paying a little more for the views.

The view from the hotel on the city of Aracena and on the hills (from the back side) are just wonderful. Awesome lobby, friendly and helpful staff, breakfast is OK. But for many reasons, we were not really satisfied with our stay : 1) Rooms are equipped with cold white Led bulbs, not powerful enough, which give a gloomy atmosphere, emphasized by the grey decoration. In the evening, it was like being at a funeral. Not what we expect from a hotel room ! We regret also that there is only one armchair available in the double room. Where is supposed to seat comfortably the second person ? 2) Everywhere in the public spaces, the music is loud, what is very unpleasant, especially during breakfast. Hard to relax and make it a moment of serenity, in total opposition with the beautiful nature of the Sierra of Aracena. 3) We were also surprised that there is nobody at the front desk. You have to ring to have somebody coming ! Not a soul to welcome you or to greet you ! How sad ! 4) Lastly, the old town and the restaurants are closed to the hotel, but you have to cross a main road with a lot of traffic without any secure crossway. That is dangerous. It's up to the management to improve these different points.

What should have been a comfortable stay was marred by their lack of attention to detail. Food was substandard and undercooked. Pillowcases at least had not been changed from the previous guests whose mascara is still evident. Disgusting. Mini-fridge is useless and, at best maintains its contents as lukewarm. Not fit for purpose so why bother having it? They have removed the plugs from the bathtubs and it took them more than half an hour to track one down. A kettle and tea bags are provided but with no milk or creamer. The list of little, niggly things goes on and on and it is a real shame that the facilities and surroundings are marred by such lack of care or thought. The staff, however, are lovely and, though a bit overwhelmed, certainly in the restaurant, remained in good humour throughout