On checking in to the four star Hotel Corona de Granada for our five-night stay, a middle-aged, jolly chap found us a room (319) at 1pm even though the official check in time wasn’t until 4pm. He confirmed we were room only and told us the room was quiet.
We later discovered that the hotel is used extensively by two British tour groups, who arrive by coach around 4pm and stay for two nights before heading off for their next city.
Whilst there are two lifts, they are slow and small (so when the groups are checking in, it’s chaos). Our room was equally small with a tiny window overlooking a block of flats and washing. The wardrobe door on the far side of the room couldn’t be fully opened because the bedside cabinet was in the way. And because the wardrobe door didn’t fully open, the drawers in the wardrobe could not be fully pulled out. In addition, the space between the end of the bed and a desk was about two foot so a shimmy was required. However, it had everything we needed: a empty fridge (there was a small supermarket over the road), wall-mounted TV with good BBC World, a safe with a traditional key and enough hanging and storage space. The floor was practical wood and although the bed was fairly small, the AC was good and easily regulated. The bathroom was extremely bright and light with a good mirror, plenty of hot water, shower over the bath, loo, bidet and plenty of space to put out our toiletries. The only downside was a dreadful square, wall mounted hairdryer that is of no use whatsoever.
Whilst I was happy to accept the room on the basis that European hotel rooms are often small, on leaving I looked into a couple of rooms that were being cleaned and found them to be much larger. Bearing in mind we were there for five nights, whereas most guests were there for a couple, we were disappointed to have been allocated one of the smaller rooms.
The hotel has a reasonably sized, but freezingly cold, rooftop pool on the fifth floor which opens at 11am. There are tables, chairs and loungers which are so low, they’re hard to get down to and up from. Towels are available from reception for a €10 deposit. The immediate views from the pool area are mainly roof tops and AC units but we could see the snow capped Sierra Nevada in the distance.
The best thing about the hotel is happy hour from 4pm to 8pm where two large glasses of wine were €3 or a well proportioned, free flowing spirit and mixer €3.50. There are always complimentary nibbles.
Reception staff speak reasonable English and are very helpful with tourist information. Meals are available in the restaurant but we decided to eat out as it was only a 15 minute walk to Navas, a street full of tapas bars.
A cab from the airport to the Hotel Corona is €20 and takes 20 minutes.
