We chose to stay here because of convenient location to visit the cities and restaurants that we wanted to go to.

This hotel is classified with 5 stars, but is no real luxury hotel compared to a Four Seasons or other hotels that I have stayed in.

The hotel is an old palace full of antiques and paintings, restaurant, bar in a big botanical garden with a small pool. Walking distance to city center with tapas bars, restaurants etc.

We stayed in the biggest suite was very clean and spacious including hall/living room with dining table for four, sofa (converted to bed for our son), chairs and table, separate wardrobe, rather old fashioned bathroom with double sinks, jacuzzi, separate shower + a large bedroom with four poster bed and a sitting area + big terrasse with table and chairs. All furniture antiques and quite uncomfortable to sit in. Hard bed. Too efficient (too cold) aircondition which could not be adjusted to our liking.

Breakfast is good and varied (buffet), but service to the minimum. They offer you coffee once, and that is it. Only the 2nd last day we noticed that another guests ordered items that was not on the buffet and found out that we could do this as well for no supplement in costs. Some information from the waiters or a written menu with these extra choices would certainly have been helpful.

Pool was very small and loungers pretty uncomfortable + some disturbing mosquitos. Also no service at all. We had to go to the reception to get our towels for the pool and also bring them back + go to the bar and order drinks if we wanted anything.

For the rate we paid the hotel was OK, and this area does not really have a lot of better options so if you need to be there, it's OK for a night or two.

This Hotel is the perfect hideaway for a few days and/or the perfect spot to discover Cadiz.
It is a real castle turned into a hotel. The service is impeccable, the interior reflects the grandeur of the old days. Even the British Queen has stayed here. The rooms are very large, the furniture antiques throughout.
The pool is a bit small, but the botanical garden that belongs to the hotel is just beautiful. We had breakfast included, which was excellent for Spanish standards.
It takes about 10 min walking to the peer where you can board the ferry to Cadiz. Make sure to ask for the schedule, because on some days they one of the two ferries does not run.
This hotel is VERY recommendable and it is worth every cent.

If the Duques de Medinaceli were a 3 or 4 star hotel, I would probably not be so critical. However, when you hang out 5 stars and charge 5 star rates that basically puts you on the spot to either deliver the goods or become the object of negative reviews such as this one. Conceptually, the hotel certainly could be a 5 star hotel, but it will take a lot of elbow-grease and a heavy investment. The hotel has a certain medieval charm, which is good. However, it is 2010 and 5 star hotel necessarily need to be equipped with the most modern fixtures and lighting to include: a TV that was made in this century, shower stalls that don´t leak under the door causing a a large puddle to form where you have put the bath towel/mat, sound proof rooms and windows (we had a street side room and it was as if the wall and window didn´t even exist), coffee/tea service and bedding that can be in the style of the 19th century, but shouldn´t actually be from that era. The most notable defect in the room (other than the TV and the shower) is the dark and dreary aspect that pervades the entire space. There is little to no natural light that comes in through a window covered by a wooden lattice screen and the light fixtures coupled with the grey and dreary furnishing and wall decorations just can bring the room to life. So instead of entering the room and going, ¨wow, this is really incredible,¨ the dreariness as a result of the lack of light and the poor choice of decoration makes you wonder if you shouldn´t have paid closer attention to opinions of the hotel instead of relying on its 5-star rating.

Not to be too hard on the hotel as a whole as it does have a certain palatial museum quality and some incredible gardens, but that doesn´t excuse it from either providing 5-star service and amenities or knocking off a star or two. And even it the case of lowering the star rating this hotel still needs to invest in cleaning up its act especially in the area of modernization and a lot of paint for the outside walls that can be seen from the lovely gardens. The building and grounds have so much potential that just isn´t realized: all right the pool is small, but it doesn´t have to be dirty and overrun with insects and without any kind of terrace or service. The pool area is just not inviting. It´s like the rooms dark and dreary.

The service provided by the staff is okay, but doesn´t have a 5-star feel either. Breakfast was good, but again it was fairly basic and we have had better in 3 and 4 star hotels. There just nothing about the hotel other than the gardens and the museum-like common areas that makes you feel like the money you are spending is worth it. Certainly not the worst hotel that we have stayed in, but it might be the worst , or perhaps the right word is most basic, 5 star hotel that we have ever stayed in. 5 star hotels should leave you feeling like the extra you spent on the stars was worth and that is just not the case with the Duques de Medinaceli.

what a pleasant stay we had here in a delightfully furnished and decorated hotel, great parking facilities, tranquil gardensand patios,super breakfast,,,amiable staff, an upgrade on arrival to a junior suite and we were so lucky as we had dinner on one of the evenings to be serenaded (a welcome surprise to us) by the wonderful voices of the 10 tenors who were performing in the grounds!! all in all a lovely place to stay and we had a really great price so value for money also !!