We booked a three night stay in this "4-Star" hotel and paid a one night deposit. If we had not paid for one night, we would not have stayed at all but we did tolerate the place for one night.

After winding through the network of one-way streets of Gijon, we found the "cave" that the hotel uses for a parking garage. (It is a big, completely dark basement that has a big, mean looking dog in it. Parking in the cave costs 14 Euro a night but there is not much choice near the beach. (By the way, it's not a very good beach either.)

Turning to the hotel itself, we had requested a "double" and found out that that the only thing available was two twin beds. Now, that's not too unusual in Spain but we were taken aback by the attitude that we received when we requested a room with a double bed. The front desk staff defensively informed us that we should have asked for a double bed if we wanted a double bed and that they could "upgrade" us to a room with a view of the beach and a double bed but that it was NOT AIRCONDITIONED. Now, Gijon is not usually very hot but it does get warm from time to time and we were in a warm period. So, we decided to keep the twin bed room since it was "air conditioned".

Upon arriving at the room and opening the door we were greeted with a blast of HOT air. The room had been closed for some period of time and the "air conditioning" had been turned off. I found the "air conditioner" over by the frosted glass window that overlooked a dreary courtyard and got it turned on. After a minute or so it started to produce a weak but cold stream of air that had no noticeable effect on the stiffling atmosphere of the room. Our next task was to look around the room and see just what we had to tolerate for the night. It was clean, but dark, and looked about like it had been decorated/designed about 1975. There was a phone and a tiny TV but no data connection/WIFI at all. The carpet was a dull, grimy gray and the walls a bright green (remember the "70's colors"?).

After a few minutes of misery, my wife immediately got on the phone and called the Parador de Gijon which was only about 3 blocks away and tried to get us a room there. Unfortunately, the Parador was full but they recommended that we try the Tryp Rey Pelayo which was nearby. Without further ado, we called the Tryp and the gentleman there seemed a little puzzled why we were asking if they had anything other than rooms with twin beds and if the hotel was airconditioned. We were pleased to find out that the rooms were indeed airconditioned and had something other than twin beds and cost about 40 Euro a night less than the "4-Star, air conditioned" Principe de Asturias. So, we made a reservation for the next two nights and decided to suffer through our one night at Principe de Asturias.

After going to dinner and wandering around the town and looking at the beach (right in front of the Principe de Asturias) we figured that the room would be cool enough to tolerate. Wrong! The "air conditioner" was chugging away putting out cold air that just could not make any meaningful difference in the room temperature. We turned in for the night and sweated the hours away and managed to get some sleep (the room was actually quiet). I must have check the "air conditioner" 10 times and I always found that it was struggling valiantly and emitting nice cold air but it made no noticeable difference in the temperature of the oven, er . . . room.

So, next morning we packed up, and went to the "cave" to get the car and made a quick get away to the Tryp Rey Pelayo where we should have gone in the first place and where we saved about 90 Euros during our stay in Gijon. At least two locals told us that the Principe de Asturias was "viejo" (old) and that nothing had been done to improve it for years. I could not have agreed more and that's pretty much the bottom line. It's old, hot, depressing but it is close to the beach and you get to park your car in a cave. It was probably a 4 star hotel in 1975 but last time I looked, that was over three decades ago.

Spent a week travelling up the northern Spanish coastline from Bilbao and stayed at this hotel in Gijon.

I had prebooked the hotel through webtourist.net but on arrival, they had no knowledge of the reservation. However, they had a room for us which was a huge relief. Rooms were average but suitable for an overnight stop.

Although the town of Gijon is on the coast, it is a large town and accessing the hotel proved difficult between one-way streets and constantly "tooting" Spanish drivers with no patience for strangers!

The view from this hotel looks out over the beach and ocean and encourages you to sit in the comfy leather chairs in the lobby.

The downside was no restaurant but the wonderful breakfast on the top floor looking out to sea was a bonus!