Sorry for the length but when things are bad, they are really bad.
Sunotel Aston Review:
Where to start? This place is a dump. Instead of admitting it and letting us get on with our vacation it keeps coming around. My bride is not one to let anything go, especially when someone lies, so it continues.
1) The rooms. Our first room was very dirty. Nothing in particular but overall it did not look or feel clean. The bed was a box spring with a sheet over it. Seriously, not even a mattress, just an old box spring. The TV (although I do not watch TV on vacation) was a 14” (30cm) tube TV that did not work anyway. The remote had crusty stuff on it, the battery door missing, and really too disgusting to touch. The window was broken so the street noise came in fairly loudly even though we were on the back of the hotel. There was no heat or blankets. The bathroom was small and although adequate, it was dirty and had lights that did not work. As we had dinner plans we dumped our bags and headed out figuring we would address the room later. Upon return I requested a different room for the reasons above. The second room was the same as the first except the TV actually worked. From this room we heard a loud groaning noise every minute or so. Being exhausted we went to sleep anyway. In the morning we decided to move on as this was already our second room. If someone has a problem with their room do not move them into the same type room on a different floor! The room we had was not what they showed online, maybe twenty years ago, but not now. It was disappointing.
2) The breakfast. Breakfast is served in a musty basement. They did try to brighten the place a little but after our terrible room I felt they fell short. Someone had a bad hacking cough, another of my bride’s peeves. When she saw him go into the kitchen that was the end of her food. The selection was typical European breakfast nothing special.
3) The hotel. The lobby is very small. It reminded me of 70’s-ish hotel that you rent rooms by the hour. The elevators made strange noises, and shook when in motion. The hotel is located far from the tourist areas and 2-3 blocks from a Metro. Although Barcelona is safe, this area seemed seeder than most others we ventured into.
4) The staff. The young man that changed our rooms was reluctant to do so because we had checked in a few hours before. But he did do it. After we decided to move on to another hotel is when the staff really showed their true colors. First, we were told by Kuoni (travel service) that we would be charged a 115E fee for canceling our room. I was told to take this up with the hotel as they were trying to accommodate us. No one from the hotel contacted us when they knew we were leaving. Once we went to the lobby they engaged. While waiting for the desk manager (a random employee who was sitting there at the time) to contact someone about the 115E extortion the desk clerk explained several things to us. The hotel was a three star but since Barcelona is in the tropics they have a much different rating system. When I said I was from Germany I was told that Germany really doesn’t count as part of Europe as their standards are too high. As I explained about the strange noise every minute or so she offered that the noise is the elevator. She thought our dissatisfaction was from the noise so she was trying to move us to a ‘nicer’ room away from the elevator. I asked why we were put there after we were not happy with our first room but she did not have an answer. As the desk manager could not reach anyone to discuss the 115E after about 20 minutes he decided that we did not have to pay, this time. They again offered us a ‘nicer’ room but I was decided that I had had enough. Two points why I was leaving: 1) I already changed rooms, they should have given us a ‘nice’ room once I complained; and 2) the location, I wanted to be closer to the tourist areas.
5) Travel service: Kuoni and Swiss Airlines. Kuoni was helpful while we tried to change hotels. They offered us a similar hotel with the same rating but further out. We tried to get them to put us in the Rivoli Ramblas as it was available online. I was offered a room there for an additional 70E per night, 185E per night total! Seriously? Instead of fighting I decided to get my own hotel within my own needs. I told Kuoni that 115E for the dump they put us in was not fair. They offered 30E back if the hotel actually cancelled the 115E fee that they were supposed to. And we moved on.