Great location,good value. Problem with air-conditioning,speedily and graciously sorted by excellent receptionist, Sophia. Take a bow, Sophia!!

My wife and I stayed for two nights (28-30 Mar 08) at the end of a 7-night trip to the province. We had Room 405 on the non-smoking floor.

GOOD POINTS
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1) Location - only 5 minutes walk across the bridge to the cathedral, though other hotels eg the NH, Zenit and Hesperia are closer still.
2) Room - good sized room and bathroom and reasonably well fitted.
3) Breakfast - good choice of cereals, fruit, fried eggs & bacon, cold meats, pastries etc
4) Price - we paid £53 per night total for b&b and considered it good value.
5) The staff were generally friendly and helpful.

NOT SO GOOD
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1) There was an unpleasant smell of dampness in the bathroom.
(perhaps one of the sources of mustiness in an earlier review)

2) Hotel parking cost 16 euros/night (recently raised from 12 euros). The street parking is limited and might be ok for an overnight stay but is not a practical option for longer stays. Other hotels seem to charge a similar amount.

Murcia is a pleasant city in which to hang out but there is not a lot to see, apart from the cathedral, so one full day is probably enough time for most people to spend here. We were lucky that the Primavera Carnival took place during our stay which provided additional interest and a great atmosphere in the city.

We just spent one night at the Conde de Floridablanca Hotel, but would be happy to return. We found the hotel fairly easily, and parking in a nearby street with a parking meter, for a fee of just 50 cents per hour, and only payable during working hours.

Hotel staff were very welcoming, and there were no problems checking in, even though I'd booked it as a free night using Airmiles, just 4 days before arrival.

We were pleasantly surprised by size of room, and the bathroom was large too. View out of the windows wasn't much to write home about, but to be expected in a built up area in a city centre. Bed was proper double bed instead of two singles, which was nice. TV had a couple of English-speaking news/sport channels.

A short walk across the nearby river, took you to the historical centre, and main shopping area. We had lunch outside one of the cafes in front of the cathederal, but struggled to find a restaurant which took our fancy in the evening, so ended up back at the hotel, eating their 3-course/19 Euros set menu, which was OK, although deep fried potato wedges (however lovely!) which accompanied my Murcian Tuna Stew appeared to be the same as you can pick up in any supermarket freezer cabinet and didn't seem "classy" enough for 4* dining. This, plus there was only one other couple of diners spoilt the meal a little bit.

On the other hand I found breakfast to be great, especially as it was included in our "free" night. Great choice of fresh fruit, cereals, hot and cold Spanish and international buffet, juices, tea and coffee.

I did not find the hotel or my 4th floor room smoky or musty. There was a strong smell of air freshener in the corridors, but not unpleasant... maybe they'd read the previous review on Tripadvisor! Personally, I did not have any trouble with controlling the temperature of our room with the air conditioning.

I stayed at the Catalonia Conde de Floridablanca for one week in January for work. The hotel is located in a nice area with a park and the cathedral just next door. The city center is a quick five to ten minute walk across the river, so the location was overall very enjoyable.

The hotel allows smoking on the second floor, and I thought that the smoke carried through the entire building. It was beautiful weather while I was here - around 75 degrees during the day. The room was hot and the air conditioner only pumped out constant heat!

The staff is very friendly and accomodating. The breakfast buffet provided many options for 10 euro. There is a grocery store on the other side of the cathedral and a mini fridge in each room.

All in all, nice location, nice people, hot and musty/smokey smelling rooms.