This hotel has many good points and some bad ones depending on your needs .The hotel does cater for a mainly Spanish older clientele and at the weekends for spanish families ,there are some international clients, probably less than 10% and many transient clients spending only a night or two. English is not widely spoken and apart from legal signage in the rooms all other notices - menu`s etc,are in Spanish so a basic knowledge of Spanish would be helpful if staying at this hotel.
The bedroom area of the hotel seems to be recently refreshed and has plenty of storage room, good air conditioning and small fridge (this should now be a must in all hotels ).There is also a good size balcony. Soundproofing is non-existent as we were able to hear our neighbours regular nightly telephone converation quite clearly.Unfortunately for us we only got sun for a few hours in the morning as our room faced inward across from other rooms.If you can get a room facing the town not only will it feel more private but you will get sun afternoon and evening .
The bathroom however was a disaster area not only was it badly maintained but was not clean , the toilet and cistern moved when your sat on it, the radiator was yellow with age and thick with dirt; the grout on the the tiles around the shower was black ,there was a hole in the bath that someone had attempted to fix with filler, the door and the door frame had peeling paint and was grey with dirt and greasy finger marks. The floor and tiles were stained and dirty. When are hoteliers going to learn how important a well maintained clean bathroom is, by the way this was room 325. Perhaps because this hotel is very busy with a regular faithful clientele the management here seem to be willing to rest on thier laurels.
We were on a half board basis and the restaurant was well set up with plenty of room and good air conditioning. The breakfast buffet was good with limited choice but there was something for everyone. The only thing I missed was proper fresh croissants and scrambled eggs. This is a Spainish hotel in a Spanish resort, dont expect to get a full English .For dinner the buffet offering consisted of one meat dish one fish dish one potato choice, lots and lots of salad choices and some basic desserts. The scramble for dinner was somewat like a school canteen but the food, although mundane was edible and helped by the inclusion of red or white wine available in large water coolers, (very popular!) Staff in both the restaurant and at reception, while being quite efficient were definitely lacking in charm.
There is a large pool area and a nice garden. There are plenty of beds available but for some reason no umbrellas. Surely a must in a strong sunny climate? The pool leads directly onto a pebble beach for those who don’t like the pool, but you will need to make sure you have something comfortable to lie on.
The hotel is about a 15 minute walk along a busy road with no footpath to Altea itself. This is a little gem of a place and has lots of very good inexpensive restaurants and a lovely old town which is a must see as is the old Baroque church on the top of the town.
Altea is definitely worth a visit and I will return but probably stay in the town itself I would not return to the Cap Negret until something is done with the appalling bathrooms and would not go half board here as the restaurants along Altea ‘s promenade have so much choice and very reasonable prices.
- Cap Negret Hotel
