Hotel Monterrey Roses by Pierre & Vacances

Es ist ein Hotel, das von der katalanischen Mafia betrieben wird. Seien Sie vorsichtig, denn er stiehlt Dinge aus Ihrem Zimmer, definitiv nicht zu empfehlen

We stayed in this Hotel as part of the Titan “Little Boats of Catalonia” tour 10th-17th September 2024. Titan had promoted the Hotel Monterrey, Roses as being 4* which it definitely is not. The rooms are very basic, lacking facilities, poorly furnished and the shower area in the bathroom had black mould on the tiles. When I asked for this to be cleaned, the fumes from the cleaning product used caused an allergic reaction. As a result, we had to change rooms with the Titan tour manager as the hotel said they had no other rooms available. The eating arrangements were very poor. The dining room was unattractive and lacked atmosphere. It was more like a poor quality work’s canteen. The food was unappealing, poorly cooked and repetitive. Due to the large number of groups staying there were queues at the buffet stations and food ran out or was lukewarm. Staff seemed to be demotivated and disinterested. It was impossible to get a decent cup of coffee at breakfast or after dinner. How this hotel was given a 4* rating is a mystery and we would never stay there again.

Just before our Saga/Titan group visit I looked up comments about the hotel on Trip Advisor. I only read 1 or 2 comments from this Sept but several from last. I was so disappointed & wondered what the experience would be like for my 80th Birthday. When our group of 40 arrived Oct 8th, I had very low expectations so was very pleasantly surprised. Comments had said no fridge, payment needed for the safe & no kettle. We had a fridge, the safe was free & we'd taken our own kettle. The room was a reasonable size, the bed was fine, bath, shower & balcony all good - TV a bit small but we had little time for television. In the dining room, there were allocated tables for our group & plenty of choice of food at the buffet. Pity only 2 of the 3 coffee machines were working at breakfast time as there were often queues. However the coffee tasted fine; important for me. You may gather that I was pleasantly surprised & assume that either changes had been made since 2023 or the the comments were made by people who like to complain. During our week at the Monterrey Hotel, we had several coach trips with our group, walked to the harbour for a boat trip to Cadaques; we walked round the corner for our mini-train trip to Puig Alt; a fair sized supermarket was just round the corner - all very convenient. The walk to the Citadel & main town were a longer walk but we can still manage that.

The main issues we had were in the buffet dinning room. We were on a guided tour on half board. There were a number of similar groups there at the same time so at peak times the dining room was extremely busy with long queues for the various counters. There was plenty of food. It was the quality which we found unacceptable. They cooked beef 1 night. It looked nice but the first bite I took was inedible. I chewed it as best I could and swallowed it. Others I know were unable to and had to spit it into a napkin. I don't like wasted food so explained to the waitress collecting plates that it was inedible. She just smiled so I don't know what to make of that! There were other meats on other nights including pork and lamb. Sadly almost all were poor quality. Many of the dishes on hot counter were cold and I mean actually cold not warm. The warming plate was warm but the dishes seemed to be raised above it so were not kept warm. At breakfast eggs were fried in the room. I asked for an egg fresh off the fryer but was told I had to take one of the cold congealed ones from a previous batch. I have eaten in many buffets over the years including some amazing ones on cruise ships but this was worse that the ones we went to when our children were young in budget all inclusive hotels Our room had stains in the bath and some tiles had been replaced in the bathroom with non matching ones Many of the things we experienced were mentioned in a review 5 months, and it is disappointing that progress has not been made

On arrival with group, I was not on list, although I was lead booking for myself and friend. Waited over 1.5h before allocation. Reception staff had limited English so sometimes had to wait for change of duty before resolving queries Room adequate, but cheaply decorated and furnished. Bathroom also adequate, but bath stains scoured out, so large white patches. Safe jammed open and was told that I had to wait ( not a problem) and that I had to be in attendance for any work etc done in my room. That’s a new one on me ! Telephone never worked entire trip. No tea/ coffee making facilities, ? room service ? Towels changed every day, even when put back on rail; which shouldn’t happen in this environmental age Bar area bleak, with uncomfortable chairs and tables. No service before 16.00, and most unwelcoming Dining room like school refectory, and we had to sit with our own travel group. Food poor: large selection, but displayed in unheated dishes, so often lukewarm / dried up. We found the microwave hiding behind the servery ! Too much wastage, desserts with lots of jellies etc so often not eaten. Few staff, one of whom also doubled after 16.00 in bar, and was also the electrician This is rated a 4 star hotel, which it misses by a mile, even allowing for country variations in grading A disappointing stay, made worse by no prior information telling us that we were staying “out of season”, so lack of facilities and things to do in Roses, which was a 30/40 walk away with very limited public transport