Hotel la Palma Romántica

Great little B&B in the northern quiet part of the island

Romantica is a strange place. It was probably nice back whenever it was built but now it is really very worn and out of date. Some hotels that are old and worn can be charming and quaint, but Romantica really just needs an update. We had booked a junior suite (room 43) and while it was very big and spacious it was also quite dark. There are two small windows sitting low in very thick walls in the lounge area and not much light comes in from there. You do have the balcony doors where light comes in but it's not quite enough for such a large room. It was also very cold when we arrived. They switched on the heater but it took about a day to heat up the room (no doubt because of its size). And even then it was only barely warm enough. In some ways, the room was charming and had character, but we just felt it was too dark. The shower is in the bathtub. There was hot water all the time but not much came out – not much pressure. But at least the water was hot and the towels nice and thick. There are no lifts and a lot of stairs and you must be able to carry your luggage yourself. WiFi only works in the common areas, not in the rooms. We had read all the terrible reviews concerning the restaurant. We don't agree with them and don't understand them. We had dinner all three nights we stayed there, and the food was fine and the staff very attentive, professional and friendly. The first night there was a bit of a wait after ordering, but no more than we would consider normal in any good restaurant. Like our room, the restaurant is also a bit dark and not really all that nice-looking. But we could find no faults with the staff or the food. To summarise, we can't really recommend The Romantica how ever much we'd like to. It's just too worn and out of date – and if you're stuck there, there is nothing to do nearby. Barlovento is not very interesting. We were on a planned hiking trip so we had a hiking program each day. Otherwise, you definitely need to have a car so that you can go somewhere during the day. Our non-recommendation has nothing to do with the staff – it's not their fault that the place is the way it is. All the hotel staff were friendly and helpful.

We stayed for 3 nights when on a walking trip to the island, booked for us by our travel company. Our bags were waiting in reception when we arrived, after booking in the receptionist gave us a tour of the facilities, we had to order our evening meal when we arrived at the restaurant, no offer was made to help with our luggage, there are no lifts. Our room was down several flights of stairs, and although it was clean and comfortable, with plenty of hot water, it seemed dark, lacking natural light. The public areas had an tired, musty feel, the stair carpet was faded and worn, the whole place was in need of talc. We had to wait an hour for our starter, a mixed salad ordered several hours before, the waiting staff were very apologetic, all we could hear from the kitchen was shouting. The following morning the owner rudely and quite aggressively told us we hadn’t waited an hour, only 30 minutes, he didn’t even bother with good morning. He proceeded to blame the staff for not taking the order to the kitchen quickly enough and not turning up, we found his approach very unprofessional. The incident soured our stay and we were rarely acknowledged. We found the restaurant staff very attentive, helpful and friendly but won’t be returning.