Essence Hotel Boutique and Spa by Don Paquito

Don’t be taken in by the photos, they are deceptive. The hallways are dark, the rooms small and decor tacky. We had a great shower, but unfortunately it flooded the bathroom if we ran the water beyond a trickle, the hot tubs were body temperature NOT hot and there was an awful disinfectant smell in the lobby. If you enjoy the smell of smoke, there’s a lot of it. Oh and the rooftop restaurant was closed. That said, the poolside terrace off our room was pleasant, apart from the smoking neighbor and the the fact that the pool deck looked directly into our room, the breakfast buffet was decent and there are a lot of mediocre restaurants nearby. We had hoped to end our two week trip to Andalusia on a high note, but unfortunately the Essence didn’t do that for us.

The rooms were much smaller than shown, and the bathroom was extremely cramped. Additionally, there was obvious water damage around the showers and on the walls. Despite the fact that 3 saunas are advertised they were never fully open at any time, and the hammam was completely closed during my stay. The hot food at the breakfast buffet was never hot enough. Unbelievably for a hotel i was served cava in a plastic glass, there was also no bar service at the pool.