AC Palacio del Carmen - Santiago de Compostela, Spain 

We travelled to santiago in May 2008 for 4 nights, it was our first visit and decided to go for a little luxury hence choosing the Palacio Del Carmen. We arrived at the hotel quite late in the evening and were greeted by a welcoming receptionist who cheked us in promptly and showed us to the room, which we though was very impressive and certainly something we have never had before. The room itself was well decorated, cleaned daily and of a good size with most of the aminiteies that you would expect from this class of hotel, however there were some small details that let it down. Firstly the Mini bar only stocked non alcoholic drinks and although it was free it would have been nice to have the option. The room only had 1 robe and 1 pair of slippers and in a double room i found this very strange, also there was no complemetry safe to store your valubles in and you had to use the Hotels which wasn't exactly what you would call reasonably priced, also there was no tea or coffe making facilities and no iron and ironing board, something you don't expect from a 5* Hotel. Due to us flying home at night we had asked reception to look after our suitecases for the day which they did with no hesitation, however upon arrival at the Hotel that night we were greeted by 2 young receptionists who didn't speak any English and couldn't understand what we were requesting, although i don't expect to go to this region of spain and everyone speak English i would expect a International hotel chain to employ staff that could understand a small amount of our language, afterall we made an effort to learn some of their language, why couldn't they? We did have a meal at the hotel which was beautiful and although expensive really was worth the money, the food itself was beautifully cooked and i would recommend the Sea Bass to anyone!! The Hotels location from the centre of Santiago is around 10mins, however be prepared for a good hike as the hill to get into it is very steep and not good if you have walking difficulties. Overall this hotel was a bit of a mixed bag, a modern well serviced hotel that's in a quiet location and on the whole has friendly staff but suffers from samll things that let it down and my opinion doesn't quite fulfill that 5* experience or the 5* price. Give it a go but look around first!

We stayed for just two nights at this lovely hotel. From the airport or train station I would recommend a taxi as it is a little difficult to find at the outset but is in fact within 5 minutes easy walking distance to the cathedral. Rooms were first class with lots of extra touches. There is a complementary in-door pool with steam room and sauna, though the water is not heated. There are lovely quiet gardens at the rear of the hotel. There is also limited parking on the front of the hotel. I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again. Due to the uphill walk to the main town I wouldn't recommend this to disabled travellers.