Stayed at the end of April to celebrate my birthday. The hotel is very well situated for bars, restaurants and getting in to the centre of Seville. There is a big department store opposite the hotel with a large supermarket in the basement called El Corte Ingles and another equally large hypermarket called Hipercor approximately 15 minutes’ walk away. There is also a beer brewery – Cruzcampo about 10 minutes’ walk away who do tours although we did not get the time to try them.
The hotel has a nice outdoor pool, plenty of beds when we were there but I guess in the summer it could get very busy.
We stayed half board. The breakfast could not be faulted with everything you would want and most importantly, there was plenty of seating. Dinner was another matter. Although the food was absolutely fine, it just depended on whether or not there would be a coach party as to where we would eat. It would either be a buffet or set meal so each night we didn’t know where we were going to eat. This was confusing i.e. the first night we were told we were going to have set menu but when we arrived, we were ushered to the dining room to eat with a coach party. On the upside we were given a free glass of wine with the meal!
We stayed on the Level and their rooms are very good. We faced the main street on the 6th floor where the Level rooms are. There was some street noise but it did not unduly disturb us but if you’re a light sleeper, bring some earplugs. Bed and room were very comfortable and clean. We were given two small bottles of water every day which was very appreciated as it was hot when we went. The Level Lounge was very relaxing with an outside, covered decking which had plenty of seating. The snacks were fine with wine, beer and spirits available throughout the day but surprisingly spirits were not available after 7pm so you could have a G&T at midday but not after 7pm.
Directly opposite the hotel is a bus stop. The C32 runs very regularly and costs 1.40 euros for any single trip. The bus takes you into the centre of Seville in about five minutes. Further up the road from the hotel is the Metro which takes you to the Alcazar. Only one line so no hassle with trying to work out how to get there. Seville football stadium is also just around the corner, about a five minute walk with its souvenir shop.
Seville is a beautiful city and well worth a visit. If you’re going to the Alcazar, either book online beforehand or get there early as it gets very busy. The Plaza de Espania (free entry) nearby to the Alcazar is definitely worth a visit, very pretty with boats which can be hired to travel in the canal. The Plaza de la Encarnación is also worth seeing. It’s a walkway above and you can see all around Seville. It costs about 3/4 euros and apparently includes a free drink but this is not available from the bar at the top, it’s somewhere else and we never found out where! You will only get one euro off any drink you buy from the bar at the top.
Finally, as usual with all Melia hotels, the staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful with two in particular Edurne, the Guest Relations Manager, and Juan, Level Reception. We would say, that if there was an improvement to be made, it would be a small thing. The televisions in the hotel obviously have Spanish channels, three German, one French and one Chinese channel. The only English-speaking channel was CNBC Europe which is a financial service channel. It would have been nice to pick a British channel.
We highly recommend this hotel and would return.