“Family owned for generations, a very special hotel”

This was our first visit to this most beautiful Spanish city. What makes a new city particularly attractive is the pleasure of discovering a very special hotel. Gran Hotel La Perla one of the oldest hotels in Spain. For a trip to Pamplona only this hotel has such a fabulous location overlooking th… more

This was our first visit to this most beautiful Spanish city. What makes a new city particularly attractive is the pleasure of discovering a very special hotel. Gran Hotel La Perla one of the oldest hotels in Spain. For a trip to Pamplona only this hotel has such a fabulous location overlooking the Plaza in the historic old town. There are some modern business hotels in the city which are no doubt very good however when we return, this is the hotel we will revisit. It is especially convenient for a stroll to lovely restaurants, beautiful walks And the exceptional Hemingway bar, which is almost next door. Most impressive and appreciated was the pre-arrival assistance from the front of House team with recommendations and reservations. Emails were answered very promptly. On arrival we were greeted by the two, smiling, most welcoming, excellent professional reception team of Ana and Amaya ( see photo…Amaya is the lovely lady seated on the red sofa). All of staff we met were exceptional ladies apart from the famous owner and descendent of the original hotel entrepreneur who we had the pleasure of meeting, Senor Rafael Moreno Arocena. If you notice a distinguished looking gentleman with the most amazing moustache that is Señor Rafael. This hotel combines elegance and traditional five star Spanish hospitality with wonderful artefacts from the 1800’s including the original elevator car and the first switchboard, both on display in the hotel reception. Around the hotel there are wonderful photographs from the past history of this most iconic hotel. Unfortunately, the restaurant was temporarily closed however I understand it is reopening next week and we look forward to dining there in the future. We reserved one of the beautiful fifth floor suites. Ours was quite special… it came with the hotel architect’s original drafting table behind which is his huge photograph and on the coffee table is a beautiful book covering his career. The photographs I am posting say it all. At the local airport, Iberia delivered only one of our two suitcases. The suitcase missing contained all of our toiletries. We told the hotel on arrival that we hoped a suitcase would be delivered later (it wasn’t, it finally turned up the following afternoon). In our suite we found two most excellent emergency toiletry bags, a ladies containing everything including a hairbrush, floss, toothbrush and more, as well as a men’s emergency toiletry bag including a comb, razor and much more. I was hugely impressed by the receptionists and the attention detail throughout the hotel and in the suites. The walk-in shower was enormous and the actual bath was oversized with a gorgeous bathroom illuminated by a full size glass screen on which is etched the street plan of the old city, a delightful touch the like of which I have never seen anywhere else. The separate loo also had a bidet which is a nice touch. Amaya personally walked us to the Europa restaurant which was the first dinner they booked for us, an excellent Michelin starred restaurant recommendation. We couldn’t find it so returned to the hotel for directions whereupon Amaya accompanied us all the way into the restaurant. Both nights we went for pre-dinner cocktails to the nearby Hemingway bar also recommended by Amaya and Ana, which was off the scale fantastic. This is now my favourite bar in Spain and I was so impressed. I’m going to create a Tripadvisor page for it. They mix cocktails the old fashioned way which is special both to observe and enjoy. My wife’s birthday presents were in the missing case and I was also upset because Moonpig had let me down and failed to deliver what was supposed to be a guaranteed delivery of a special birthday card well before we left the UK. When the card turned up in England after we had departed for Spain, my son photographed it forme and then Amaya accompanied me to a nearby photographic printing shop who re-created the card on photographic paper (Amaya’s idea). That is the sort of service you can expect from this absolutely lovely hotel. Don’t hesitate to make a reservation, this hotel is perfect.

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