Medplaya Hotel Monterrey in Platja d'Aro

English: We stayed at the Hotel Monterrey in Platja D'Aro for a few days. The hotel is located very close to the beach and the city center can be easily reached with a walk that also includes the seafront. The air conditioning works. The rooms and bathroom are clean but unfortunately there are no double beds, only single beds that are pushed together, the cleaning ladies have the habit of knocking and coming in very early in the morning even when you are still in your room. The WiFi works very badly. The staff is made up of seasonal young people, there is no supervisor, some I spoke to are students, who are therefore often improvised in what they do (few smiles in the service, they come quickly to take away the dishes when you are still having dinner, one evening while I was at the bar counter I saw the sink being used to fill and empty the bucket to wash the floor, the same sink from which they take the water to bring to the table which, if requested in the jug is free, otherwise it is €2.50 for the same water from the sink but filtered). English: For two different nights the entertainer was not able to entertain the children present, perhaps by organizing interesting games, but limited himself to yelling at them not to throw the tic-tac-toe tiles; he also often played music that was too loud and in fact one night some residents of the nearby buildings called the police who left a report at the reception. Let's get to the food: unfortunately it is served as a buffet, the quality is terrible, it is not suitable for Italian guests, everything is based on watery sauces and/or cream and certain assembled "foods" could cause intestinal problems. As a medical student I was negatively struck by how some foods specifically indicated "for children" were only fried industrial products, a terrible thing this is. Often the plates and glasses that should have been washed are dirty with grease and streaks. It is certainly a hotel that could offer much more, especially in terms of service from the staff because it would be enough for the chefs to offer a few well-made dishes and fewer pre-cooked industrial products. When accessing the buffet there are often queues like in a canteen. Overall we liked the location very close to the sea and also to the city centre, but unfortunately we were disappointed by the hotel itself.

Small rooms with bunk bed for children (even though on booking.com it is called: sofa bed!), room for 4 people is equipped with 2 chairs; safe and mini fridge do not work. The sea view- how the receptionist called it- is a view on the parking lot. There is no cloths dryer in the room nor any place to hang your wet swimming suits. The noise from the corridor (and light) comes through big holes under the door.

My recent stay was unfortunately chaotic. The malfunctioning air conditioning and safe were just the beginning of the issues I encountered during my stay. One major downside was the discourteous behavior of the reception manager—she doesn't listen to client requirements and always seemed tense. The buffet was a disaster, with cold food and limited variety, which was very disappointing for those staying longer.

Positive: On the bright side, the location close to the beach was good, and Saul was very kind and helpful. The animator Mehdi also made the bingo game enjoyable.