Hotel Market

I organised a dinner in the Portobelo Suite for 80 people at this hotel. It was an important evening for our organisation and we booked well in advance and supplied the banqueting manager with our food orders several days in advance to make the service run smoothly and efficiently. In the event, it was a total disaster: the food was terrible - almost everyone complained about their dishes. The quinoa salad was tasteless, the ravioli, billed as with chargrilled vegetables, had not a vegetable in sight, the pasta was almost raw, the filling was an unidentifiable tasteless paste all overpowered by a tomato sauce. The risotto was cold and tasteless, ditto the tagliatelle. The vegan desert was served with ice cream not sorbet and there was no coconut caramel. The yoghurt sponge was a mess. The only half decent reports were about the tuna tataki and beef carpaccio… but of course, they were supposed to be cold. The waiting staff were very pleasant and clearly trying their best. But they were woefully short staffed. Consequently, the service was so poor and so slow that there was no time for the planned dancing. Well, no matter, because the music system wasn’t working anyway. I’m giving stars only for the location. No more are deserved. JUST DON’T GO THERE…

I had high hopes for my stay at Hotel Market, but was unfortunately disappointed. I had booked a superior double room with two single beds, but was greeted by a wall mirror right opposite the beds. The room was hot and stuffy with a noisy air conditioner. The bathroom was below average. To top it off, all the television channels were in Spanish and there were no curtains. There was even a gap in the room where something used to be, like a chair. I'm sorry to say, but this place is not three-star worthy.

The building at Hotel Market has an old-world charm, but that's where the good stuff stops. The room was filthy, with damaged shower walls and the hotel staff weren't helpful - I couldn't even get an iron and iron board. Definitely wouldn't stay here again.

I'm sure in the winter months it would've been much more bearable.

Positives first, Hotel Market really stands out from the surrounding buildings. It's recently been restored and looks beautiful. The drench shower was comfortable and it was only a 15 minute walk to Las Ramblas and the Barri Gotic. The only downside was that the single room that I booked was quite small and it had two windows which opened out into a strange service area. It was uncharacteristically warm during my stay so the windows had to be opened, which then brought in a smell from the drains and a sound of running water. Additionally, there was a constant pitter patter noise like someone slapping something which went on throughout the night. I imagine in the colder months it would have been much better.

It was an experience that wasn't good.

Overall, our experience with this Hotel Market was mixed. While we were thrilled with the helpfulness of Laura and the man in the restaurant as well as the lady at reception with whom we've had a long relationship, we were left quite unhappy with the attitude of one male employee at the desk. When our room key didn't work on 3 occasions, he not only failed to help but instead seemed to ignore us, booking us into the wrong room before finally speaking to us. It wasn't an ideal experience and we won't be rushing back anytime soon.