Journey Impressions: Seville

Seville: Population approx. 0.70 million
Spain: Population approx. 46.4 million
Population growth (2010-2015): 0.4%
People per km²: 92
Gross national income per person in 2013: 29,940 USD


01.12.2015 Seville:
We knew that we wouldn't have much time to look at the town because our flight to Majorca was scheduled to take off the next morning. But Martin had picked a hotel in the centre that he thought had a superb name. It was called Gran Melia and belonged to the “Leading Hotels of the World” network. That sounded promising and we were curious to find out more. I got out of the taxi and grabbed my luggage myself. I was wondering what had happened to the service team? And I almost bumped right into the glass door at the front which hadn’t been marked in any way and doesn’t open for guests until the very last moment. My impression was that everything looked good but was impractical. Unfortunately this was often the case all over the hotel. The chairs in reception resembled roses in bloom. They were attractive but not comfortable. Sitting in them you risked toppling over. The doors to all the rooms were designed like framed paintings and I was allocated a room with an angel reposing on a cloud. There’s no accounting for taste. Once I had opened the door, I almost bumped into the wardrobe. Between the door and the wardrobe there were only about 1 ½ metres of space. On the left was a small room with a double bed and leather recliner. There was no water or fruit in sight. The curtain at the window had been drawn. As I like light-flooded spaces, I tried to draw the curtains and had the surprise of my life. The curtain rod fell down from the ceiling and the dowels had been torn out. Then I noticed that the window looked out on an enclosed shaft and there was no light at all. At the same time I tried to switch on the TV with the remote control. I noticed that the lid to the battery compartment was missing. At the tiny desk there was unfortunately only one single socket which discouraged anyone from actually sitting there. Despite all this, I returned to the narrow room next to the door, in other words the bathroom. I sat on a WC that was much too low and which had a square instead of a round lid. Again, tastes differ… Afterwards I noticed that there wasn’t even a toilet brush. The bathtub right in front of the toilet was a challenge – even for acrobats. It was round and at least 1 m deep. Only very sporty people would be able to hop over the edge of the tub because it was extremely wide. But anyone who wanted to take a bath or a shower would have to find some way of negotiating this obstacle. Getting out of a tub like that without breaking any bones is virtually impossible for any but the most athletic of people. Later I sat on the edge and gingerly tried to get in without slipping up and doing myself any harm. It looked as if someone was trying to be creative without thinking about guests’ needs. Unfortunately, this impression was typical of the rest of the hotel too. Martin and I sat at the bar for at least half an hour to order a cappuccino that never came. Because the two waiters behind the counter were more interested in themselves and how they looked than us. So we had to leave the hotel bar again. Martin asked at reception where we could find a bar, or even better a restaurant or a bodega, to have something to eat or drink. The young lady clearly had no sense of direction because she wasn’t able to show us on the map how to reach a bodega from the hotel. Annoyed, Martin gave up and interpreted the young lady’s shortcomings as a sign of arrogance. This seemed to be the case because history repeated itself with another guest. This guest was even more at a loss for words than Martin was. In the end we ordered a steak in a fast-food restaurant that was affiliated to the hotel. Our idea was that steaks were always a sure bet. And this proved to be the case. The steak was OK, but the side dish was poor if you compared it with Burgerking. So that was that and we ordered a bottle of red wine instead. Totally exhausted, we then retired to bed because we knew we had to have breakfast at 7 a.m. At five to seven the hospitable nature of the hotel revealed itself again. When I dared to ask where we could get some breakfast, I was told: “Opposite reception, but the light isn’t on yet. After all, it’s five to seven and not seven!” After this rebuke, I waited for Martin until 7 a.m. The light came on and the breakfast was the best thing that this hotel had to offer. For once it didn’t just look good, but was good too. However, when you remember that this hotel room cost €270 per night, per person, you expect a bit more than just a good breakfast. So that was Seville. Another surprise was in store for us however at the airport. We were welcomed by a very friendly female handling agent who also tried to crack a few jokes with us and was able to cover up the fact that she didn’t speak much English.w