"It was a very comfortable stay, clean room and very friendly staff."

"Hotel Montsant is set in an old monastery on the hill overlooking the town of Xativa, a short walk from the hugely impressive local castle. Sadly though, the setting - quiet and secluded but with some spectacular views over the surrounding local countryside - is probably the best thing about the hotel, which we found increasingly disappointing and frustrating the longer we stayed. Having arrived before check-in, we made our way to the hotel restaurant to grab some lunch and having been initially told it was fully-booked (though at that point entirely empty) we were eventually offered a table inside. Absolutely recognise that my Spanish is fairly non-existent, but having ordered (and had read back to us) a vegetable paella for two, it was disappointing to be served with a dish with huge chunks of pork. That said this was really the first sign of a common theme of our stay - a lack of organisation and care at the hotel and sometimes seemingly undertrained or unaware staff. To take another example, we booked dinner that evening at the restaurant, asking for an outside table. When we turned up, we were one of three couples who had clearly had the same idea, and were placed - seemingly at random - on one of about a dozen and half tables spread across the courtyard, with none of the others with table-cloths or chairs, making it a fairly forlorn experience. And again, a dish advertised as monkfish came wrapped in bacon of which the menu made no mention. Breakfast was also a challenge - with all of the grounds and views the hotel has to offer, it's in truth mystifying that they choose to serve this in a greenhouse-type affair with a small courtyard outside, accompanied by the clanking and sounds of delivery drivers going back and forth. (A word here on those staffing breakfast, who seemed incapable of staying on station for more than a few minutes before disappearing into the kitchen for lengthy spells). Our room was fine - if a little tired - with a balcony overlooking the town, but the promise of an 'outdoor' pool was let down a little by there being no furniture to sit or lie on when we first arrived. My wife braved the grass alongside and had a fair few insect bites as a result. In fairness, when this was pointed out, sun-loungers magically appeared the next day, albeit of a fairly insubstantial kind, with no cushions. If all of this sounds like nit-picking, it probably is, but clearly we weren't alone - as we checked out another couple were regaling the (lovely) staff on reception with their own tales of poor or inadequate service. I can't help feeling that the setting here deserves a little more thought and care."

"There is no human-served reception check in is through a screen and check out is to leave the card in a box for deduction, for the rest good hotel."

"Hotel is average, just"

"Just what we needed"