VIME Octavio

I stayed at this hotel twice, either side of a trip to Morocco. On both occasions I arrived in Algeciras quite late and left fairly early, so I found its location, directly opposite the train station and less than ten minutes’ walk from the ferry port, extremely convenient. Despite the busy location, I did not experience much noise at the hotel

The reception staff spoke a little English, which was useful to me, however they seemed at first to be unaware of the reservation I’d made through Expedia when I gave them the details of my booking. I’d been unable to print the email I had received with the details but fortunately had saved a copy of it on my USB stick, so they were able to see this, which was sufficient proof for them to recognise my bookings. I also had to ask about the location of my room and the breakfast room and the times breakfast would be available as I was just given a key and no information was offered.

The hotel is smartly decorated throughout, with seating areas on each level and a spacious bar area and well laid out breakfast room on the mezzanine between the ground and first floor.

Unique Quality: The first room I had was a large room at the front of the hotel on the ground floor and my second room, smaller but with a balcony overlooking the bus station, was located on the third floor at the rear of the building. They both had more or less identical layout and design with a well maintained and perfectly cleaned bathroom to the left of a narrow corridor, where an adjustable shower and bathtub were available along with a light up shaving / make-up mirror. An unusual feature of the bathroom was that the loo and a bidet were located in a separate section which could be closed off from the rest of the bathroom with a sliding door- perhaps useful if you are sharing the room with someone who likes to take a book in with them.

The room had two large fitted wardrobes, one long enough for full length dresses and the other with drawers in the lower part, and a large comfortable armchair at the end near the window opposite the small television. The beds were comfortable with nice cotton sheets and a jacquard woven cotton cover between the sheet and the bedspread. A writing table was available and a full length three way mirror was mounted on the wall in front of the bed.

The breakfast is presented as a buffet, with fruit, yoghurts, cold meats and cheese available, alongside various breads and pastries with a good selection of jams and even a savoury tomato spread. A toasting machine which rolled the guests’ bread slices through and dropped them inconveniently underneath it provided the entertainment and good coffee was made by a machine which ground the beans freshly for each cup whilst another machine dispensed watery fruit juice. Tea and hot chocolate were also available.

Directions: From train station: look across the roundabout at the exit & you'll see the hotel.
From the port exit: turn left, walk a few metres along the main road, take the first right & walk up this road until you reach a roundabout. The hotel is now on your left.