Don Pepe Hotel

all i can say is cockroches and very dirty the pool is so bad u could not swim in it honest stay away there r much better hotels about .

If you can actually get into this hotel, it isn't bad at all, in fact in regards to value for money, we've not seen many better and the same group of friends have stayed in most of Europe’s most well known resorts.
The location is very good, the hotel is clean and was renovated only 2 years ago, it has air-con and at only £36 for 4 nights stay is very good value, HOWEVER...
...when we arrived (after booking this holiday a full year in advance) we were greeted with the news that some rooms had been damaged and we'd have to be moved to a different hotel. When we asked to view the damaged rooms we were told 'no'. When we pursued this further we eventually uncovered the truth, basically even though 17 of us booked a full year in advance, the hotel had deliberately overbooked the rooms to ensure they made enough money from the rooms during the busy season.
The saddest part of this for ourselves was that we'd actually read reviews suggesting that this was extremely commonplace with this particular hotel chain but we'd chosen to give the company the benefit of the doubt and we suffered for it. Also, we spoke to other customers at the hotel we were moved to who'd twice booked the Don Pepe only to be moved due to over-subscribing of bookings for rooms.
Also, this must be so common that the staff were completely un-phased by the whole thing and the women on the front desk of each hotel (the second one we were moved to was the Comfort Plaza, irony's obviously the in type of humour over there...) were confronted by 17 angry men between 17 and 56 years old and they basically laughed in our faces, just saying, "nothing I can do, nothing I can do.."
In the Comfort Plaza also, they moved us there then told us that although we'd booked 3 rooms (for 9 of us) we'd have "to squeeze into 2 rooms as there weren't enough available".. ..strangely though, after a little pressure was applied, the receptionist then rolled her eyes, said "ok" and produced a key for a 3rd room proving that they were blatantly just 'trying it on'.
Then after discovering the air-con we'd paid for in 1 room and a toilet in another weren't working at all upon telling her this wasn't acceptable, she simply smiled and said, "its Friday today, maintenance man is back on Monday, he'll check then", they really couldn't have cared less...
So to summarise:
the location - great, right in between the West-End and the beach-bars such as Mambo, Savannah etc...
the hotel itself - fine, for £36 for 4 nights it was clean, modern, had air-con in the rooms and had a very decent pool / pool area.
..would I stay there myself if I was guaranteed a room, probably (saying that though my friends and I have stayed in some dives in the last 12 years..) ...would I send someone I liked there.. ..NO, you simply don't need that kind of stress on your holiday and I can't emphasise enough just how little they cared...
What is a real shame though is that which-ever website you visit to read reviews on this hotel, there are multiple stories of an all too similar nature....

Just got back from 4 nights booked in this hotel...but just as we had read before on other reviews there were no rooms for us! They sent us to the Catalina down the road which is even worse (had no pool, all night parties going on etc). We had booked in the Don pepe to meet a load of our friends who had arrived 2 days earlier so as we were moved, it broke up our group of friends.
The staff are VERY unhelpful and rude, and just do not care. Also, i would be very wary of the young fella that works on reception, as on several occasions in the middle of the night, he used the master key to let himself in my friends room (3 times in one night) and was very alarmed to find her awake and on her guard! God knows what would of happened if she was in the room unconcious drunk on her own!! When we asked him the next day why he had done it, he just ignored us and said we were rude and had no respect for asking him such a thing!!! He had also tried this on a few other rooms so BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL GIRLS!! All in all, i would avoid the Don Pepe and Catalina hotels completely.

we got to the hotel after reading a few reviews saying the hotel is always overbooked. I never thought it would happen to us but it did. We got there at midnight , told there was no room.s They moved us to the catalina apartments which were disgusting and our room was flooded. Next day i went nack to the don pepe and demanded they give us a room. In the end all of a sudden 1 room appeared even though we needed 2. We finally got our 2nd one a few hours later. We were only there for 4 nights so was such a waste of 1 day trying to sort the hotels. The don pepe is an ok hotel nothing special,ppol disgusting but i do not recommned you book, for the simply reason eveery single person we spoke to had been moved from the don pepe to a worse hotel as it had been over booked. They also do not care and go on as though its quite normal to them. Just DO NOT book.

Firstly, the pool was so dirty you couldn't actually see the bottom of the pool. On the one occasion that it was cleaned, the following evening two people were found to be having sex in it! Luckily the pool accross the road at central city is much nicer. AND The staff are worse! One receptionist was extremely rude and unhelpful, whilst another frequently tried to have sex with me in one of the spare rooms. We also noticed things going missing from our rooms, and became suspicious about the maids who frequently made extra visits to our room after they'd already cleaned it earlier in the day only to walk straight out when they found us asleep in the middle of the afternoon. clearly on the rob. Bedding was also never changed and the rooms were not cleanined properly. The kitchen is also in a cupboard, the air conditioning was broken and noisey and there were stains on the walls. On the plus side this hotel is relatively quiet in comparison to other hotels in san antonio so if you want a good night's sleep but little else this is probably the place to stay. It is also in a good location close to the west end and sunset bars. However, I would think twice before staying here.

We arrived and were greeted well. Although you can't book into your room until 2pm there is lots to do in the surrounding area. Be careful when going in the lift as if you are over 10 stone then only one person can fit. The rooms are clean and maintained well. We were on the fifth floor and had a good view and the sun greeted us on the balcony every morning. Oh, and when self catering, please ensure you look in the third wardrobe as that is where you will find the kitchen. Yes that's right. a fridge, stove and a kettle. The staff were friendly but please note that the air conditioning is on when you arrive and it is really cold and to get the controls you need to lay down a 20 euro deposit. The same for the safety deposit box and for the tv remote. We did enjoy our stay very much but we did not get to experience the pool as it was a lot smaller than in the photos and we could not get a sun lounger. This hotel is ideal for young couples, but would not recommend it for families.

1 reader found this review helpful

Good location, a lof of services, staff were pleasant and very helpful. Rooms clean- our room was cleaned and towels changed every day nice swimming pool with solarium and sunbeds and nice surroundings.The price is okay . I really enjoyed the hotel, strongly recommend for anyone.

Recently returned from a fab holiday!
The hotel is in a fantastic location - within walking distance to West End, Es Paradis and Eden etc. and practically on Sunset Strip.
Was some chaos with others customers' rooms upon check-in i.e. a group of lads who'd booked their rooms 3 months in advance only had one between 7 of them!
Self-catering... well your kitchen is in the wardrobe - literally but more than adequate for makin a brew.
Would definitely go back - and the staff (all except one) were fantastic; helpful and friendly.