Himalaia Hotel, Soldeu (Himalaia Hotel Soldeu)

Member Name: grahamt

Product:	Himalaia Hotel Soldeu
Date:	17/01/02 (938 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very comfortable, Friendly Staff

Disadvantages: Poor food, Sub-standard fitness standard

Himalaia Hotel
Soldeu
Andorra

Tel: (+376) 87 55 15
Fax: (+376) 87 55 25
Web: www.hotansa.com
Email: hotelhimalaiasoldeu@andorra.ad


The Himalaia Hotel (yes, that is how it's spelt) was booked a part of a package ski holiday through Inghams. We were staying half-board.

Like most of the other hotels, it's set on the main street through Soldeu. It rises to five floors; we were in the fourth. The hotel offers mini-apartments and standard twin hotel bedrooms. We had the latter, mainly because that was all that was left when we booked.

The hotel is very modern and of a very good standard of accommodation. Our room was excellent, warm, of more than an adequate size and spotlessly clean. The fourth floor is in the roof space and our room had a large Velux window that looked out onto the ski slopes across the valley.

The room had two large single beds plus a pull-out bed which, if not in use serves as a large armchair. A minibar is provided and is not the sort that automatically registers anything taken out. Consequently it can be used to keep drinks cool. We used it for the bottles of water that we took with us skiing each day. It was ironic that the minibar actually contained more when we left than it had the day we arrived!

The bathroom has a bath and a shower combined. The shower is at the tap end and actually has a bracket on the wall on which to mount the showerhead, unlike most French hotels. The spray from the shower is prevented from flooding the bathroom by a glass panel that enclosed part of the shower end of the bath. It can be swung out of the way if you want. The shower control is not thermostatically controlled so you do experience sudden water temperature changes. Beware!

A TV is provided. There were about eight channels but most were in Spanish. Our choice was effectively limited to MTV in German (!) and the ubiquitous CNN. Still, we were there t
o ski not watch TV so it didn't really matter very much.

The hotel has a large lounge off the reception area, which contains a bar and leads through to the restaurant. It mostly has large and very comfortable settees and an open fire is sometimes lit. The bar is not extensively stocked but we always managed to get a great cup of tea. The English barman, Chay, had a secret supply!

In a small corridor off the lounge is an area set aside for residents to use a computer to access the Internet, for those who simply can't leave it alone for a week. I resisted the temptation I'm proud to say.

A ski locker room is provided in the basement with metal lockers secured with a combination lock provided to you when you arrive. This room was warm and soon dried out your equipment. You accessed the locker room through the underground car park. Ski boots are not allowed in the hotel proper.

They have a TV room in which you can see recent films. They seem to show English language versions as a common language for most visitors. We had already seen all those on offer the week we stayed and so did not use this facility.

There is also a fitness facility with a weights room, two Jacuzzis, a turkish bath and a sauna. We used this only once. We were not impressed by the state of the water in the Jacuzzis, the shower was broken and no towels were supplied. You had to use your room towels.

The only other disappointment in what was otherwise a good hotel, was the restaurant. We were half-board, breakfast and evening meal. I have to say that the standard of food provided was little better than adequate.

They consistently were unable to find us proper tea for breakfast despite a high proportion of British guests. If your taste runs to greasy fry-ups than you will be happy. Cereals are also provided as well as typical continental cheese, salamis and ham slices.

The evening meals were also unadve
nturous and unimaginative. We decided in the end to swap the evening meal for a take-out packed picnic lunch and to eat out in the many restaurants instead in the evenings.

As the hotel seemed to be exclusively taken up with package holiday guests, it is possible that the quality of the food is a direct reflection of the value that the hotel gets out of the overall cost of the holiday. Maybe a private reservation would enjoy better fare. I can only judge it on what we experienced.

The staff were generally very friendly and helpful, even if they didn't always get it right. For isntance, the lunches we took with us skiing often contained surprises. They generally consisted of a french stick with various contents, some water, a piece of fruit and a yoghourt.

The first time, we didn't specify what we wanted in the bread and got a fairly unappetising smoked ham. The next day we asked for cheese for my wife and egg and tomato for me. We got the cheese but I got luncheon meat and tomato! The next day, cheese but also omelette and tomato paste! Finally, after a detailed explanation of exactly how to build an egg and tomato sandwich, I got what I wanted and it was perfect! The irony was that they had hard-boiled eggs at breakfast every day!

Overall we enjoyed our stay at the Himalaia. I must say that I would have preferred it if we could have had B&B only and done without the additional meal. That way we could enjoy the many local restaurants without feeling that we were losing out. Maybe I'm just being picky!

Summary: