I recently book a stay at the Grateful Hotel because it was one of the few places available on fairly short notice. I would have preferred to stay at the nearby Hotel Cantarana or El Manglar, both of which are about half the price.
Truth be told, the whole Grateful Dead theme was specifically NOT why I booked, but I was willing to overlook the over-the-top décor, especially if the live music lived up to the hype (which it didn’t, except for one brief gig by a reggae artist).
I got blinded by the rave reviews and didn’t see that the hotel was rated at 2.5 stars.
And that is what it should be rated. Ants in the bed, a rotating bathroom sink (that had no water on my second day), lighting so bad I had to use the flashlight on my phone to see anything at night on one side of the room. And the service at the restaurant was some of the very worst I have experienced. Food to go taking an hour and 15 minutes. Being asked again what you would like to order 20 minutes after placing an order. Food sitting so long it would get cold or soggy. The staff was very nice and seemed to be working hard, but they didn’t know what they were doing.
That being said, the Filet mignon steak with the au poivre sauce was excellent.
There were some die-hard deadheads there that seemed to enjoy the whole vibe. It’s admittedly not for everyone.
Bottom line: way over-priced. Plan ahead and book the afore-mentioned two places. I ended up biting the bullet and rescheduling the whole last week of my stay.