Plaza del Ayuntamiento- Town Hall Square, Plaça de l'Ajuntament, Town Hall Square, City Hall, Astoria Palace, Carrer de les Barques, Carrer de Don Juan de Austria
The Town Hall (Ayuntamiento de Valencia), the most famous building at the square, was built in the 18th century in baroque style. It has served as Valencia's city hall since 1934. It is a very beatiful white building, but when the sun doesn't shine on it the facade looks more grey/yellow. The interior is impressive; there is an atrium with a marble staircase, a grand ballroom, a balcony with views of Plaza del Ayuntamiento (feels like a royalty's balcony) and a museum. All this is free and open to public, after the security has scanned your bag. Of course we went inside. Lots of polices, guards and police cars surround the building. Edificio de Correos y Telegrafos (Central Post Office), built 1915-22 is also quite impressive, especially for being a post office. It is also a white baroque building, facing the city hall. We went inside to post letters; the interior is nice, the main hall is a rotunda with a decorated mosaic ceiling. Some of many other notable impressive beautiful buildings at Plaza del Ayuntamiento are Melia Plaza Hotel, Edificio La Equitativa, Rialto Teatre, Edificio Generali, Hostal Valencia and many others. One of the nicest fountain I have ever seen can be found in the North part of the square. It was only turned on some days, unfortunately. Theatres, statues and restaurants can be found at the square. Ayre Hotel Astoria Palace was our choice of hotel. It is a 4-star hotel situated in a 10-storey building, just one block from Plaza Ayuntamiento but on a quite side street, so the location couldn't be better. It is also a short walk from the Old Town. The small but nice square Placa de Rodrigo is facing the hotel. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Our double room on the 8th floor was really nice with a darkish/red interior. From the windows there was views of parts of the Old Town's beautiful buildings, and had double glass. There was AC on the room, important since it was really warm inside despite the low outdoor temperature. The bathroom was ok, but not more then casual, though it had it's own telephone. Wi-fi is free. The lobby is small but nice with dark wood panels. There is also a restaurant, a fitness center, a café and a fancy lounge bar, but we never visited them. Some rooms have balconies but not ours. We didn't try the breakfast as it was very expensive and there are a lot of nice cafés in the surroundings with very good prices. Overall Astoria Palace was really a great value for money, especially considering it's location and standard.
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