I booked this place for its location enroute from Madrid to the northern coast of Spain but still acceptably close to the sights of Rioja. They required an upfront deposit only partially refundable so when I started having second thoughts I realized I was stuck if I didn’t want to forfeit a sizable chunk of change. As it turned out the place was fine but it did have a number of drawbacks that make me unable to recommend it to others even as I dispute some of the reviews that caused me to have second thoughts in the first place

For starters the town it’s in, Azofra, is not just minimal, it’s miserable. Nothing there except a couple of bars and a square if you can call it that. And the exterior of the hotel is so understated that we drove by it twice before finally finding the entrance which requires that you ring the bell. That alone was completely symbolic of the place—unapproachable and certainly not inviting.

The place has terrific basics, just bad management who are anal about the care—not of the guests, but of their investment in the furnishings. There are no mini-fridges in the room and indeed no drinks of any sort (except the clear water provided) are even allowed in the rooms, even if you purchase them at the bar downstairs. (We felt like school kids sneaking our bottles of wine in in my purse.) There are only two places in the room to put non-hanging clothes, a single drawer in the bottom of the wardrobe and a small drawer in the writing desk. The giant bathroom which sports lovely hand-painted fixtures has no hooks to hang clothes on. Everything has been thought of and no expense spared to decorate the place, but no thought has been given to the comfort and convenience of the guests. Even the parking lot was roped off (too pretty to drive on?) and guests were expected to find street parking—not a hardship since no tourists were visiting this beauty forsaken town.

The room itself was lovely, with purple and green furnishings (better than that sounds) and a purple canopy over the bed, 400+ thread count sheets and a nice deck with table and chairs—where you couldn’t sit and drink anything except clear water. There’s even a nice, small swimming pool. The dining, sitting, bar, breakfast room was beautifully decorated including lovely tear drop lamps. There was a nice courtyard with a lovely garden and tented pavilion where I asked about being served breakfast. Of course not, only indoors, apparently too much work to treat the guests to outdoor dining. I swear I would have carried the trays myself.

Too bad. Had the place shown even the slightest bit of generosity of spirit and hospitality the town could be overlooked. We weren’t there all that often and the drive through back roads to various Rioja destinations was so beautiful as to make the distance not only bearable, but actually a treat.

I take issue with the Trip Advisor reviewer who caviled about the breakfast. We found that excellent even if they force you to eat it inside to save themselves some steps. Nice course ground salami that seemed locally made, ham slices and cheese with toasted bread and cake with jam and some more of that wonderful fresh orange juice was all served on beautiful table linens with lots of color beneath the orange lamp-shades with glass teardrop pulls. Classy, just too bad about the aloof, “don’t touch” attitude. As Forrest Gump’s mom always said, “Pretty is as pretty does.”

To make matters worse, this lovely but inhospitable setting was our most costly hotel of our 7 hotels in Northern Spain with a price tag of 200 euros per night. You can see it at époque hotels.com but there’s really no use looking. Take some of Trip Advisors' other suggestions for lodging in the Rioja area.

On our arrival at Real Casona de Las Amas on a very rainy/wet day and considering we travelled by motorbike we were rather drenched. My first impressions of the hotel which I had been looking forward to was a locked door and it was a few minutes till someone replied to the door bell. I wanted to check where we should park our bike (which I had explained when booking) but the lady who answered didn’t understand and gave me a stern look - not very welcoming. Eventually we managed to hand signal our requirements and my husband parked in an area to the side of the hotel.
I went to check-in and was impressed with the décor of the large hall area and was admiring all while waiting for my husband to join me before being shown to our room. Another lady walked past me and turned and said something to the receptionist in a rude manner while she looked down her nose at me (I was in motor bike gear) and the receptionist informed her that I was a guest and had just checked in. The other lady took another glare at me as she walked on into the bar area, I presumed her to be staff or the impression I got, the manager or owner.
My husband arrived with our few bags and the receptionist offered to help carry them to our room but we declined her kind offer and carried them ourselves and followed her to our room, passing the glares once again from the lady at the bar when we passed.
Our room was very cosy and clean, we had booked Room 115 for 150euros, which was in a small newer addition to the hotel and on the top floor, in the roof. There was a flat screen TV on a desk, double bed with lovely high count bed linen with the emblem of the hotel. Our room only had a shower and I really dreamt of having a long soak in a bath, after battling with the weather all day, I was chilled to the bone. I asked if the jacuzzi was available for use and told that I would have to wait 2hrs for it to reach temperature, so decided on a long shower instead. Although the bathroom was well proportioned with two basins and large corner shower the amenities were basic with just sachets of liquids and no nice lotions, luckily I brought some of my own. The hairdryer in the bathroom was very powerful and sat in a nifty rack.
It was about 17.30 when we arrived at the hotel, so got ready quickly so we could go downstairs and enjoy the lovely lounge/bar area and have a few drinks before dinner. We put on our smarter attire and headed downstairs. The furnishings, décor and general appearance of the main lounge was very welcoming, so we sat on one of the big sofas and relaxed. No one came to ask if we wanted anything although there was some movement around the bar and kitchen area. After about 15mins my husband went to ask for our drinks himself. My vodka & tonic arrived in a lovely globe glass and was just what was needed, unfortunately no nibbles were offered to go with it. We asked what time dinner started and was informed that it was 8.30pm. After missing lunch that day we were rather hungry and wanted to eat ASAP so asked if it was at all possible to eat earlier. They said no problem and offered a 7pm start instead, perfect we thought. The nice lady who brought our drinks also got us some menus to browse over, which were in English which was a great help. We waited for someone to ask what we would like for dinner but eventually had to go find someone ourselves when no one had returned by 8pm to take our order. It was a Saturday night so was surprised that both the bar and restaurant were empty, although tables we beautifully set up for other guests. We eventually sat for dinner at about 8.30pm (defeated the object of asking to eat early) where we were brought our wine - already opened - and the waitress (also the receptionist who checked us in) just poured the wine into our glasses without offering us to taste it first. Were not big wine connoisseurs or anything but you do expect to taste the wine, especially as we had chosen quite an expensive one. Both of our starters we very tasty and well presented but sadly the main courses were a huge disappointment. I had ordered roast chicken (maybe a strange thing to choose but I was hungry and cold and fancied some comfort food) but it arrived as half a chicken in gravy with no side dishes at all. My husbands Lamb dish which he expected to be a shank or similar was actually just a basic stew. We had to ask if we could have something else with it, like a salad or some veg but was just told abruptly - no. So I had to ask for another bread roll to help fill me up! We left without thanking anyone or leaving a tip, we were so disappointed.
I can’t say we slept well, the hotel overlooks a new housing estate at the rear and there was constant noise from cars and dogs barking all night. The bed was very comfortable and as I mentioned before the sheets were very soft but this didn’t make up for the noisy neighbours.
Breakfast was also a let down, lacking to such an extent that I can’t really remember what we were given, but I can recall some dried lemon cake already placed on the table. We left pretty quickly after that feeling ripped off and disappointed with our stay.
I travel for a living and stay in hotels about 3nts each week, but still love the experience of trying out different hotels when on holiday. I am a little addicted to searching all the travel books and internet to get the best out of my trips. I think I found Real Casona de Las Amas on the internet and was very impressed with their website. Sadly the experience of staying at this hotel was the biggest let down. I’m under the impression that the owner of this hotel loves the idea of running a beautiful boutique hotel, is an excellent interior designer but unfortunately doesn’t actually want anyone to stay in it to make the place look untidy.

In our rooms there was a questionnaire which asked for our opinions, so I filled out that and my husband also wrote about all the things I mention above. We have been home a few weeks now and haven’t had a reply yet so presume the owners want to continue to bury their heads in the sand and not listen to what some of their guests have to say. On returning to the UK the first thing I did was look up the hotel on Tripadvisor and was interested to notice the other comments all seemed to share our view including the some Spanish visitors, which proves it wasn’t a the cultural differences.

Value for money was sorely lacking here; service also left a lot to be desired. We initially booked a room for EUR 140 but as it was cold and depressing we upgraded on arrival to one for EUR 190. For the price, location and service, we felt completely ripped off. To top it all off, we left hungry after the most stingy breakfast we'd ever endured consisting mainly of dry cake, tomato sauce, toast and a bit of jam. Furthermore, the receptionist was very rude after we gave feedback about the mean breakfast, which he claimed was a standard "continental breakfast". This hotel needs to realize that it can't cut corners at the expense of its guests, especially if it wants those guests to return to what is one of the less attractive villages in the Rioja region. All in all, a very disappointing experience in an otherwise lovely part of Spain.