A wonderful farm property near Montanchez Spain. The Finca offers complete rest and relaxation for travelers not interested in routine run of the mill vacation hotels. It is in the wonderful countryside of fig trees and acorns as well as cork trees. From the Finca it is less than a hours drive to wonderful old Spanish cities such as Cacares, Trujillo and Montanchez.
We arrived here in September at the end of a hot spell, and the pool here was a welcome sight, but for the next week we had absolutely fantastic weather and temperatures. Pippa and Manfred, the owners were very
nice and comfortable to converse with as well. The accomodations were good with private toilets and shower facilities. The animals here were horses and cats and were very friendly. The large kitchen and dining room were very nice for our cooking and repas. There were two large verandas at the house, one off of the two bedrooms and the other off of the living room.
I enjoyed my meditation on the veranda in the early evening.We highly recommend this property and hope to enjoy it again in the coming years.

The finca al-Manzil is a lovely quiet place and deserves our best recommandations. It's furnished and designed beautifully and the place matches and melts in with the surrounding extramadurian nature in the most charming way. It's what you could call a place full of ambience with art and books and antiquities.
We stayed there for three days in September as "bed-and-breakfasters" and we enjoyed the common kitchen every morning and Philippas solid breakfast there, we had some of our most relaxing hours at the swimingpool (where some of the horses visited us) and at the porch in the evening overlooking the great landscape .
The hosts Philippa and Manfred were a pleasant acquaintance. Helpful people who know the balance between beeing helpful and friendly and at the samme time observing their guests need for being alone.
Nearby is the village Montánchez, a very typical and romantic pueblo, we went there every day, participated in the pueblo fiesta, saw a bullfight, the village has an impressing castle and a lot of friendly people.
There is a lot to do – and reasons to do absolutely nothing – when you go to the Spanish countryside, and the Finca al-Manzil is a perfect place to do both!
PS: Whe we arrived a British group of young people had just left. It must have been lively, because nearly all the drinkings glasses were broken. There was only a couple of them left. Perhaps the place is NOT suited for young people, who are in a party kind of mood. 

This was our third cooking holiday we have taken and whilst the food was excellent we would not recommend this as hands on cookery experience. We were obliged to watch a rather disorganised preparation of meals in which we took very little part which was extremely disappointing as we could have gained the same experience from following a recipe.
The holiday was billed as being sustainable and eco-friendly and whilst we wholeheartedly embrace this philosophy, their sustainable way of life bordered on mean. One small fridge, no cold water of ice available, difficult when one member of the party is teetotal. The bedrooms had little natural light and the artificial lighting was extremely poor. It was virtually impossible to read outside on the terrace in the evening as the lighting was also inadequate and seating uncomfortable. Had the rooms all been occupied there would not have been enough seating.
The surrounding countryside is attractive and well worth exploring. The Finca provided a good base for exploring but in very Spartan conditions. We cannot comment on the pool as it was out of order when we were staying there. But we would not recommend it as a cookery holiday for those who are good cooks.

This was our second trip to this most tasteful bolthole near Montanchez. Once again the welcome was warm and our stay most enjoyable. It is a place where you can relax in the most beautiful surroundings and do as much or as little as you want. We did very little apart from sit by the pool looking out onto the mountains, the odd bit of walking when cool enough and a great deal of laughing. The rooms are very tastefully decorated and the house is full of personal objects making it a home from home. We liked it so much that we bought the finca across the track so keep looking here for our information when up and running!!