The hotel is well off the beaten path. In fact, in conversation with another guest, we both had to thank the gas station attendant 4 km down the road, who ably guided us to the turnoff that we would have otherwise missed. The local road numbers don't seem to conform to my Michelin map, and my GPS was stumped trying to find this place. It is at the end of a twisting mainly one-lane road, well into a forest. Talk about seclusion! I still don’t know if I could find the correct road leading from town on a map.

We stayed two nights early in May, and had a lovely time here. I chose the hotel based on other reviews, and those reviews fairly reflected our stay. The rooms are pleasant, but not overly luxurious. The bathroom is fine, good shower, no complaints. The common rooms are wonderful, and would be particularly welcome in colder weather; in nicer weather, who wants to stay indoors? The beds were typical of what we found in Spain: hard. Some might say firm, but I call them hard. I prefer more give than a carpeted floor to sleep on, and found virtually every bed I slept on hard. There is a swimming pool, sauna and small gym on the property, plus a river down a winding path providing fishing opportunities. Staff is warm and welcoming, and a bit of familiarity with Spanish is helpful but not obligatory to make sure all sides understand each other.

One of the great pluses of our stay was the chance to have dinner in their beautiful dining room. We had a wonderful three course meal the first night (wine extra). The second night, after a full day in Santiago, I had no desire to travel the 25 mins back into town to find parking and a restaurant. My wife asked if we weren’t foolish to verify the price of the meal, since we had neglected to inquire on that the first night. At that point, I didn’t really care. Again, we had a lovely meal. When the bill came the next morning, I was beside myself. The cost of the dinners? Fifteen euros per person. For that price and quality, I would dine there every night and be thrilled to do so. The breakfast was a reasonable 8 or so euros, but we just had coffee in the morning.

One negative was the sound-proofing in the rooms. We had the ill fortune to be situated next to an infant who insisted on exercising her lungs until midnight; it was as if the child was in the room with us. The other guest we spoke to said the same thing about sound. Another issue I had was air circulation. I prefer cooler air to sleep at night, but the early spring air during our stay was hardly cool enough to satisfy, and there is no air conditioning. Lastly, this is not the most convenient place from which to visit Santiago. If you want to step out of your hotel and into the thick of town, look elsewhere. If, on the other hand, a relaxing respite from the city in beautiful surroundings with a wonderful meal to finish the day sounds good, then this is your place.