This 16th century former monastery, now a unique luxury class rural hotel with 31 guest rooms and an outstanding restaurant serving exceptional local cuisine, can be found just off the highway at Km marker 41, a short distance down the road from the village of Almendral and a short drive south of Mérida. It is an extremely quiet location in the countryside, the perfect get-a-way and a destination for many of those in the know from Madrid and Sevilla. Owned by Spanish actor Carlos Tristancho and his wife Lucía Dominguín, the daughter of renowned matador Luis Maguel Dominguín, the Rocamador offers a level of service unsurpassed. We stopped by to check it out and have lunch on the 27th of March, not really knowing what to expect, but where immediately impressed with everything we experienced. The staff is outstanding and the lunch was on a par with the best nuevo regional cuisine Extremadura and the Basque Country have to offer, especially when you consider that the chefs (a husband and wife team) got their training at Arzak in Donostia-San Sebastian.