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Spanish Hotels with History :: Hostal Empuries

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: Platja Portixol, L'Escala, Gerona, Spain, 17130
August 27, 2008 at 9:00 AM | by | Comments (0)

After spending two weeks recapping the Lisbon Hotel Scene for us, Monica Guy is back with some history lessons. She's chronicling some of Spain's historic hotels this week. Enjoy.

A Spanish beach hotel with a difference: this one's small, special and has a bit of history behind it.

The Hostal Empuries is up on the Catalan coast between near Gerona, just north of Barcelona. If you want trendy seaside japes at a good price this is the place to go.

The hotel used to be a snack bar for archaeologists excavating the exciting (if you like that kind of thing) Roman necropolis just nearby. Then it added a few rooms and became a lovers' getaway - naughty 'business' weekends  and that kind of thing.

We guess because it's on the edge of a small, hidden cove with a tiny sandy beach and acres of wide, blue sea.

A trendy urbanite from Barcelona now owns the place (she's called Cinta and is sometimes around - just ask) and has decorated it super-cool style. She's the kind of girl who wears designer flip-flops - and it shows.

The bedrooms are all soft lines and contours, with elegant lighting casting clever shadows and sunlight streaming through the windows. Bold colours against a neutral background with the odd quirky touch. It works well.

The restaurant's a plus as well - a terrace overlooking the beach with a menu of regional dishes (lots of paella of course, this is Spain). There's a small stand-up bar in the hallway and a big sitting room for lounging around on soft sofas if you're sunburnt from the beach. You can get massages too.

The place won't blow your socks off, but compared to most beach hotels it's cool, intimate and great value: €95-€150 ($140-$220) for a double room including breakfast. And there are fewer screaming kids here than elsewhere on the Spanish coast.

[Photo: Cosser]

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