15705 Travel Guide
Historic Spanish Hotels
Spanish Hotels with History :: Hostal de los Reyes Católicos
August 28, 2008 at 9:05 AM | 0 Comments
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.
Talking of Spanish Hotels with History, this one boasts to be the oldest 'proper' hotel in the world.
The Hostal de los Reyes Católicos is a 5-star Gran Lujo hotel--better than a 5-star--and it's located superbly right opposite the magnificent cathedral in Santiago de Compostela's central square. It's also known in English as the Royal Hospital or in Spanish as the Parador de Santiago de Compostela.
The hotel's partly funded by the government as a parador, a status awarded only to the best hotels in the most historic of buildings in Spain.
The décor? Use your imagination. Dark wood, dim lighting, high ceilings, exposed stone, the odd suit of armour or oil painting glaring down at you. We stayed there for a night last year and can't remember anything of the room except that it was super-luxury and super-traditional - a bit too traditional for our taste.
