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Paradors, Hotels DeLuxe

March 14, 2002

Dear Friends and Families,

We left Portugal and returned to Spain. We'd left the Portuguese university town of Coimbra, bound for it's Spanish equivalent, Salamanca. Shortly after crossing the border, we saw a sign to a "Parador" and figured Ciudad Rodrigo would be a good lunch stop. We left town two-and-a-half days later. What happened? We were lured by luxury and a good deal.

Some background. "Paradors" are hotels run by the Spanish government and are normally castles, fortresses, or historical buildings. They pride themselves in providing a high level of comfort, often in fairly isolated towns. They are not inexpensive by Spanish hotel standards or by Trotter Roadtrip budget requirements.

Our only previous experience had been a meal or two and in these cases the prices had been reasonable and the settings quite pleasant, hence our decision to pull off the highway in Ciudad Rodrigo, a walled hill-town a couple of kilometers off the main highway. The Parador is in a 14th century castle, guarding a corner of the old city, and overlooks a Roman bridge over the Agueda River and the plains beyond. Over lunch, we decided to splurge and stay a night.

Then came the good deal. Paradors have a series of discounts available. For customers 60 or older, there's a 30% discount. Those under 30 get 25%. We failed both criteria. No matter, there was also a 20% discount on stays of two days or more. Somehow, we managed to rationalize a two-day stay. I say "rationalize" because Ciudad Rodrigo, cute though it is, does not warrant more than an hour or two.

Over lunch, Marianne noticed an even better deal: the "5-day pass". In this case, we'd get five days in any Parador for about $60 per night. That is anywhere from 20 to 50% off and within our Roadtrip budget. Like budget airfares, there are restrictions, but we are flexible travelers, so we figured we could live with that. Ultimately, we stayed in three different Paradors so we'll give a summary of each.

The Parador in Ciudad Rodrigo is exactly what we imagined a Parador should be. Grand entrance and lobby. Deluxe rooms, if a bit small. Good food. Even a relaxing lounge where we could catch up on our travel diaries and notes. Above all, the castle felt real and we could sense that the old walls had seen and heard 600 years of history.

Our next Parador was in Salamanca. In this case, the building was neither particularly old nor historic. We called it "50's posh". You know, modern but in a dated sort of way. Nevertheless, it was luxurious, including the lavish breakfast spread that seems to be a standard feature of Paradors. Best of all, the Salamanca Parador provided a wonderful base from which to explore the old university town, where every other building was indeed old and historic. (But that's a different story.)

After packing up at sunrise we headed north to our last Parador, in the village of Santillana del Mar, on the coast an hour west of Bilbao. We chose Santillana simply because they had space available. Our other choices were already booked. Even the Santillana Parador required that we pay full fare but they did give us credit for the cost of the last of our pass-days. Not a great deal anymore but fair enough.

This Parador was in an old-looking building that I suspect was built, or perhaps thoroughly rebuilt, in the latter part of the 20th century. It was as luxurious as either of our previous locations however, and our room's view of neighboring buildings was quite pleasant. As for location, that's an interesting point. The Parador was right in the middle of Santillana de Mar so it could not be better located. The village itsel,f however, was completely dedicated to tourism and, though it must have been old, it too seemed "old looking" instead. Kind of like if Disney had wanted to make a quaint Basque village.

So, what's our bottom line on Paradors? They are a good option if you want painless travel in Spain and can afford it. Even the "afford it" part can be managed if you are the right age or can otherwise qualify for discounts. But frankly, as much as we enjoy our deluxe hotel stays, they are not our first choice. Somehow, the idiosyncrasies of individual, small hotels is more satisfying. And besides, those expansive breakfast buffets would only lead to personal expansion of a type we definitely don't want.

Take care and stop for lunch some time. Stay if you like it.

John and Marianne

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