Parador San Marcos Leon Hotel

It's with a heavy heart that I have to rate this so low, because the building itself is absolutely fabulous and many of the staff were lovely. However, if you're a wheelchair user who can't easily walk independently, please be very careful about booking this hotel. TL;DR: Stop advertising as wheelchair accessible, or make some relatively simple changes so people with moderate or severe disabilities can actually use the toilet, shower and hotel entrance with reasonable independence and dignity. It's not hard or expensive, but make your choice. ROOMS There are no fully accessible rooms, confirmed by the manager, despite accessibility being indicated on booking sites and the Parador website. I was perfectly happy to be given a large, step-free room, but the bathroom design is frankly bizarre. It's a huge space with a wall down the middle which makes manoeuvring very difficult. I couldn't turn my wheelchair into the toilet or shower independently. This isn't about expecting a historic building to be perfect. It's about being clear about what disabled guests can actually use before they book. PARKING There are two clearly marked disabled parking spaces, which is good. Unfortunately, the obvious ramped entrance from the car park leads to stairs. There is a wheelchair lift down towards the restaurant, but nobody was around and it was screened off at the bottom. So we had to wheel all the way around to the front entrance. Luckily I'd researched the hotel beforehand and knew where it was. Why not simply put a sign next to the disabled bays directing wheelchair users to the accessible entrance? The car park is modern, so this really shouldn't be difficult. COMMUNICATION I contacted the hotel in advance to explain my situation, through Hotels.com and by email, and received a basic response. I was then told by the receptionist and manager that accessibility information had been emailed to me and was on the website. I can confirm I didn't receive the email they referred to, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect disabled guests to scour a website trying to work out whether they can actually use the toilet, shower and entrance. This information needs to be clear and accurate at the point of booking. STAFF This was probably the most disappointing part. The female receptionist and hotel manager seemed much more interested in explaining why things weren't their responsibility than actually listening or trying to help. There was no real empathy or apology. The rest of the staff were lovely, friendly people, so this criticism is specifically about how the accessibility issues were handled by reception and management. BUILDING / FOOD The building is fabulous, epic and genuinely special. What a place this must be for able-bodied guests. And we had no complaints about the food and drink. We ate in the bar in the evening and had a lovely breakfast the next morning. Those things, along with the nice staff, are the reason I'm giving it two stars rather than one. OVERALL I'm genuinely disappointed to be writing this because I wanted to love this hotel. But accessibility isn't just having a disabled parking space and a step-free room. It's being able to get into the hotel, use the toilet and shower, and move around your room with reasonable independence and dignity. If you can't provide that, you need to be really clear about it when advertising the hotel as accessible. And it can be done. We stayed at Parador de Lerma and Parador Cangas de Onís on the same trip and saw much more thoughtful approaches to accessibility. I really hope the Parador takes this feedback seriously. A few relatively simple changes could make a huge difference to disabled guests. But in its current form, if you're a wheelchair user with significant mobility limitations, please contact the hotel directly and establish exactly what facilities will be available before booking.

Very good, although the cafeteria is too modern for the architectural style

If you like staying in the middle of an art museum mixed with a medieval historical site, then this is for you. Art is quite literally everywhere in this hotel - from medieval to modern. The rooms are gorgeous, quiet, and well-appointed. Breakfast was very good. The restaurant was nice. I wish we'd had an extra day just to explore the hotel property and spend time in the beautiful courtyard and common spaces.