Posada Real Palacio Carrascalino

A beautiful hotel in a grand villa, lavishly decorated with antiques and clean white walls. The entrance to the hotel is up a dirt track, which is a shame, and it’s actually not that easy to find unless you are really looking out for the small white sign directing you off the main road. Coming from Sevilla, we made a mistake in taking local roads to make a short cut instead of going an extra 50km on the motorway. The local roads are pretty bad, bumpy and narrow, so i wouldn’t recommend using them unless you have to. Our air-conditioned room had a huge marble bathroom that you could have fit a bed into. Everything was very clean and the bed incredibly comfortable, and the freebies in the bathroom were not your bog-standard chain hotel toiletries, but refreshing, fruity fragrances that were not akin to paint stripper on your skin. I don’t know how much the room was as we didn’t pay for it (included as part of the wedding package for family) but breakfast was included and the staff were very accommodating. The breakfast was a typical continental affair with cold meats and cheese, cake, toast, yoghurt, juice and coffee, but there were also bacon and eggs if you could stomach it (I couldn’t after a wedding!). All in all it was a fantastic stay in a beautiful hotel. I only wish we could have stayed longer!

Halfway down Spain, travelling down by car to the south - a perfect spot near Salamanca. A beautiful hotel, run with charming informality by Chara and her husband. High on a hillside with fabulous views. Hugely comfortable rooms, large marble bathrooms, a simple dinner, as requested, served with charm on a large terrace. In the morning, a sumptuous breakfast. Amazing value and charming, personal care and service. I'm usually quite hard to please, but I loved this place and have already been back.