As a mountaineer ( for fiftyish years) I'm almost ashamed to admit I knew nothing of Los Picos de Europa - a stunning vertical land of limestone, carved with dramatic river gorges but with myriad easy trails to work your way around and through the dramatic countryside.
We were based in this warm, welcoming hotel for a week on a walking tour with Exodus holidays. The rooms were bright and always clean. Bathrooms with powerful, wonderful showers.
Management and staff were ALL alert, helpful and cheery and we enjoyed the meals they prepared for us: Buffet breakfasts with a choice of how the freshly-cooked eggs arrived, packed lunches and an interesting array of alternatives for the evening meals.
We ate out twice - just for the change - in a nearby restaurant mere minutes' walk away, on the recommendation of Jim, the Hotel owner.
The hotel utilises its restaurant windows and its garden spaces outside the downstairs bar area for visitors to get the best views of the picos.
Our room, on the other side of the hotel, faced onto wild flower meadows and other attractive hills. No complaint, there.
So.... Great hotel, great location with the biggest variety of wild flowers we have seen (early May) with the burgeoning promise of even more to flower throughout summer.
We had the services of a great local guide (Alvaro) who knew every nook and cranny, the name of every blossom and bush... and all the geology, history etc of the region - with transport (to/from the trail starts and ends) laid on seamlessly.
We'd happily return next week!
