Where to stay in Garrovillas: Hospedería Puente de Alconétar

The historical village of Alcántara is a good base for exploring the Tajo-Salor-Almonte area in western Cáceres province. If you need a place to stay in this area, I recommend choosing Hospedería Conventual.

In this article, I share my impressions of staying at Hospedería Conventual de Alcántara to give you an idea of what to expect in terms of things like rooms, facilities, food and location.

Building

Hospedería Puente de Alconétar is a four-star hotel located in a fifteenth-century Renaissance-style former palace (Palacio de los Condes de Alba de Liste). It has been sympathetically renovated and preserves most of the charm and character of the former palace (stone walls, exposed brick arches, wooden ceilings).

Location

The convenient location of this hospedería in the main square makes it the perfect place to stay in Garrovillas. You can reach every corner of the village on foot and it’s fairly easy to reach by car, too.

 Garrovillas is 36km north of Cáceres and it may be a good overnight stopover if you’re driving through Extremadura along the central areas, or if you’re driving across to Spain from central Portugal.

 Address: Plaza de la Constitución, 18, Garrovillas de Alconétar

Parking: free on-site parking

Room

I booked a standard double room situated in a modern extension of the hotel. The room was spacious, bright, and extremely quiet – I could actually hear birds singing outside. The bed was comfortable and perfectly suited my firm mattress preference. The good-sized ensuite had a large walk-in shower. One of the things I liked the most about the room I got was the fact that it had a balcony overlooking the garden with a nice view of a nearby church.

Facilities

Restaurante Torre de Floripes

​​Located on the ground floor of the main building, this restaurant offers well-presented and reasonably-priced food available as either a €18 three-course set menu (menu del día), a €37 tasting menu (menú gastronómico) or an à la carte menu. The restaurant is aesthetically pleasing, with some bold pictures popping out against neutral walls.

I travelled to Garrovillas in a family group of three. We had lunch and dinner at Restaurante Torre de Floripes and chose the set menu for both lunch and dinner. These are the dishes we ordered:

• creamy carrot and apple soup;
• free-range pulled chicken cannelloni;
• Spanish-style ratatouille (pisto);
• baked cod with sweet potato and pancetta;
• grilled Iberian pork cross-piece (cruceta) served with garlic sauce and vegetables;
• baked hake served with a red vermouth and carrot sauce;
• squid ink tagliatelle with squid and aioli;
• creamy cheese with strawberries;
• liqueur-soaked sponge cakes served with ice-cream.

I recommend booking a table, either at reception when you arrive or by phoning in advance.

Swimming pool

The swimming pool is located at the back of the hotel, near the garden. The area surrounding the L-shaped pool is not huge but is pleasant enough and has sun loungers, showers and umbrellas. I spent a whole afternoon there in mid-September and it was fairly quiet (there were only five other people).

Swimming pools in hospederías generally open the first or second week of June and close around mid-September. If you travel around those dates and swimming is a big priority for you, make sure to contact the reception team to confirm whether the pool is already/still open.

Other facilities include the main hall (where breakfast was being temporarily served at the time of my last visit), a bar, a big balcony with views, a sitting room, a spa (not tried myself) and padel tennis courts  (not tried myself).

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Other facilities

At the time of my visit, breakfast was served in the restaurant located in the modern annex, accessed from the main building via a walkway on the first floor. Breakfast was ok, but I found the restaurant to be visually/stylistically disconnected from the charming palace.

I really liked the big sitting room with sofas and beautiful wooden ceilings. It opens up onto a large balcony with a great view of the main square.