One of the neat things about coming to Spain is that you can actually choose to stay in a Parador instead of your run of the mill hotels. The Paradores are usually historic buildings such as castles, mansions, etc. that have been remodeled and conditioned to be a hotel.
So that’s how we ended up in a Castle for a few nights! We drove from Porto to Baiona which is in the province of Pontevedra in Galicia (Spain). We stayed at the Parador de Baiona which belonged in its time to the Conde de Gondomar. Right off the beach you enter the castle grounds driving up the hills until you reach the main building where the hotel reception is hosted.
As you walk in you quickly notice all the old furniture (solid wood), the old paintings, the armour, the stone walls, and the heavy metal key that you get for your room! The Bedroom as expected is decorated with antiques, medieval feel all throughout the bedroom and the corridors, the hallways have fine art and do make sure you look out the windows, as they mostly all have a view of the ocean, the patio with stone fountains, the pool, etc. Some hallways have fresco’s painted. It’s worth going up and down different hallways to get where you are going, as it’s fun to see all the decor. I warn you thought it’s a bit like a maze 🙂
This is one of the prettiest of the Paradores I’ve seen in Spain that’s for sure, the grounds are really well kept, you can walk around the castle grounds, which has amazing views of the beach, the boardwalk, houses on the hill, people walking around, the park, the landscaping of the castle grounds, sunset is beautiful up there and it’s nice to see everyone walking around at dusk as that’s when the cooler breeze comes around and makes you feel refreshed. Your mind can’t help but transport to Medieval times, Carolina wondered what would it be like to be a princess in a castle so beautiful, would you be distracted by Sunset if you were a guard making your post vulnerable? Imaginations run wild!
We had a great time going to the pool in the afternoon to relax. The Pool is big, water is perfect temperature (refreshing but not cold) and as you swim you can see the castle walls, you can also see the ocean, grab your towel and place it on the hill so you have the perfect view of the ocean from above.
At night it’s fun to just walk down the hills, leave the castle grounds, cross the street and you are in the little town where it will be hard to chose one restaurant to sit down and eat freshest seafood and fish, or have a nice grassfed piece of cow 😉 save room for some hand made ice-cream too! Love vacation, calories don’t count!
I have to say that just being able to stay here was one of the highlights of my entire trip to Spain and Portugal this year, would highly recommend it if you are in this area. It’s totally worth it!
ccarretero 