Parador Villafranca del Bierzo

Stayed in April of 2024 while walking the Camino de Santiago. This parador is an average place to stay. We found it a little boring. It lacks personality. We had a view of the highway. Staff is mostly disinterested. There were not many guests.

For the second year we stayed at a Parador after one of our walking days on the Camino. This one was one of the more modern Paradors and not as visually appealing, although there were lovely views from the grounds. We had half board and the food was excellent. Breakfast was plentiful, the fruit in particular was delicious.

Don’t get too ****** in by the “parador” name. It was very average. Only stayed one night as a stop between places. Arrived and the first room allocated hadn’t been properly cleaned so moved rooms. Learned from previous parador to eat out elsewhere. Breakfast was fair.

Stayed one night while on my Camino. Very nicely appointed but honestly…clientele are snooty. Don’t walk thru the lobby or get on elevator unless you’re dressed for something other than the Camino. Staff was helpful and spoke adequate English. Don’t know what it cost because it was booked via tour company. Went to look at pool area and was greeted by somewhat rude man who spoke no English demanding something of me that I didn’t understand. Hotel has a rule that everyone must wear a bathing cap if they get in the pool. Honestly don’t think I’d stay again unless pricing was extremely reasonable and I wasn’t on the Camino. As a positive, they packed us a takeaway lunch bag since we left before breakfast. It was way more good than we could eat. Quite tasty too.

Nice hotel in small Spanish town. Good food in restaurant. The negative— manager not helpful in assisting me in having my clothes cleaned at the hotel. I was walking on the Camino de Santiago and really needed all my clothes washed. I inquired about laundry facilities to the daytime manger and he told me that it was “not possible “ as they did not include laundry services for guests.. He told me there were no laundry facilities in town and I needed to go to another town 5 kilometres away—-this after I already had walked 30 kilometres that day. Not impressed with this individual at all. Fortunately, one of the front desk clerks, a very nice man by the name of Luis, offered to drive me to that next town, the next day-/ on his day off!!!! I hope the owners of this hotel truly recognize Luis for the great service that he gave me -/ even on his day off. At least he gave me a lasting positive impression of the Hotel Parador. Otherwise no other complaints. A class hotel like the Parador should absolutely have laundry facilities for guests as many of them are Pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago.

The receptionist was friendly and efficient and spoke English. The room was nice and clean and roomy enough with a TV, refrig in the closet and a safe. There was plenty of room in the bathroom with a good size tub and counter space around the sink. The food was great. We ate dinner and breakfast here. The breakfast buffet had plenty of fruits, meats, pastries and the usual eggs, yoghurt, cereal, bread, etc. The hotel was an easy walk to the downtown area.