Parador de Villafranca del Bierzo

Comfort

Nothing

Very clean and modern looking accomodation

Not the type of architecture and ambiance I would expect in a Spanish parador. It was a little walk to anything downtown. Staff were efficientbut not very friendly.

Pool and sauna were a nice find, not too close to city center but close enough

Had to go to the reception to get and return towels for the pool, quiet uncomfortable when in bathing suit and/or wet

I've stayed in several Paradors about 10 years ago and I can see there is a definite change in the care and management. This Parador, the hotel itself and parking is very accessible, (keep in mind it overlooks a highway). The town is a cute little town with some good restaurants.

This is a very tired and worn down Parador. I suspect it is because they have so many camino visitors every day. We were in the area to do hiking. It just looks like it needs a major renovation as it's very dated. The carpets in the room were badly stained along with the ones in the staircase...visible tears and worn spots. The walls look to need paint. The staff have attitude that is noticeably rude. I witnessed one server in the breakfast room reprimanding a woman for getting up and getting her own cutlery. It was completely uncalled for and he uttered a swear word at her as he walked away...My knowing a bit of Spanish picked it up and was absolutely floored. The temperature was in the 30C during our stay in September but they had closed the outdoor pool for the year which was a huge disappointment. The sauna and indoor pool area does not open till 12:00 and closes at 8:00pm which seemed odd as using it in the morning would have been nice as the middle of the day most people are off on other adventures. We also found different main areas in the hotel would be closed off in the evenings as they rent out space for group functions. We couldn't go on the terrace one hot evening as there was an anniversary and then the salon was closed another night for a reunion. Why they don't use the meeting and conference rooms for these events and leave the public areas for the hotel guests is a mystery.