Parador de Tordesillas*** As her Christmas gift to me,
my ladyfriend gave me/us 2 nights stay in this wonderful parador (
Brochure Photo ), located in the province of Valladolid (read their "How To Get There" description
HERE ) just outside of the charismatic little village of
Tordesillas which lies along the Duero River.
We were there the nights of December 26 & 27. The cost, as I found out, was about $55/night! (about 110€ total) WOW! I was SHOCKED they could be SO cheap. I think it was a mid-week special of some kind.
The arrangements were made through a
Halcon travel agency in her Madrid neighborhood. She had hoped to get a reservation at the
Parador de Sigüenza but this one, and nearly all others close to Madrid, were already FULL.
Now. ON WITH THE REVIEW!
Located almost 1-mile outside of the town of Tordesillas, the
Parador de Tordesillas is in the traditional hacienda style. To be honest, I can't seem to find anything on their website NOR in the brochure I took from the room, but it appears to be about 100 years old, wood and stucko/adobe structure with high ceilings, 3 levels (we had a third level overlooking the swimming pool), 2 elevators, beautiful-long halls, all rooms appear to have, as ours did, a foyer with HUGE closet furniture and closing door to the sleeping/living room, a beautifully big bathroom with double sinks, ALL VERY MODERN, BIG thick wooden doors, and the window in the bedroom (
PHOTO ) was about 5-foot tall, STARTING at about waist height and almost reaching the ceiling. Each room has modern climate control dial on the wall, color TV with remote control, two arm chairs and small coffee table, and desk. Our room had two slightly-larger-than twin beds (but smaller than a double bed) which is typical in Spain unless you ask for a cama matrimonia (which we didn't
), but we "made do".
The windows of these rooms were really beautiful. As I said above, they were SO tall, and, since the walls are so thick, they had not only double-opening panes, but also thick, internal wooden shutters AND THICK/DARK curtains! So, when we woke late after our first night and it was 10am we couldn't have known if it was 3:00 in the morning!!! The room was totally BLACK! Oh, and the beds were comfortable too.
While we didn't use it, off the lobby is a HUGE sitting room (
PHOTO ) with all leather couches, armchairs, tables, long wooden ceiling vigas, a BIG fireplace, and one wall was nothing but windows looking out over the grounds of Piños (trees of Piñon nuts).
There was another large room, a kind of café with big armchairs, a few couches, a large chandelier in the center, also with lots of windows, where one could have a coffee and a snack -- very posh.
Finally, the dining room (
PHOTO1 ).... On our second/last night at the Parador, we treated ourself to dinner at the parador -- my first time! It is a beautifully BIG room with MANY dining tables (
Brochure Photo ), all nicely decorated and looking very UPscale with the "squared", wooden viga ceiling, more windows, paintings on the wall - including a WALL SIZED mural of Columbus' discorery of the Americas. I thought the food was good and my ladyfriend agreed -- really nothing special as far as quality of food goes, but the presentation was nice - I had the Tostón (chochinillo/suckling pig) and my ladyfriend the Confit de Pato (sweet duck(?)) and the desert, the Manjar de la Vega (a specialty of the region), was WOW! Just beautiful! It was so delicious and oh sooooo gooood - The dinner was more expensive that one night's stay!
hehehe.. (
See the bill here! )! :p
Parking was a little tricky though, with few spaces at the front and a darkened side lot which seemed to only be staff parking.
It was my first and ONLY stay at a Parador and it was certainly a positive experience. It would have been nice if the parador was INSIDE the village of Tordesillas itself, but the drive from one to the other wasn't long and gave a GREAT view of the town and cathedrals while crossing the bridge over the Rio Duero. Imagine the scene as we first encountered it (
PHOTO ) ..... approaching the bridge after driving through many little towns of Castilla y León in the afternoon.... the sun is low, casting a GOLDEN glow across the tan stones of the town of Tordesillas. It was SUCH a beautiful site.
Saludos, MadridMan
And now, the parador's official description:
This ancestral home rises up in the historical Castilian town of Tordesillas, an important crossroads since Roman times, in a place where the greenness and nature offer the guest the best of the landscape. A beautiful pine grove, with a spacious, well cared-for garden, surrounds the Parador offering the tranquillity, calm and placidity of natural spaces. The Castilian style dominates in the external lines and in the interior, where some of the rooms contain valuable antiques. The tranquillity which reigns throughout the building and in its spectacular blue swimming pool are an invitation to rest and to peaceful walks. Among its culinary specialities can be highlighted grilled peppers and "cecina de vaca" (dried beef), "gallo de corral turresilano" (farmyard cock), "bacalao a la fonda" (cod) with crayfish and "el manjar de la Vega" (fromage frais dessert).[ 01-06-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]