Parador de Soria

Vistas espectaculares del parador y el servicio bien. Mucho frío.

As mush as we can we try to stay in Paradores when we travel to Spain. At first I was not to sure about this one since it has a “modern” appearance, but once I our room and we saw the view from our room, there was not doubt we were in the right place. The staff was very courteous and friendly.

A very pleasant more modern parador, in a lovely location high above Soria. Friendly staff. Our standard room was large, with some lovely views down to the Douro river. Unlike some paradors, the cafeteria only opens during the same hours as the restaurant, but reception omitted to tell us this, despite us telling them (in Spanish) that we hadn’t been able to stop for food during the day, and were looking for something to eat as soon as possible (They did apologise for this later). Had we known at the time we would have been able to walk down to Soria for some sustenance as we weren’t able to have a meal late that evening. Consequently were were keen on having breakfast, which was of the usual high parador standard. The restaurant operates a time slot basis for breakfast, but of necessity ours was as early as possible, so we had a tranquil and positive start to the day.

The parador is on a hilltop overlooking the town. Parking is outdoors, around the hotel. There is a 15-20 minute walk into town. We had a junior suite, which was large and comfortable. Internet connection was intermittantly slow, but usable. Dinner in hotel dining room was good - very pleasant room with views, good service.

The hotel's remote location at the top of a steepish hill does afford good views, but especially when dark effectively prevents leaving the hotel for alternatives to eat in evening. Had we been there a third night that probably would have become an issue. In the hotel there are two options - it's in Spain so restaurant not before 08:30PM - was of a good standard well served. How many of those meals do you want in a row – only alternative is a snack in the hotel bar, which was not good – noisy, so (when they could be bothered to serve us - it was busy, but understaffed) they misheard our order. What was delivered was frankly disappointing for the price. We found the walk down to town was not straightforward as should be - possible poor directions – a bit lost in translation perhaps and given works in hotel grounds - we finished up some way from where we thought we were going to be. Coming back in evening much the same problem. It’s a Parador so of course room clean, spacious and comfortable - two comfortable chairs provided, air conditioning good. Shower door arrangement a bit awkward.

The Parador de Soria is a modern, purpose built hotel that opened in 2005. We spent one night and had easy parking. We had a superior double king room and it was huge. Large sitting area with a sofa and two arm chairs. The bed was comfortable. And the bathroom was palatial, with double sinks, tub/shower and also a separate shower. We ate dinner in the dining room and it was good (opens at 8:30pm). We had lamb and beef. Well prepared and presented. You must book your breakfast time in advance, and we had the breakfast buffet for 18 Euro per person. I should have simply booked it with the room rate but I couldn’t find a way on the booking tool. All in all a good stay. Not a tourist hub, but on our way so good stopping point for us.