Fontecruz Avila

The room was one of the nicest I’ve stayed in, really large and at a fantastic price. Everyone at the front desk was friendly and helpful. We accidentally left a bag behind, and Lisset was especially helpful arranging to get it safely back to us. I’d highly recommend the place and would definitely return.

The breakfast was below what I’d expect from a 4 star hotel. There wasn’t much choice, and the hot food didn’t look appetising. With just one coffee machine making only espresso or double espresso, the queue took ages. There was a toaster, but after waiting five minutes and seeing the bread was still white, I gave up. Even finding a properly clean cup meant looking through them all. The hotel seemed understaffed in every area. We waited five minutes at reception to check in because nobody was there. At the spa, we waited over 10 minutes while the receptionist was giving a client a massage. It’s small, two showers were out of order and looked like they’d been that way for a while, and another seemed to have plumbing problems. There are no robes, so you have to go downstairs dressed and change there, with little privacy. Our room was small, plain, and outdated, with nothing to make it feel warm or welcoming. It wasn’t clean either: there was hair on the towels and bed, plus dust and dirt in the room and bathroom. The TV looked about 20 years old and didn’t work properly. We booked a romantic dinner, but it wasn’t romantic at all. The five-course meal had no attention to detail. They left the appetizer plate on the table and put later courses on top of it. We had to ask them to replace a dirty glass and spoon. The portions were huge, the food was below average, and some seemed to come straight from a bag. There was only one waiter, who didn’t know anything about the one white wine available. Our package included a bottle of cava. Reception said we could have it with dinner or have it brought to our room afterwards, and we chose the room. We thought they’d wait until we came up, but it was already there when we arrived. It felt uncomfortable and invasive that someone had entered our room without our knowledge after we’d checked in. This hotel doesn’t deliver what it claims and doesn’t deserve 4 stars. I wouldn’t recommend booking its romantic getaway. There was nothing romantic about it.

We had a lovely view of the city from our spacious room, which had a huge bed and armchairs. The hotel sits on the outskirts of Àvila, and you can walk to the town walls, about 3 miles along a track beside the hotel. We booked half board, but only discovered the kitchen was closed on the second night when we returned in the evening after walking 12 miles that day. The hotel checked with the neighboring hotel, where we were able to eat, and Fontecruz paid the bill without us having to ask.

It’s a good place, but the strong fried fish smell coming through the air vents at night was awful. It kept us from sleeping. And I nearly forgot, the extra bed blanket smelled like pizza.