Vettonia

The golf course is phenomenal, and this is an ideal place for a relaxing weekend.

The location is excellent for a rural hotel, out in the countryside on the outskirts of Ávila. In summer, it’s especially nice when the heat fades quickly, though that’s generally true of Ávila. Parking is easy, there’s a restaurant and other activities, and the room was a good size with practically everything needed. The beds and pillows were comfortable, and the staff very friendly. The noisy, stiff door handles need maintenance. Being a rural hotel doesn’t mean the knobs need to squeak and scrape. With the lack of soundproofing, it was easy to hear other guests opening and closing doors, the front door, and suitcases scraping along at 7 a.m. on Sunday. Cleanliness wasn’t quite perfect either. I suppose a more meticulous guest would have pointed that out before moving in.

It’s a shame that reception isn’t staffed all the time, and the restaurant next to it isn’t either. For breakfast, they send you across the road to the restaurant at the golf course, about 300 meters away. Still, you can rest very well here.

I booked through Booking.com for the December long weekend, the 6th-8th, but the hotel canceled on November 14, supposedly because my card wasn’t valid. Funny how they had availability from Friday to Monday, the 6th-9th. I validated the card four times that day without any trouble. It was the same card I’d used for another reservation for four people at a different hotel, yet they canceled anyway. The hotel said Booking.com verifies payments. Booking.com customer service told me the hotel handles them and they don’t have that information. For whatever reason, they didn’t want my reservation and came up with a cheap excuse.