Motel Cies

You get a guaranteed parking spot here, which is hard to find in many other Spanish towns and cities, and dogs are welcome. For the price, I really can’t fault the accommodation. Wish there were more places like this elsewhere.

A secure parking box is right below the bedroom, so you can leave your car there. The room was spacious and clean, with a large, comfortable bed, and it was good value.

We needed somewhere for one night in Salamanca, but everything in town was booked for a convention. The one good feature was the private garage connected to the room. Otherwise, calling this a “3-star hotel” is hard to believe. Check-in was a drive-through process: you talk to a speaker, with no person in sight, get told your room number, and the gate is opened remotely so you can drive in. You go upstairs to the landing and enter an unlocked room. There’s a door opposite the room marked “Emergency exit,” but it’s locked. The online listing shows room service, a community area, and pictures of food trays being delivered. None of those were available. We left for dinner and drove around the building, only to reach another gate with a place to pay. What the heck? We pressed the communication button and explained we needed to leave for dinner. They asked for our name and room number, but kept asking again and again even after we gave them both.

A great place to stop on the way to Seville. Somehow the unusual check-in setup worked, and the rooms were great, including a fabulous jacuzzi bath. The only downside is that you have to go into Salamanca for a decent meal, since there’s nothing nearby.