Hotel Abades Via Norte

The room was fresh, clean and pleasant, and those excellent blackout blinds were much needed with the intense lighting outside. I slept very deeply both nights. For a reasonably priced stopover, this place really punches above its weight. We'd been impressed by how well run the Abades service stations were on earlier visits, and this one was just as good. There's a good restaurant and bar, with a set menu or a varied selection of racciones. We tried chicken fingers with honey mustard sauce and patatas bravas, and both were great. It's close to the motorway junctions and right by a petrol station. The town and historic centre are an easy 15 minute walk away, with lovely riverside walks too. The cheapest room rates are on their own website, but its card payment system gave us trouble, so we had to book through another site. Well recommended!

A handy pit stop on the edge of the city if you're travelling through. The room was spacious and pretty clean, but don't come expecting a romantic, design focused hotel in the city centre. Breakfast was simple but very good, with classic tostadas and pastries. If you like coffee, the bar makes nice cups instead of relying on the machine. The hotel shares a building with a gas station and a bar where breakfast is served. There's no reception in the evening, so for a fresh drink or machine coffee you have to go into the gas station. There wasn't a fridge in the room.

It's a truck stop connected to a petrol station, which worked well for us, and it's pet friendly, a real bonus. Of all our stops between Devon and Portugal, this had by far the best service and food. One of the best truck stops I've stayed at.

Getting to it was easy, since it's very near the road. Super clean and tidy. We took three rooms, and the TV remote didn't work in any of them.