Hotel Santuario de Sancho Abarca

The room was large and clean, and the views were amazing. At first I thought it was good value, but a lot about the stay fell short. We were put in the accessible room because we’d booked just two weeks ahead, though nobody told us beforehand. The shower worked, but it was only waist high and had no seat. I assume a seat would be essential for someone with a disability. There weren’t any shelves for shampoo, shower gel, or shaving things, so the floor was the only place to put them. The hairdryer that was meant to be in the room had been removed because of an earlier theft and only came when we asked. There was one bin tucked behind the sink, no bedroom mirror, and the bedside lamps couldn’t be used while charging a phone from the bedside table. When I asked reception for a shower chair along with the hairdryer, they told me to take one from the dining area. An elderly man greeted us when we arrived. He seemed to be a heavy smoker. After dropping our things in the accessible room, we went to the bar and ordered a beer and a large white wine for €8. My wife asked for a different glass because the first one was dirty. The replacement looked fine at first, but outside we noticed some kind of residue still on it. I’d asked for a dining menu, but was told there wasn’t one, and the man didn’t seem to know what would be served. Then, while we sat outside with our drinks, he had a long, hacking coughing fit with a lot of phlegmy throat clearing. After that, we decided against eating there. The younger man in the bar didn’t help. I tried asking him what food was available in my very limited Spanish, which is basically “hola,” “buenas dias,” and, as I realized, the wrong “buenas tardes.” He ignored me as I followed him from the dining room to the bar office, where the older man was, then shut the door in my face. I checked my breath and body odor afterward, and my wife confirmed they seemed fine when I got back to the terrace. There’s no air conditioning, TV or other room entertainment, or tea and coffee equipment. They don’t provide those, so don’t expect them. There were no welcome materials with useful information or advice either. I hope your stay goes better than ours.

I was travelling alone, and the whole stay was awful. The owners spoke no English, and there was no reception desk where I could use Google Translate. My toilet was broken, constantly leaking and making a horrible noise. I lifted the lid to check for a blockage, but there wasn’t one, it was just broken. Then the flush buttons came loose and wouldn’t go back in. It took two hours of back and forth to get them to cancel my booking. The woman ended up shutting the room curtain in my face, leaving me in the dark, and walking out. I had to pack in the dark and left some things behind. At least they didn’t charge me for those three hours of hell. It’s way out in the middle of nowhere, high up a huge hill on a narrow, unnerving road, with no mobile signal. I’d paid extra for a room with a fan, but the owners said the hotel had no fans. They also said opening the window wouldn’t help because the shape of the building stopped the breeze coming in. My view was of the car park, with trees blocking the desert. Stay in Tudela instead. It has lots of lovely shops and is still very close to the desert.

There’s a new road now, so the older complaints about a bad road no longer apply. The location is outstanding. Management is very simple, so don’t expect anything professional, but the place is nice and authentic, and the service is very kind. Just be aware that the nearest shop or restaurant is about 25 km away. Fantastic!

The rooms are good, the prices reasonable, and it makes a great stop for the nearby Bardenes National Park. But the main attraction is the spectacular view from the top of a very high hill, with a full 360-degree panorama. We saw Egyptian vultures and bearded vultures close up. I’ve made the trip twice, and the view alone made it worthwhile. The hotel sits on the border of the two historic kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre.