Casa Rural La Abubilla

The new management is genuinely charming, and the place has got its real value back. The change in management has made a clear difference, and I’m very happy. The previous manager was clueless and a real slob. We’ll definitely come back. Hugs.

I remember the homemade food being spectacular. I’m talking about 2006, quite a few years ago, but from the comments it sounds like it’s still just as good. Back then I worked for the owner, Mercedes Oneto, handling reservations, and we went to see the country house. It was the day after my older brother’s wedding, and I was amazed when I saw it. It looked like a gnome’s house, with each room named after a different tree. I loved the fir room and its decor. Best regards. I don’t know if Lourdes is still there.

We booked four days and three nights through the Spa Manatial del Chorro rural house website. Because we were two adults and seven children, two of them babies, they redirected us to the La Abubilla rural house, part of the same group and apparently the place for larger groups. We planned the trip around the Pedraza candle festival on July 9, then decided to stay a few days so the kids could enjoy nature. We knew we were booking a rural house, but what we found was unbelievable. We arrived after 8 p.m. We’d left Madrid around 6 because of the heat. A man introduced himself as Oscar, the director, though I don’t remember his last name. He showed us the whole house and gave us keys for every door. From what I understand, it had once been a rural hotel for several couples or families, as other reviews describe, but that seems to have stopped. The entrance was dusty, with lots of tables covered in tablecloths. There was a dining area with wood but no seats, and they let us use the kitchen the hotel had used before. We had three older girls with us and the website said there was Wi-Fi, so we asked for the password. We were told there was usually Wi-Fi but storms in the previous days must have damaged it. When we looked for the router, we found there wasn’t even a phone line, it had been cut off. Our phones had no service either, leaving us with seven hungry children and no way to call if anything happened. We hadn’t expected a TV in a rural house, but we didn’t think it would mean absolutely nothing. We asked where we could get dinner and were told Navafria was 20 minutes away. The hotel that supports the property, Spa del Chorro, happened to be open only Saturday and Sunday that weekend, even though the website said breakfast, lunch, and dinner were available every day, and I’d been assured over the phone that we could eat there without a problem. We couldn’t leave then with so many tired children. We spent the night as best we could, in a house full of dust and mites. It seemed like it may have been used for a bachelor party and little else. The next day we went out of town to get phone service and call to say we were leaving. They offered us one night at the spa, but we had to leave the next day because the hotel was full. Our four-day break to see the area and attend the festival ended after one night. The children were terrified because the house was frightening and completely unlivable. The babies had to sleep in a living room because they wouldn’t fit in our room. All this cost 750 euros. They said they’d refund part of the money and that management would most likely charge us for just the one night we stayed. This morning I received 125 euros back, meaning they kept 625 euros for 12 hours in what felt like a house of horrors.

It used to be a hotel, with two houses around a central courtyard and a barbecue. The room area is unusual but charming. Some things need maintenance and attention to detail, like coffee makers with missing handles and a courtyard that hadn’t been swept. Still, I’d return.