Parador de Cáceres

Generally I am a fan of Paradores but I got a bit irritated with this one, which happens to have a great location. Firstly, the parking instructions that they send you by email are not correct or precise. They should just write “Phone ahead a book your parking space in the nearby underground garage. Drive to Plaza Santa Clara, then up Calle Ancha 30m (ignoring the “no entry” sign) and park in one of the 2 spaces on the left in front of the small Parador courtyard. Unpack your bags and notify the desk of your car registration number to avoid the fines, and pick up the key to garage and directions on how to get there. Return to the car and go back down Calle Ancha past Plaza Santa Clara to the parking garage”. Simple. What is NOT simple (this is just a warning, not really a criticism of Parador) is getting in and out of the underground parking garage on Calle del Cmo Llano. I have been using Spanish underground parking garages for over 2 decades but this one was a real challenge even in an Audi A3 - forget anything larger. Good luck! It’s about an 8 min walk back to the Parador from the parking garage. Second up after the “driving instructors frustration” - the room. Based on another review, I had booked the top category room and requested Room 103 which is huge. But it’s on the ground floor across the courtyard and not in the original palace, and has no privacy (windows give onto patio). I can’t complain because it was my request. However, there were no coffee capsules (or tea or sugar or anything) next to the nespresso machine. There was a bottle of water. I don’t think that the coffee is stocked in that room, no idea about the other rooms. Third - the bathroom. Huge jacuzzi. I thought I would give it a try. Got in but I could not get it to operate. Found out at breakfast from the teenagers with us staying in the second room that they also could not get the jacuzzi to work. Mentioned this fact to the manager at reception on check out. He said that it’s a bit difficult to find but it has to be turned on outside. I said it would have been good to have instructions posted in the 2 rooms. He said normally there were instructions. I said, “well just like the coffee there were no instructions and perhaps these details should be looked into”. To which he responded that the last option is always to call reception. I said “naked and wet? I don’t think so” - I can think of better ways for a hotel manager to deal with a guest complaint to be honest… when I went to fetch my bag from the room I then searched all over for the switch outside the bathroom but I could not find it so now I am doubting that the jacuzzi is functional. As I had done my interaction with the manager to be annoying I did not return to find out where the “secret switch” was. If a hotel is going to have a jacuzzi and a coffee machine in the room, they should be usable is my message to Paradores. Finally, the breakfast - at EUR20 per person they can do better. If you are going to offer eggs, then there should be salt and pepper (in a pepper grinder, ideally) readily available. Eggs were delivered (that was fine), but then I wasted time looking for the salt and pepper, and as there was only one waiter who was in the kitchen a lot of the time, I had to go and request the salt and pepper, he returned with 2 small sachets of salt and 1 sachet of pepper (for 3 plates of eggs). A competitor to Paradores has a slogan “es una cuestion de detailles”. So true. A positive is that I actually did have a good night’s sleep - bed was fine and a/c very quiet in room 103.

This is an excellent hotel with fine service and a good location in the historic part of the city. Our room was very comfortable. The breakfast was ample, especially the huge assortment of hams. The parking is an issue, however, especially if you are staying a couple of days and want to get your car quickly to make a day trip.

While in an old building, unlike many other Paradors, this Parador had a modern feel to it. It didn’t have the charming, cozy, and warm atmosphere of other Paradors. ||If coming by car the hotel recommends a parking garage about one mile away since the hotel has limited parking and is in a pedestrian only zone. There are a couple free parking lots in town, but you need to look them up. A taxi to/from the recommended parking garage costs about 8€.||Check in was easy. When checking in I noticed my reservation had been scratched out, no idea why, but we were immediately given a room. Since the room was around the corner, across a courtyard, and into another building, the receptionist showed us the way and carried our bags. Unfortunately, the button to flush the toilet broke and there was no maintenance person on duty, so we had to change rooms. The new room was near the original room. In both bathrooms there was a clear glass partition between the commode and sinks that served no real purpose since it didn’t afford any privacy.||Where improvement is needed is in the bathroom. In a number of places grout has come out and needs to be replaced. In the shower itself, the grout needs a good cleaning and the mildew where the walls meets the ceiling needs to be removed. Somebody needs to pay closer attention to the smaller details.||I didn’t see any guest loungers, but there were a couple places with a couple chairs. The staff was friendly and very helpful.

Our room was a bit worn down from age. Closet doors didn't close properly. The bathtub had scratch marks inside. There are no drawers in the room to store folded clothing. One of the entryway lights was burned out. We could have stayed in a nicer hotel or an upscale Airbnb for the same price. However, the hotel staff were very nice and professional. The restaurant food and service were excellent.

Caceres is a hidden gem for foreign tourists, and this Parador is located right in the historic quarter within easy walking distance of all the town's treasures. I greatly appreciated the walking tour that I arranged through the Parador website as well. Staff were exceptionally friendly. The Parador is charming and well appointed.

Our stay in Cáceres Parador was beautiful from the beginning with the warm welcome, nice dinner and breakfast, amazing information about historic town and a modern art museum.We were enchanted with it all. The only thing we wished for was another two nights to enjoy it more fully.

We had 2 nights half board. Fortunately their was a blues music festival happening in caceres during our stay. The old town is beautiful with narrow streets, ancient buildings, nice squares and many bars.

We had a great stay at this Parador. It’s in a historical mansion but is modern inside. Our room was spacious and comfortable. Staff are super friendly and helpful. The food in the restaurant is fantastic too. The location is great and is close to many top restaurants.