Parador de Villafranca del Bierzo

Luxury accommodations on the very edge of town. The rooms are generous and spacious with windows that open to the outside. You can choose to face the village or away from the village. There is a lovely sitting area downstairs and a wonderful terrace with a supported bar. There’s a restaurant on premises that is perhaps a little formal for most travelers. The Parador bosts a pool, and sauna.

Fantastic place to stay, 2 pools 1 indoors with numerous water features. Very clean rooms with all you need for a great stay

We had walked 30 km as pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago this day. It’s my birthday. Because we have stayed at León and Santiago Paradors we were well acquainted with the chain. We walked 7 hours straight in order to have a lovely lunch and lounge by the advertised pool. 1 of 2. We arrived weary and hungry by 3 pm. Told the front desk and asked if we could eat at the patio. He confirmed. By the time we dropped the luggage and freshened up we arrived at 4 on the patio only to find that the kitchen was closed. Not open until 8:30pm. We have another 28 km day so that’s not an option. Dinner was included as was a bottle of wine by our tour operator. We can kiss that money goodbye. We were so famished we busted into the room fridge to eat the nuts and dry fruit. We then had to, dare I say, walk to town in search of food. Regarding the pool, it was closed. From observation it was clean and filled but we were told no entrance until tomorrow. Convenient since it’s a 1 night stay. It’s Summer and late June. When does a Spanish pool open? As we left I waited in front of the front desk man to get my passport credential stamp but after 10 minutes of waiting for his personal call to end I gave up and left. The room was large and clean and had all the necessities we would need but no personality. The location is farther than all the other places which for a different reason would be ok but now we’ve added km to our next days location and after being informed breakfast would start at 8am, to a pilgrim that’s far too late. Points given to coffee in our room at least to get us started. On a whole the other Paradors are much better located, serviced and accommodating. If you are a pilgrim, don’t waste your money on this one. Happy Birthday.

This hotel’s motto is “everything is too much trouble”. It’s not worth the price and they don’t understand the term customer service. As breakfast starts at 8am don’t even try to go 5minutes early…the guy guarding the door tells you to wait! There is no tea or coffee in the rooms so at 6:30 my husband went ask for a coffee and the answer was “no”. Finally I have not found any hotels in Europe…even the least expensive ones which this is not….that don’t offer you complimentary small bottle of water…when I asked because I thought they forgot I was told it’s only offered for multiple night stays!! It would have cost them < then 1 euro for 2 bottles.|Breakfast is mediocre.|I could go on with other examples but you get the idea. I have travelled a lot and this place is not worth your time or your money.||||

The receptionist was friendly and efficient and spoke English. The room was nice and clean and roomy enough with a TV, refrig in the closet and a safe. There was plenty of room in the bathroom with a good size tub and counter space around the sink. The food was great. We ate dinner and breakfast here. The breakfast buffet had plenty of fruits, meats, pastries and the usual eggs, yoghurt, cereal, bread, etc. The hotel was an easy walk to the downtown area.

Stayed one night while on my Camino. Very nicely appointed but honestly…clientele are snooty. Don’t walk thru the lobby or get on elevator unless you’re dressed for something other than the Camino. Staff was helpful and spoke adequate English. Don’t know what it cost because it was booked via tour company. Went to look at pool area and was greeted by somewhat rude man who spoke no English demanding something of me that I didn’t understand. Hotel has a rule that everyone must wear a bathing cap if they get in the pool. Honestly don’t think I’d stay again unless pricing was extremely reasonable and I wasn’t on the Camino. As a positive, they packed us a takeaway lunch bag since we left before breakfast. It was way more good than we could eat. Quite tasty too.

This was a wonderland place to stay and the swimming pools and sauna where just what was needed after a very hard days walking. The front desk staff where very accommodating and helpful . The only downside was the lack of atmosphere in the dining room it felt flat with a slight sadness to it and breakfast wasn’t until 8am which was/is late for pilgrims walking the Camino I would stay here again as the room was large and it had a full size bath in the bathroom and many public spaces to sit in and enjoy the peace and quiet

Nice hotel in small Spanish town.|Good food in restaurant. |The negative— manager not helpful in assisting me in having my clothes cleaned at the hotel. I was walking on the Camino de Santiago and really needed all my clothes washed. I inquired about laundry facilities to the daytime manger and he told me that it was “not possible “ as they did not include laundry services for guests.. He told me there were no laundry facilities in town and I needed to go to another town 5 kilometres away—-this after I already had walked 30 kilometres that day.|Not impressed with this individual at all. Fortunately, one of the front desk clerks, a very nice man by the name of Luis, offered to drive me to that next town, the next day-/ on his day off!!!! I hope the owners of this hotel truly recognize Luis for the great service that he gave me -/ even on his day off. At least he gave me a lasting positive impression of the Hotel Parador.|Otherwise no other complaints. |A class hotel like the Parador should absolutely have laundry facilities for guests as many of them are Pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago.