Parador Jarandilla De La Vera
Parador Jarandilla De La Vera is set in a palace-castle which lies sheltered in the middle of the Vera and Tietar valley, between gorges filled with water, woods of chestnut trees and oak groves and stunningly beautiful natural landscapes that reaffirm the richness of their historical, majestic surroundings. 
For months it played host to an illustrious guest – Emperor Carlos V.
From the exterior, the towers, the courtyard, the patio de armas courtyard and its excellent swimming pool contrast with the olive and orange trees. Inside you will find a relaxing and intimate atmosphere. In the restaurant, the Extremadura breadcrumbs, mashed paprika potatoes with pork, deep fried suckling pork, goat stew, and as a traditional dessert our repapalos (breadcrumb biscuits) with milk and cinnamon, among others, are dishes worth highlighting among the varied selection of Extremadura’s cuisine.
Our stay was marred by the fact that the “air conditioning” in the bedrooms was not operating although the ambient temperature was 29C
We enjoyed our stay immensely in early April. The view from our window was breathtaking, looking up the valley to the snow covered mountains. It was an excellent place to stay in order to visit the Valle del Jerte. We timed it coincide with the cherry trees being in blossom – amazing! What we didn’t realise was it was also the time when the storks were building their nests. Any photographers out there – I got some fabulous close-ups of storks sitting on their nests, plus flying to and fro carrying twigs etc., one photo is of a stork carrying a paper bag, it looks just like a baby!!
Eating in the evening was a bit of a problem. The first night in the Parador was overpriced for the quality, and the second night, having walked round the village and found nothing, we had bread and cheese in the bar.
This may not be the best Paradore to visit ‘out of season’ as many of the rooms seem to be closed off. Although we stayed on the 4th February (and ours was one of exactly 3 cars in the car-park) the only twin-bedded room available was a ’smoking’ room.
The ‘bar’ was a small room with formica tables and plastic chairs, unhappily reminiscent of a works canteen…
We ate in the hotel and I regret to say the food was dreadful, my starter was still frozen inside and the cheesecake dessert… well, I couldn’t bring myself to eat it.
The hotel was the only Paradore we stayed at which did not offer a buffet breakfast (indicative of very few guests?) and had to be ordered a la carte, but when it arrived it was very good.
Time and again I got the feeling that all the ‘real’ staff had gone off for the winter leaving the ‘B’ team in charge. Oddly enough, the one redeeming feature of our stay was the staff; they were utterly charming and could not do enough for us (the cheesecake episode almost reduced the waitress to tears). I’d love to go back, but I think I’ll wait until the summer…
We really enjoyed our stay at this parador. We had very little Spanish but the staff were very understanding and made us feel relaxed. The courtyard is beautiful and we enjoyed eating our evening meal outside. The room was not as large or well furnished as other paradors but it was comfortable and clean. The food was very good, though after three days we felt we had exhausted the meu. All in all a very good experience.
we liked our 2 day stay in the castle,ideally situated for the discovery of the region.we enjoyed diner outside with the storks high up in the pine trees.service was friendly in good enough english.
hotel is in the village, a wonderful old castle. On arrival refreshments were provided as the room was being made ready. The room was spacious, and the bathroom clean and sparkling. The atmosphere in the main central part was oldy-worldly. It was nice to sit at a table in the courtyard and admire the castle. The restaurant serves good local food. The service was professional at all times.
The Parador of Jarandilla de la Vera is nicely located in the village. The rooms are too common for a Parador and not to be considered 4 stars. The room is rather small and the smallest we had in any of the Paradores we visited.
We had to take quite a few stairs to get to our room and no one helped us carry our suitcases and bags. A bit annoying to say the least.
The restaurant was really nice and the waiters made us feel welcome. The food was above average on the 1st evening and average on the 2nd one.
People at the reception do not speak English and are far from friendly. We noticed that in almost all Paradores.
We would not recommend this Parador too highly to our friends and family.