Parador Lerma
The Ducal Palace is located in the highest part of the town of Lerma. It was constructed, taking advantage of the site of a 10th century castle and was implemented according to the plans of the architect Francisco de Mora in successive phases between the years 1601 and 1617. 
The palace was commissioned by the order of the first Duke of Lerma, Francisco Gomez de Sandoval y Rojas for the accommodation, rest and general enjoyment of his master, King Philip III.
This hotel has a central courtyard surrounded by columned galleries in alternating sections: the first has twenty Tuscan columns with semicircular arches, and the second has twenty Ionic columns.
After its restoration the Palace was converted into a Parador with 70 rooms and a capacity of 133 beds.
L’auberge espagnole n’ est plus ce que c’était; mais dans le bon sens cette fois
C’est vrai que la cuisine peut s’ affiner mais eu égard au prix les prestatons sont toutes nec plus ultra
We have stayed at a number of Paradors in the past, and Lerma was one of the best. The building is fantastic, and the surroundings very lovely, with the monastary and two churches and the old town a short walk away. The reception was cordial and the service and food excellent, and the bedroom was most comfortable.
Further to the previous comment. We love the hotel, the small town, the courtyard and the breakfast and hope to stay at Lerma again.
Having visited many Paradors and Lerma 3 times I am reluctant to critisize in any way but our one night stopover on the way to the ferry at Santander was spoiled by a poor evening meal which fell far below the standard we have enjoyed at nearly all other Paradors. The building, bedroom and reception staff were all as good as ever but the 32€ dinner was very poor in content and value. The veal steaks could not be cut with a knife let alone be chewed; it was nearly all sinew and the vegitables were over cooked, cold, shrivelled and unreconisable. It was difficult to imagine that the main course had been prepared by a professional chef or cook. What a pity! I hope that the next time we stay in this lovely hotel the kitchen will have been sorted.
We loved our stay. There was a warm welcome (as if we were coming to a private country house rather than an hotel), the room was magnificent including a very comfortable sofa bed for our son, and the buffet breakfast was excellent . We had dinner in the restaurant and the dishes were of really high standard and so much choice (if you are tempted by the black pudding they were also on the breakfast table and we later realised we could have shared the leg of lamb). Had a chestnut dessert that was heavenly. Lerma is very old, interesting, small and dozy after 9pm, but perfect for our stopover being 2 hours from the ferry at Bilbao.
This was an wonderful parador! We have previously visited the Carmona and Granada paradors, both of which were exceptional in different ways, and the Lerma parador made us realise that paradors generally (especially those in historic buildings) are in a different class from other hotels. Our room had a wonderful view of the square - although the window was small, but thia meant that the room wasn’t too hot. The room itself was magnificent, as was the bathroom and the decorations. Very happy with that. The meal that we had wasn’t as good as the one we had in Carmona, but was very good, and the ambience was very pleasant. We had breakfast on the terrace - great experience. We were in transit and therefore didn’t have any time to visit any of the local sites, but since we were in such a wonderful place there was no compunction to move anywhere else.
It is one of the most splendid Paradors we have stayed in and liked it so much we are going back in October with some friends!
Very much looking forward to the visit.
Accueil, hotel et chambres de qualité excellente. Par contre la restauration proposée ,en demi-pension, est de qualité très moyenne.
Au parador de Chinchon, le niveau de la restauration était nettement meilleur.
This was our first stay in a Parador and we were not disappointed with our choice of Lerma. The bedroom was superbly furnished and the bathroom had every amenity. The restaurant seemd a bit expensive for our budget so we walked down through the old town and eat at a local cafe/bar. It would have been nice to sample dinner at the Parador but the alternative bar in the hotel seemed uninviting, however sitting in the hotels central courtyard with our wine was lovely. The reception staff were very accommodating and showed us to our room rather than just handing over the key. The hotel is superbly located on the square and was very quiet. Yes, I was impressed, so much I have applied for a Parador Card - I just hope the prices don’t go up too much.
The place is just fantastic, one of the best parador I have been to. The builiding is magnificent, the patio charming. Reception very good and professional, the room was well furbished, clean and quiet. The view was very nice (unfortunatly there is the motorway at the horison).
Breakfast was excellent. Only one criticism. In the night, around midnight, we wanted to have a drink at the bar but no service was around, so we just went to bed!