Comments on: Parador Sto Domingo de La Calzada

By: William Wyley

William Wyley — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:18:38 +0000

This was our 1st stay at Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Directions re entry to the town would have been helpful.
Staff very pleasant and helpful.Entrance area wonderful. Room over looking the square was great.
In the restaurant menus were available in English and one waitress had a smattering of English. There was a lack of more simple dishes for those with a less robust appetite . My wifes choice of main course was so bad that she could not eat it, and my food, although looked good, was tastless.
Rooms very comfortable. Not very much to do in town but it is a good centre to explore the Rioja region.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:08:27 +0000

This was the first Paradore that we have stayed at and we were VERY impressed. The staff were very helpful and polite. It was difficult to find the entry point to get to the Paradore as the satnav gave wrong instructions. Underground parking is a bonus ( a small charge is made). The main lobby is magnificent – so much so I use the photo as my laptop wallpaper!!!! The room was a good size, clean and well maintained. Food was well presented and a good variety of choice. We will be happy to reccommend this Paradore to others who are thinking of staying in this lovely town. We will certainly be back.

By: Caroline Valls

Caroline Valls — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:07:03 +0000

We stay at this Parador every year on our way down to our house near Valencia. We always return as it has everything we like. Internal garage. Clean and good sized bedrooms with nice bathrooms and delicious food.
A perfect stop over.

By: Paul Vingerhoets

Paul Vingerhoets — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 11:52:16 +0000

Reception was OK ! Parking facilities OK ! The view from the room was unpleasant but the room itself was outstanding.
Friendly and helpful staff.
Very pleasant and original lobby.
Restaurant : too many “regional specialties and dishes” on the menu card.
A better knowledge of the english language by the restaurant staff would be appreciated.
But I will certainly recommend this Paradore Hotel to my friends.

By: ML Cottingham

ML Cottingham — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:24:36 +0000

This was our first-ever parador, and the first of four that we had booked for a trip from Pamplona to Santiago via southern Galicia. I had read somewhere that it might be hard to find, so when we noticed that the whole town appeared to be pedestrianised, we parked and went by foot, and then drove in once we knew where to go. (We had to do this in Leon and Santiago, too, as it turned out.) We were delighted with the helpful and friendly reception, the room, the quiet atmosphere, the food, the pubic rooms, the town, and walking on the Camino de Santiago. The church is beautiful (with a live rooster and chicken from a story of the miracle, and there are little chocolate roosters and hen cookies in the local bakery). The exhibition in the church is amazing for a church of its size. The only thing we didn’t like was the pilgrimage museum in the town. Although it had lots of interesting information, we were made to wear fake pilgrim cloaks and go on a treadmill to see cartoon cathedrals pop up, and felt it was not in keeping with the ethos of the Camino. But a great parador! Have already recommended it to friends.

By: Bill Groombridge

Bill Groombridge — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:41:06 +0000

I must agree with other comments about the difficulty of finding this parador, particularly within such a small town! The sign on the wall that we finally found, having driven past it several times, was partially hidden by tree leaves and was not the same colour as other parador signs. HOWEVER, once we found the parador we were very impressed indeed. The staff on the reception, though with limited English (far better than our almost non-existent Spanish) were very helpful indeed. The rooms were superb (though not having views as being in the town centre) being very spacious and well presented. When it came to the restaurant we were very pleased indeed. The menu was quite comprehensive and available in various languages. (We were pleased to be given the Spanish menus at first – quite a compliment.) The foot was excellent and looked like the chef(s) had been involved in fine dining and the amount given was also very good – satisfying in quantity as well as quality. The serving staff were more limited in their English even than the reception staff – I even had to help translate to Spanish – but this was part of the character of the parador.
All in all by far the best service overall and particularly the best meal of all the paradors that we have visited.

By: Garnett Hamerman

Garnett Hamerman — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 01:45:37 +0000

We spent two nights here in September and thoroughly enjoyed it. Our room was nice, especially the bathroom! The staff at the reception area, as well as in the dining room were top notch. Breakfasts were great. While we liked the cuisine in other parts of Spain better than what was offered in this area, the food was cooked and presented very well. The staff went out of their way to make reservations for tours of wineries in nearby towns and found something for us since most of Haro was closed for a festival. When you stay, take time to visit Brinas, and if you are into wines, go to Briones and the Dinastia Vivanco Wine Museum. Most of all, visit the walled town of La Guardia. Then come back for dinner to the Parador and walk around the town!

By: Mike Stephenson

Mike Stephenson — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:26:53 +0000

We had a wonderful time in Santo Domingo and the surrounding countryside. We had two great cycle trips out, the roads are quiet and other road users considerate. Cycled to Haro and explored the town; got lost and ended up in the most fabulious Spanish allotment area with the most unusual fruit and veg being grown, great stuff!

Why dosn’t someone make sure the signs are in the right place to find this Parador? I notice almost everybody compains that it is a nightmare to find, we did, and we are usually good at find our way. Who would have thought you have to drive up a very narrow ally (which looks as if it is pedestrianised) to access the hotel?

Anyway, the Hotel was very good, our room was magnificent, the food was good and the staff (by and large) helpful.

By: Linda Thomas

Linda Thomas — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:43:55 +0000

This was our 2nd stay at Santo Domingo de la Calzada. On the first occasion directions re entry to the town would have been helpful, we obviously knew how to get in this time. Staff very pleasant and helpful. In the restaurant menus were available in English and one waitress had a smattering of English. There was a lack of more simple dishes for those with a less robust appetite (surely there are Spaniards with smaller appetites). Rooms very comfortable. Not very much to do in town but it is a good centre to explore the Rioja region.

By: John Ledbury

John Ledbury — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:41:38 +0000

1. Overall very comfortable until it rained when water came inthrough the window/ceiling.(fault was found and should not have arisen)
2.Staff pleasant but through age and heat were reluctant to scarry luggage up the stairs to the ‘top room’. Very appreciative of the help from a 67 year old(Me)
3.Directions were very bad. After a long day out we spent 25 minutesw ‘trying to get in’ The very narrow entrance was not expected and was not clearly signposted.
4.We dined in one vening having been disappointed at a previous Parador and were very disappointed on this occasion.
5. Overall we think the Paradors are great and will stay again.