HCDF1, Castellar de la Frontera, Andalucia
Built in 1603 by the Duke of Medinacelli and then later home to an order of monks, this convent, set in the outstandingly beautiful Finca de Almoraima with its ancient cork oaks and great diversity of flora and fauna, has recently been converted into a very comfortable country hotel.
Its balustraded façade and Florentine belfry exude an air of grandeur, but once you enter its cloistered patio with its fountain, plants, birdsong and the scent of orange blossom, you are transported into a different, peaceful and relaxing world.
With comfortable and elegant bedrooms, there is an inviting sitting room and an attractive dining room with a very good restaurant and superb views of the surroundings along with a swimming pool and tennis court and a billiard room.
In the heart of Los Alcornacales Natural Park, the last remaining subtropical rainforest in Europe, you are surrounded by 14.000 hectares of estate, there for you to explore on foot or on horseback.
The hotel has twenty -three spacious bedrooms, all with ensuite bathrooms, housed in two buildings. They are decorated discreetly and furnished in an elegant, classical style with modern touches.
Standard doubles: 25m2. Double bed or two singles.
Superior doubles: 30m2. Double bed (2 m x 2m).
Junior suite: 30m2. Double bed (2 m x 2m).
Swimming pool
Tennis Court
14.000 hectare estate of cork oaks to explore
Garden
Restaurant
Cafeteria
Billiard room
Sitting room
Chapel
Free on-site parking
The hotel can organise walking, horse-riding, 4x4 guided tours within the estate and beyond.
The hotel’s restaurant “La Ganania” (open to the public) has a light and attractive dining room with lovely, open views over the estate and the sierras beyond.
A buffet breakfast is served here from 8.00 - 11.00 am.
Lunch (13.30 – 16.00) and dinner (20.30 -23.00) are served here too.
The restaurant with a seasonal menu, prides itself on locally sourced, quality ingredients, many from the estate.
Traditional and interesting dishes, some based on ancient recipes, they specialise in game dishes, but fish, meat and vegetable dishes also feature. Delicious puddings too!
N.B. Hotel guests are offered a 10% discount on the restaurant’s advertised prices.
There is also a cafeteria which stays open until 23.30.
There are other good restaurants nearby. The staff will be happy to advise.
Perched dramatically high on a hilltop, the fortress village of Castellar de la Frontera, commanding spectacular views of the Guadarranque reservoir, the bay of Algeciras, the Rock of Gibraltar and on a clear day the Atlas Mountains of Africa, dates back to the Bronze Age.
Built on slopes of cork oak forests in the unique Alcornacales Natural Park, it maintains its medieval atmosphere with its Moorish castle, its narrow cobbled streets and whitewashed houses. You certainly feel that you are in a different world here, far away from the “madding crowds”, though there is a cosy bar and a couple of restaurants.
In the late nineteen sixties, a new town “Castellar de la Frontera Nuevo” was built in the valley below to accommodate the rising population and allow for expansion, which the original village’s difficult terrain did not allow.
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