Parador de Mini-hotel

+ just outside the old city. food very reasonably priced and excellent selection very large and comfortable bedroom rooms and public areas spotless
- nothing

+ Spacious room and bathroom with great view of city. Great modern hotel.
- The pillows on bed

Very nice hotel, staff Very friendly and helpful. Beautiful views of the city and the plaza de mayor in the distance and 24 minutes walking distance to the attractions.

Lovely clean and spacious hotel. Very friendly staff.
Very disappointed that the pool had shut 3x days prior (15 Sep 21) - with no prior notification to me as a customer.
The pool was #1 reason I booked this hotel.

This is a modern Paradores sitting on a hill across the river from old Salamanca. It provides for an amazing view of the old city which is within easy walking distance from the hotel. The rooms are very large and well-appointed. The beds are very comfortable. Room temperature was easily controlled which was very important given the heat at the time of the year we visited (July 2020). They had recently put into place Covid precautions at the time, and all seemed to work well with the exception of the breakfast buffet. The bathrooms are extremely nice and large. Definitely recommend!

The view from the inside is better than the view from the outside . . .

Wonderful views from the hotel terrace, from the dining room and bar, from the sitting areas along the corridors, and a glimpse of a wonderful view from some rooms.

But, oh dear! The view of the parador from the town is not beautiful. It's a dark and white chocolate lump that looks as though it's fallen out of a box of Thornton's Continental. You almost feel embarrassed to be staying there . . .

But the inside you will like. :-)

It is not new - built under Franco in the 60's. And therein lies its advantages. Large lawned grounds, lawns and feature trees and a carpark with masses of space. Built in the times when land outside the city was cheap, you see.

Similarly, there is plenty of space inside.

Rooms are large, corridors are wide, very wide, with "break-out" sitting areas every so often. Bathrooms good size too, and spacious Reception, bar and dining room.

Tip 1: It's an easy stroll into the town - in strolling weather. Go out, turn left, go down the hill, turn left again, cross the main road after 200 m (using the traffic lights) and cross the Roman Bridge.

Tip 2: Be warned, however, that except in Spring and Autumn, it may not always be strolling weather - too hot in summer, icy winds in winter.

Tip 3: Don't pay the exorbitant price for breakfast. Get a map from Reception and ask them to show you where Calle Libreros is. There you will find the Valor cafeteria. They serve the most delicious hot chocolate that you can imagine all day, with toast or rolls or buns or twenty sorts of chocolate cake. Everyone recognises this as the BEST, so on Sundays and Bank Holidays, you may actually have to queue to get in.

Tip 4: join the Amigos de Paradores - google it. It's free to join, and if you flash your card on reception, some paradores (including this one) give you a free glass of wine/beer/soft drink in the bar.

Tip 5: Go for lunch in the little cafes in the Rua Mayor. They have outside seating where you can get good value snacks or fixed-price menus. Choose your table carefully - sun or shade, depending on the temperature.

Tip 6 Best shopping (well the tourist shops are in the Rua Mayor - best real shopping) is in Gran Via and the Calle Zamora.

Tip 7: Salamanca is like Cambridge on steroids - well worth seeing as much as you can. Have a brief overall look with a tour, then stroll around yourself.There's a cute 20-minute road train tour of the town leaving from the Cathedral. Check the times - it shuts down for a couple of hours at (Spanish) lunch time.

Tip 8: the City guides do excellent tours - if you are well versed in Spanish literary history from the 16th Century onwards. If not, you may find it a tad uninteresting.

Tip 9: unlike very many paradores, this one actually has a good restaurant, so it's worth eating here.

Parador food is not my favourite. Over the years, stuck in a parador away from other restaurants, I've had to grin and bear it.

But this is an exception, as is the Parador de Cordoba.

A very attractive dining room with superb views across to the Cathedral and the old city offered an interesting menu.

The food was actually freshly prepared - unlike many paradores where they re-heat a stew or casserole dish. The salads and grilled vegetables were excellent.

Service too was excellent, due perhaps to their happy arrangement with a Hotel School in Holland, so they had keen and competent young waiters carrying out their training.

Prices - well, parador prices. But not as bad as the breakfast over-charging! We were only there for two nights, and too tired/lazy to go out and find another place to eat. So slightly more than we would have paid elsewhere, but a pleasant experience.

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Amazing experience. Lovely food & stunning views from the main restaurant

Lovely setting looking over the river towards the city, which is only a 15min walk straight into the centre. Good rooms and all clean and tidy as you would expect from a parador.

Friendly, helpful, you eat good food with great views, nice staff and a garage feeding your electricity hunger Tesla car. Several 22 kW big red 5pin plugs for 32A three phase and two Tesla hpwc