La Posada De San Millan

“Rural La Rioja far from the cities and beaches”

Situated beneath the Sierra de la Demanda in the monastic village of San Millán de la Cogolla, this accommodation provides an interesting taste of rural Spain for those touring La Rioja region, and is within striking distance of Soria, Pamplona and the Bilbao-Santander north coast. The owners offer… more

Situated beneath the Sierra de la Demanda in the monastic village of San Millán de la Cogolla, this accommodation provides an interesting taste of rural Spain for those touring La Rioja region, and is within striking distance of Soria, Pamplona and the Bilbao-Santander north coast. The owners offer two places to stay: the Casa Rural La Posada de San Millán with attached tapas bar down in the village by the Monasterio de Yuso, or up in the small hotel (Hospidería La Calera) with adjacent restaurant isolated in the valley 500m from Yuso. We were offered the choice of a room in both: 40 euros in the Casa Rural or 55 euros in the Hospidería. We chose the latter and were rewarded with a front-facing top floor attic bedroom (no lift) with a large bath and great views of the mountains and valley floor below. The room was quite small, nicely furnished in rustic style (our bed had a mosquito net: use it), was hot and stuffy on arrival (it was August: open the windows!), a skylight let in the early morning light, and you could hear the children next door rise early next morning. So this is not super luxurious accommodation, but the price is right and the situation is very special. The 3-course evening meal in their restaurant was romantic and very good value at 17 euros, with a nice bottle of La Rioja tinto thrown in, and the breakfast was well worth the 4 euros extra. Visit the monasteries of Yuso and Suso, San Millán´s cave (9km up the valley), and the bodega of David Moreno in nearby Badarán for some wine tasting. There seems to be nothing much in San Millán village itself. Don´t miss visiting Suso Monastery (your ticket, bought in the tourist centre basement at Yuso, includes a reservation on the free bus ride up – every 30 minutes): it is a delightfully idiosyncratic architectural hotch-potch and speaks volumes about the early history of Spain.

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“Initial reaction not good; but eventually all was well”

I arrived here at around 3.30pm after a 17km hike from Ezcaray; I was cold and exhausted. As I entered the small restaurant and asked about my room, I noticed a few tables who were being served a simple meal, including one of bacon, eggs and chips. I asked if I too could eat, but was told the kitch… more

I arrived here at around 3.30pm after a 17km hike from Ezcaray; I was cold and exhausted. As I entered the small restaurant and asked about my room, I noticed a few tables who were being served a simple meal, including one of bacon, eggs and chips. I asked if I too could eat, but was told the kitchen was closed. Really! I know the kitchen needs to close, but when you are a small establishment and it is clear your guest would like something simple, and you are still serving but you don't make an effort, my customer experience starts off on the wrong foot. That evening I thought I would have at one beer at the place before trying to find a restaurant in the town. To my surprise, with a different lady at the bar, my whole experience changed. She could not do enough for me. I had my bacon, eggs and chips at last! The hostess was also kind enough to feed me breakfast the next morning at 7.30 am, when they usually opened at 9.00 am. The room was clean, simple and comfortable.

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