Casa Rural Tia Pilar De Almagro — Hotel in Almagro

We’d wanted a hotel in Ciduad Real but came across Tia Pilar during the search. We booked it because ... because it looked quirky, because it wasn’t a chain hotel, because it seemed to be the sort of place we would enjoy, a little more than just a place to crash for a night, a bit of a treat, something special after a fraught week..... and it was. It fulfilled all our expectations, hit all the right buttons. We arrived late due to our (my) incompetent handling of the Google maps printout. We got well and truly lost. For this I take full responsibility. Once in Almagro, there are plenty of those yellow “hotel” signs making the place easy to find, if you bother looking for them of course. (guilty as charged.) The owner did ring us to find out where we were, but our basic and conversationally inept Spanish made this an interesting exchange. We were rung back by an English speaker who told us not to worry. We arrived at about 9:15, 1¼ hours after the 8pm check-in deadline. We were welcomed. ||||The hotel is magnificent. It is a 400 year old building full of curios and antiques. Our room with its vaulted dark wood (oak?) ceiling, windows and shutters that may not have been medieval, but were certainly not made in a repro factory in the last hundred years, and an eclectic assortment of furniture including a sort of chaise lounge, an enormous, (for a hotel, they are usually far too small) flat screen TV and two rocking chair was all the things a Holiday Inn isn't. Long ago in a different universe, my job involved staying in hotels ... a lot. In twenty two years I never once had a room with a rocking chair. We didn't sit in them, lacking any knitting or a pipe, but the fact that they were there was enough. The shower, once we had figured out how to drive it, the work of but a few moments, was a refreshing change from the usual top down spray, and delayed our departure for dinner. ||||Our hostess gave us an intensive course in opening and relocking the front doors and we left for the plaza Mayor and some supper. It’s only a couple of minutes walk. ||||The plaza was another surprise. Although this is supposed to be a review of the hotel, neglecting to mention Almagro and the square would be a dereliction of information dissemination. Since the word magnificent has already appeared in this missive, it cannot properly be reused. Outstanding will have to do. The plaza is beautiful, a lovingly preserved galleried medieval gathering place. The night we were there, a fiesta night, a duo were belting out classical Spanish songs from a stage at the far end (from our restaurant table) of the square, just loud enough to be part of the evening, but not enough to hinder our wine fuelled conversation. It was one of those magical evenings. ||||Our night’s sleep was undisturbed, no noises off interrupted our slumber and once the blinds had been lowered daylight too was kept at bay. We came for a rest, Tia Pilar allowed us to do just that, a luxury, bizarrely, many hotels are not able to provide. ||||The hotel and the town are special places and finding both was a stroke of good fortune. We never got...

This is a beautiful Casa Rural lovingly cared for and maintained by the family. On arrival we were greeted like long lost friends by Mercedes who gave us a tour of the little courtyards and balconies and explained about some of the furnishings and antiquities in the house. The house oozes charm and character in all areas and everywhere is spotlessly clean. Our room was spacious with a separate sitting room and modern bathroom. There was a fridge with complimentary water and a large comfortable bed with high quality bed linen. In the bathroom we were supplied with a basket of towels and a hairdryer along with shower gel and soap. Having the keys to come and go as we pleased was an added bonus. The house is only a few hundred metres from all the attractions of Almagro and there is plenty of street parking in the small side roads around the house, although there is no traffic noise at all. The swimming pool at the back, along with the well stocked fridge of cold drinks which are paid for on departure.....so be honest.....is very welcome particularly when the temperatures are in the high thirties. Again though, I have to go back to the star of the show, the lovely Mercedes who even gave me a small gift of a fan before leaving as a souvenir of our stay. I highly recommend this accommodation to anyone thinking of...

We stayed on an extremely hot day in June and were shown to our very cool room in this historic house. We were given a tour of the house by thd owner which has room around a series of outside patios. The furnishings and decor reflects the character and age of the house. Our room was quite dark as it's only window was on to one if these patios- this meant you could noise and chattering of other visitors and the owners- this did not bother us- at one point I heard a little girls voice calling our 'Abuela'. We opted for the buffet breakfast which was 10 euros each- perhaps a little expensive but we wanted to make a quick getaway and were not sure what time cafes would be open on the Sunday morning. As we stayed a Saturday night the town seemed quite lively and in the night I could hear the faint noise if disco/club music- my husband...