HOTEL EL CORTIJO DE DAIMIEL — Hotel in Torralba de Calatrava

We spent a single night here on a short trip to the region and the Tablas de Daimiel. The place is a bit outside and having the coordinates in our navigation helps. Once you get close, there are big well illuminated signs (Hotel Rural) indicating the gate to the driveway. It's 10-15' to Daimiel and then again the drive to the Tablas. If you are up for hiking, we were told that one can also walk to the park.||||As others have written, the Cortijo is extremely well kept with various installations and our room was comfortable and spacious in a simple, straightforward way. It was in the 'modern' part, where the building was actually enlarged a few years ago, not that you would notice at first look. The only noise in the morning came from the many, many birds and I slept until quite late on the comfortable bed.||||Breakfast is Spanish style and simple, but served generously. They made an extra effort accommodating some food limitations, actually calling me up the day of our arrival to inquire with respect to the information I had left on the registration form. We also happily got a second helping of toast. ||||In general, the couple running the place were extremely friendly and helpful, although it might be harder to converse with them if you don't speak Spanish. Don't expect bellboy service or a 24h reception, but a real country place, where you are treated more like a familiar visitor than a paying customer. We had a weekday rate, which was really cheap for what was offered. Note that via the hotel's own web site you can book via a convenient form as well.||||In summary, we will definitely try again to book here when we pay another visit...

My wife and I stayed 2 nights in this immaculate property, situated on a 100ha working farm, the bedrooms forming an upper storey around an open internal courtyard. The advertised bedroom balcony was of the Juliet-type, divided into two, so no chance of even getting half a chair on each side. However it did help to have a couple of French windows to allow cool air to enter the bedroom.The staff were very friendly and welcoming, though it does help to speak Spanish. Without it, some instructions, such as how to operate the electronic gate at the end of the driveway, would be very difficult to understand. The breakfasts were simple and Spanish in style, but individually served. The mark of a good establishment, for me, is whether a second cup of coffee is offered at breakfast time - it was - and our request for the biggest cup possible was adequately met! The big drawback for us was the lack of a restaurant for an evening meal. This made it necessary to go out into Daimiel (some 10 km away) to eat, something that we are never keen on doing after a long and active day, especially given the Spanish tendency to start serving at 9pm or thereabouts. Daimiel is not exactly blessed with decent restaurants. The Cortijo forms a very good base for naturalists visiting the...

Hemos estado yendo al Cortijo de Daimiel todos los veranos durante los últimos seis años. Y hay una gran diferencia entre lo que este lugar era y lo que es hoy día. El lugar sigue siendo un sitio espectacular en cuanto a tranquilidad pero la gestión del mismo ha cambiado radicalmente. Desde luego que no estén Manoli y José ha sido la gran pérdida para este lugar. Ellos ponían el bienestar del cliente por encima de todo. Y ahora, el cliente es lo de menos. Simplemente es no por respuesta a todo. Obviamente se han tenido que llevar a cabo precauciones por el covid-19, que todos entendemos, y por ello no es posible usar la barbacoa ni los frigoríficos ni la cocina interior como antes. Si se tomaran las medidas de desinfección pertinentes podría usarse y una lista para apuntarse por ejemplo. Pero eso es mucho trabajo. Solución: No se usa. Quién lo sufre? El cliente. Además han retirado las hamacas de la piscina. Nos dijeron que era mucho trabajo desinfectarlas todos los días. Solución: Se quitan las hamacas. Quién lo sufre? El cliente. Pero todas estas cosas forman parte del valor que este sitio tenía. Son servicios que no han sido suplidos de ninguna otra forma. Pero el precio de las habitaciones no ha variado. Y la limpieza merece otro capítulo aparte. En los cinco días que hemos estado ni uno solo han barrido el suelo de la habitación ni lo han fregado, ni han fregado el baño adecuadamente ni nos han cambiado las toallas. Ni de nuestra habitación ni de las otras tres del grupo que íbamos. Todo esto es comparándolo con lo que antes sí que se hacía. Podría estar escribiendo mucho más sobre lo muchísimo que ha perdido este sitio: desayuno, resolución de problemas, etc. Pero sería un mensaje demasiado...