Restaurante Portal de la Rioja — Restaurant in Briñas

Fantastic hotel in a slightly elevated position nestled in the heart of the Rioja region. Hotel easy to find and had plenty of free parking. The hotel had a quirky rustic feel so if you’re into the faceless corporate hotels that are all mirrors and marble, this is not the place for you. Rooms are spacious with private balconies which overlook vineyards and countryside, and are set around the Large circular wooden atrium.||||Hotel itself was very clean. Room comfort was good, and the showers had excellent water pressure (sorry but this is a personal “ism” of mine as love power showers and am frequently disappointed when some hotels provide a shower which just dribbles out!). Toiletries were provided and the towels were nice, not just a flimsy bit of fabric!||||All staff I encountered were polite and spoke English which was great for me as my Spanish is virtually non existent. ||||The hotel has a great restaurant which offers a fixed price 3 course meal (priced at €12 pp). This included a bottle of wine and 1.5L bottle of water. The portions were large and I probably should have stopped after my spaghetti starter, but it was all so nice, I just kept going! ||||I originally chose this hotel for an overnight stay as was driving from Portugal and was heading for Bilbao for a ferry back to the UK so this hotel is well placed for that. Will definitely stay here again, even if I am not travelling via Bilbao or Santander just for the relaxing setting alone.||||I think the hotel had WiFi, but didn’t use it as have plenty of data...

Fantastic hotel in a slightly elevated position nestled in the heart of the Rioja region. Hotel easy to find and had plenty of free parking. The hotel had a quirky rustic feel so if you’re into the faceless corporate hotels that are all mirrors and marble, this is not the place for you. Rooms are spacious with private balconies which overlook vineyards and countryside, and are set around the Large circular wooden atrium.||||Hotel itself was very clean. Room comfort was good, and the showers had excellent water pressure (sorry but this is a personal “ism” of mine as love power showers and am frequently disappointed when some hotels provide a shower which just dribbles out!). Toiletries were provided and the towels were nice, not just a flimsy bit of fabric!||||All staff I encountered were polite and spoke English which was great for me as my Spanish is virtually non existent. ||||The hotel has a great restaurant which offers a fixed price 3 course meal (priced at €12 pp). This included a bottle of wine and 1.5L bottle of water. The portions were large and I probably should have stopped after my spaghetti starter, but it was all so nice, I just kept going! ||||I originally chose this hotel for an overnight stay as was driving from Portugal and was heading for Bilbao for a ferry back to the UK so this hotel is well placed for that. Will definitely stay here again, even if I am not travelling via Bilbao or Santander just for the relaxing setting alone.||||I think the hotel had WiFi, but didn’t use it as have plenty of data...

Do not go to this hotel. ||Driving up, it looked decent enough for the price, but as soon as we got in, we got a shock. ||It stank of tabacoo, really stank. and the dust was as thick as i've ever seen it in my life. We shrugged it off as it might just be the public area and went up to the room. My goodness! We were even more disappointed. The locks had no security to them. We walk in and a hoover or mop hasnt seen the place in years, maybe centuries judging by the dirt around. It reeked of smoke just as much as downstairs. There were dead flies and other sorts of insects lying on surfaces. ||We went to look at the very unsafe terrace and realised the doors to it couldnt be closed properly. We were there 10 minutes and the wind kept blowing them open. ||To be honest i dont understand how this place is even open.||I have to say this is the worst hotel i have ever been to Stay away!!!||Also there were holes on the skirting boards, which im pretty sure could only have been made by one sort of animal.||As for the welcome we got, it was non existent. When we voiced our concerns to the lady at the bar (yes, the bar is the reception), she shrugged her shoulders. We always choose hotels that are non smoking due to health issues, and when we mentioned this she said there was nothing she could do. We asked to cancel our booking as it was missold and she refused, telling us to contact booking innstead. ||We did not spend the night and went on to a hotel that doesnt even compare.||yes, it is cheap, but it is not fit for any...