This blog is to share with you some of my enjoyable times of my life. I talk about things I love to do and adventures I have gone through. I take the liberty to recommend places, activities and food that in my opinion are worth to try.
This is just a tool to help you to make your own decisions when you are ready to go to those places (obviously from my own point of view).
Spanish version: http://igotita-disfrutandodelavida.blogspot.com/
The restaurant we reserved for lunch time on Sunday 14th. Was Almenara de Catalucia.
Once there Ana María greeted me as if she'd known me a lifetime, that wondered me due we had seen each other just in our first visit there on November. She explained me they had seen my post at my blog and Willy was willing to talk to me. Nice! Hehehe.
We were there a bit early, so we took a snack at the bar. Willy came very excited about the post. I told him I just had been honest. (This is the way it is).
The restaurant was full. We taste new things: octopus, grilled vegetables, rice with mushrooms and shrimp… Mother of God! A delight! As dessert: chocolate cake and a crepe.
I should confess that week, as far as I had car and time, had gone several times to Almenara. This meal is a vice! I insist, after all is good not to have this restaurant close to home! Otherwise I´ll endorse my salary to Willy! ;P
Here some pics:
On Wednesdays Willy has “cocido madrileño”… O H M Y G O D!! I could bet there´s no better one. Curro had tested cocido madrileño of “la Daniela”, that is famous as the best cocido madrileño in Madrid and he told me the savor is very alike, but you can note Almenara´s one has better quality ingredients. Otoh: at La Daniela it costs 21,755 euros, in Almenara 10 euros and we think Almenara´s one is bigger, but in La Daniela they give you more for free if you want.
So! I am about to proclaim myself the No. 1 fan of Almenara! Actually once, eating a risotto, crossed my mind that God exists! And he should be training Willy as his official chef! I only hope that he won´t call him for sooo long for the job! ;P
An especial mention to Ana María and Stefan, the waitress, which even having the restaurant full, always have a smile for you.
We arrived at the hotel just in time to take a short shower, put on the swimming suit, the towel and to go down to the Spa.
We were lucky and were the only ones at the spa at that time, 23.00, we had it just for us for an hour more or less.
Actually it was a magic view: big candles in strategic places, the light was off, just the one of the pool was on… definitely a nice atmosphere!
We tried to go inside the pool first… but! It was with cold water! :/ I was so wondered about that, it has a big jet, for you to place under it to have a massage at your back… and you see, this kind of jets supposed to be with hot water! Just natural ones (like in Salto el Hacha in Canamia Park) ;P that usually are in hot places, could be with cold water and even then really help you.
So, if we can´t go straight to the pool, we went to the Jacuzzi. Point is if you take out the pool of the Los Enebrales Spa options, you just have the Jacuzzi, the sauna and a shower with small jets for hydromassage. I usually don´t like saunas… so I just had the Jacuzzi and the shower… that was with cold water as well! :/
So, we start with the Jacuzzi. Yes, I already mentioned that, I´m a Jacuzzis fan, but you see, you shouldn´t be in the Jacuzzi longer than 20 minutes. This is due the temperature of water at the Jacuzzi should be between 38 to 40 C. degrees and you have the risk of having problems if you stay longer. The same with alcohol, you shouldn´t drink alcohol while being inside a Jacuzzi (no matter what you watch on tv)… but the night spa included champagne and strawberries! (And where you could take the champagne if the pool is with cold water, eh?) (Hem… no, the sauna isn´t a valid option for alcoholic drinks).
Well, we had been “more or less” good and “responsible adults” ;) so after been a while at the Jacuzzi (yes, it was more than 20 mins, I confess), we went a bit to the pool. Curro was able to swim and enjoy the jet, no my case, it still was so cold for me.
The strawberries we had were just in pieces for eating them without forks. Around 24.00 came more couples and they gave them strawberries with chocolate… so I asked for that as well! ;) Also I should complain about the rule of wearing caps… nobody but us used them! Gggggggggrrrrr!!
Any way, it was a nice experience. Could be better. Actually I thought it had a better Spa. Specially being the Spa the first attraction of the resort, at least could have better prices, you see, the prices of the Spas I usually go in Madrid are better and the quality is completely another lever (I´ll talk about them in future posts). :)
Upon leaving the Restaurant Mesón Castellano, we both understood differently the waitress´ instructions. Looking for the restaurant we saw more nice places, just that it was already night. We enjoyed, for example, the view of the Escalona´s Castle.
We also saw a nice church, but we had no time to go out of the car to visit it or to search its name:
After asking a couple of times, finally we found the restaurant and it was not bad, but not well enough to put it on the blog. ;P
We finished dinner around 22.00 and we had reserved a night SPA at 23.00, so we went back to Los Enebrales. Going on the road, that was with no lights as far as it was a county road, Curro told me to park the car for a while. Actually I´m wondering why I did it without questioning it, it was night, in the middle of the road, with no lights and very cold. He told me to turn off the lights and to go out for a while… so, well, then I asked! ;P He replied it was for watching something that sadly is not possible to watch in Madrid: the stars at the sky! We had been watching the sky a bit… but just a bit, it was so cold!
We went from Asador Escondido to Guisando. We would liked to have a bit more of time for walking a bit around Burohondo and in my own case, to have a look at La Fonda del Arte that from outside seemed to be a nice place… and afterwards, checking it by internet… God! How I missed it! :/ But well, we were almost loosing the day light and it was needed for watching the Bulls of Guisando.
The Bulls of Guisando are 4 stone bulls done by the Vettones around the II or I A.C. century. There´s no explanation about why they did them. There are a lot of things worth view in Spain! I haven´t heard about them before, it supposed to be mentioned at Don Quijote, but actually I had read it and I don´t remember that. But well, you see, I had read it when I was a teen, without internet, so, no easy way to resolve doubts! ;P
After watching them we went to Maqueda, there was the Restaurant Mesón Castellano, the place Julio recommended us for dining. It seems to be really good, once there the waitress told us they had no space for us, all was reserved a month ago. So, it should be one of the best places of that area. The same waitress told us about another place close there.
Here some of the views from the road, going from Burgohondo to Maqueda:
Yes, I know, Miguel Bosé at the background there is a bit strange… point is I´m a fan and it was what we were hearing during the travel! So, maybe chill out music would be better for the video, but…
I went with Curro to the Resort & SPA Los Enebrales, on Friday afternoon, but the traffic was ok. Following the instructions of the web, it´s easy to find the country state where is located the hotel. Just you have to pay attention after Almorox, the sign to enter in the proper road is easy to lost.
The country state is big and in the middle of nowhere (you have 4 kms. at the road just to find out the entrance of the road that goes to the hotel, more or less 2 kms. more). Inside the country state is just the Resort that has only one restaurant.
At the reception desk, chocolates and champagne were waiting us. I can´t tell if this was a special detail due Saint Valentines or if it´s always like that.
The facilities are nice and cozy. Maybe the only one detail I would improve is that there is no lift, ok, it´s just 1 floor, bus as far as they also have not bellboys, you should carry on your bags by your own and if you haven´t pay attention to that detail while preparing your bag, you could spoil the relaxing weekend carrying your bag at the end.
The lounge, nice, when we arrived it was already night, the chimney was already on, as far as we went straight to leave the bags at the room and then back to the lounge, we were lucky to find out the sofa in front of the chimney free. We drink a tea there, watching the fire and went to meet the rest of the hotel after that. When we came back to the lounge, we released we had been lucky before! There was a silent fight for that sofa the whole night! :)
The terrace was precious; no doubt in summer time would be so nice to watch the sunset there.
Our room was a normal double one. Very warm, everything very modern, plasma tv, electric heating. I think due the design of the hotel, all the rooms have a nice view.
There are also suits with Jacuzzi, but maybe because I have a whirlpool bath at home, I didn´t thought the price different was worth to pay for having that kind of room. Here you have the rates to know perfectly what I´m talking about (and remember you have to add the 7% of tax to those prices):
Talking about rates, I should confess this time was a bit difficult for me to know how to approach this post. On one hand our stay there was very, very nice and all the staff were so kind, always with a smile at their face and good manners, great people… but on the other hand, talking about the relation between price and quality (the hotel, the activities, the place…) well… to recommend it or not to recommend it? That´s the point! :/ Well, now I´ll continue talking about the hotel and at the end of this post I´ll talk about this part.
The SPA, from outside and without going inside at all during that night, seemed very well, but I´ll talk about the experience there in another post.
The restaurant, very well atended, prices: normal ones for a Resort, but for me, high, especially if you take into account it was the only one place for eating inside the county state. Above this paragraph you´ll find some prices for having a better picture of it (the pics are for the room service, but don´t think the difference with the restaurant was so obvious). So, let´s do some calculations: let´s suppose you spend in average 30€ per person, per eating time, the breakfast is included and I´m thinking about not drinking so much wine or eating sometimes just a sandwich; 30€ x 4 = 120€ per person, just for food, for a weekend. And you still need to add the 7% of taxes! Yes, sure! You can also go to eat to Almorox, for example, just that you should drive to go there and if you were planning a relaxing weekend forgetting about driving and other urban life things, that´s why you selected a place in the middle of nowhere, isn´t it? But ok, you always can take your own sandwiches with you! ;P
There are also snacks at the lounge, the price of a sweet snack plus coffe is 4.5€.
The country state itself offers big spaces for walking, the landscape is this one:
You also have an events room out of the hotel, nice and with a capacity for 600 people. They seemed to be specialized on weddings and I could bet it´s the best place at that area for that. If that would be for me, I know other places with prices alike that would be nicer for me, or at least more charming, but in case I would live at that area and I wouldn´t like my guests to go far away of home, definitely that would be my option. (But take into account that actually I haven´t search).
A curious detail: they have ostriches there! :D
As activities, inside the county yard, as I said: walking, watching the ostriches, reading, playing board games (they have), the SPA (Note! You can´t use the swimming pool besides you pay for a SPA session!). Out of the place and thinking about not going so far away, there´s a paintball, just that I´m not exactly sure if a paintball does match with a relaxing weekend. You also can do a route at the closer locations (as we did!) ;)
Here the video of the hotel:
Just being there I was relaxed enough. Watching the prices of the restaurant and the SPA, we decided to go out the whole Saturday, with not a real plan, where the road to takes us :D (I love that!), we reserved a night SPA for Saturday at 23.00 and after drinking a Pedro Ximenez (it’s one of the few alcoholic drinks I like) with the fire light; we went to sleep.
On Saturday morning we´d waked up with no hurries. Went to breakfast, I liked a lot the presentation of it but you had no options, I mean, it was a fixed menu and you can´t ask for something different, but I think if you prevent them that you need a special food, they will do for you. I liked it, besides it was obviously not for diets! :)
Note: this is a breakfast just for one person!
So, now let´s go back to the part if I would or not recommend the hotel. This time I´ll divide it by concepts and not taking a lot into account the SPA area (that I´ll talk about in another post).
But first let me continue doing sums: we said just for food, eating there, staying 2 nights, talking about having lunch and dinner, no snacks (or having a snack and afterwards taking just a sandwich), it was 120€ per person. For the room, including breakfast, 2 nights in a normal double room, is 110€ per person. Till here: 230€ per person… but! You should add the taxes! Including them, it´s 246,10€ per person…. And remember! We haven´t even touch the water of the swimming pool!
So, if I recommend or not this hotel would depend on the following situations:
- You go there because you want to be a couple of days isolated from the world, almost not going out of the room (I leave this for your own interpretation…) ;) and as much going time to time to play something at the lounge, maybe a walk to watch the ostriches: well, not, I don´t recommend it to you. I know other places close to Madrid, Avila or Toledo with better options and prices.
- You want to organize a company event, the kind of going to do activities to encourage the comradeship and that, maybe even having the whole hotel just for you and not giving the people the temptation of escaping of there… Yes, in this case I recommend it, but if you let me think and search a bit more in google, maybe I found you other nice places with better prices! ;P
- You want to enjoy a good SPA, a couple of days for relaxing, romance and pleasure for the senses: no, I wouldn´t recommend you this place then, I´ll explain better why in the SPA post, but resuming, the same: I can recommend you nicer places with a better SPA quality and the same or even better prices.
- You are looking for impressing someone, that has no real idea about SPAs, showing her/him also that money is not a problem for you, maybe due you are seducing her/him and being isolated from the word is a plus for you ;P Yes! This is your place!
- You are looking for a place for your honey moon, you don´t think you will go out of your room so often, the price is not important for you and you want to ensure a very well attention, with all the facilities for making it a unforgettable experience… and the SPA is just anecdotic for you both! Actually just to have the SPA area just for you 2 (or almost), for a night, with candles and champagne: Yes! This is your place!
Following my story, as I mentioned, the idea was to go out the whole day, where the road led us! :D It was a great day, winter one, of course, that means we had 3 degrees but you see, something I love about Spain is that even in winter time you have blue skies and a shining sun. We were lucky to have a day like that! :D
The past weekend we have to go to Tomares (Seville) due a familiar thing. We decided to go in car, a 4 days trip (that I´ll tell a bit more about in another post), doing a stop in Merida to finally know a bit of it and at the same time to visit our friend Marian, one of our Scrabble pals.
Sometimes in life the situations happen, with no doubt, in a strange way and you should live them to believe them, this was one of those situations.
We start the travel on Thursday 19th. Morning, from Madrid, of course, I wanted to take breakfast in a VIPS (you know my weakness about breakfasts) :D but first, it wasn´t easy to find the place (and it was one that I knew!) ;P but also all the parking around were busy and actually it wasn´t the case to left the car a lot of blocks away, with the luggage inside, it started to became late… sssssooooo… ok, we should find another place at the road.
The GPS of my Iphone recommended as best way for going to Merida to take first M40 and then R5… yes, in a toll freeway, 80 cents are definitely worth to pay for saving time and for driving almost alone at the freeway! (So, I won’t recommend anybody to take toll roads, otherwise they´ll start to be crowd as the free ones) ;PP
Being at the R5, we decided to take breakfast at the first signal indication… but the cafeteria was still under construction. We tried again at the second signal indication… again under construction! So finally it was at the first place out of the R5, at the exit 36 of Extremadura´s road… there were a couple of cafeterias where to go, but one looked nicer than the other one, so we went there.
I loved the decoration of the entrance! It was a small place, but good enough for having breakfast, a snack or a drink. We asked for coffee and a couple of “montaditos” (bread with different things like cheese, ham, etc.). till this point all was ok, nothing remarkable, but actually we didn´t ask about something as interesting as allow them to dazzle us.
The point was when after serving us the montaditos, the girl came with a dish with a bit of “ropa vieja”… “As an appetizer” she said… of course we tried it… and that was when the magic started!! SO DELICIOUS!! We told her it was delicious, she just smiled, but the owner was close and you see, I really can’t remind how exactly it happened, but you know, it was one of this times when one thing takes you to the next one and suddenly… we were inside the kitchen appreciating the great firewood things he has there! All, the stove, the oven, the grill, all heated by Holm oak wood! He showed us the Restaurant room then, so nice! It´s incredible how obvious is when a person decorates a place pampering it!
We went out thinking about when to go back to eat there… and at the middle of the travel we decided to go there for having lunch on Sunday, at the end of our trip. We called to do the reserve: they have no so many tables; it´s traditional Spanish food cooked in a firewood kitchen, so it needs it´s time, then Willy preferred to have few tables but to give a good service, so, better if you do a reserve for going there.
It was a great experience; again the girl gave us an appetizer, this time “judiones” that were almost melting at our mouths! We had a provolone cheese as starter… fantastic!! Rice with lobster as main dish… Oh my! Even in the dishes that you think that they couldn´t be better the Holm oak wood touch, the pampering at the preparation and to give to it the needed time, make the miracle!
We went out feeling like there´s still a lot to discover at Almenara! :D The pity is this place isn´t exactly around the corner for us, and actually a place like that at the center of Madrid would be so expensive and it´s not a matter of if it is as good as for paying more, but you see, in Almenara the price is also something that wonder you.
Somebody told me that actually the best places are the ones that nobody recommends you but you discover them by your own… and also that is not really good to recommend your favorite places, because then they start to be crowded, to raise the prices, to give lower quality, I don´t know! You see, Willy had been already 7 years wondering palates, and that something I had to recommend!
I told Curro how incredible is how better the taste of the food is when it´s done in a wood kitchen and if it was the way our ancestors ate, I´m not exactly sure if we had win or lost with the new technologies, actually, I could bet we lost! But well, he replied it was also a matter of not having now the time it requires to cook in that way… and I replied that also now we have a more variety and fresher products… you know! We should try to find out consolation no matter how! ;P
The address: Carretera a Extremadura, 36 exit, service road. Avenida Madrid 2, Urbanización Calypo, 45950, Casarubios del Monte Toledo. Phones: +34 918139129 - +34 918132488
Imagine what we would lose if the road cafeterias of the R5 would be already working! (Or if we would find parking at VIPS… or if we shouldn´t go to Tomares….) ;)
The restaurant we reserved for lunch time on Sunday 14th. Was Almenara de Catalucia.
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