Catalan countryside hotel, Spain
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A stone-built country house converted into a sports and spa hotel with 11 en-suite bedrooms inviting guests to explore the surrounding countryside or stay put by the pool.
Choice of 17 en-suite guest rooms accessible rooms available on-site swimming pool, sauna, Jacuzzi and massage rooms accessible woodland walks and cycling trails self-guided maps, local guides and sports therapy sessions day trip ideas by car include: Girona, Figueres, Besalu and Banyole cultural classes and kids' activities also available
Price
52To112 per person per night incl breakfast
Description of Catalan countryside hotel, Spain
Travel guides
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Vacation information
Dietary requirements:
We can cater for vegetarian and vegan diets.
Accessibility
Accessible tourism overview
Whatever your accessibility requirements we can customise your itinerary so that you can make the most of your vacation.
We are pleased to have hosted people with a range of different accessibility needs over the years and consider ourselves can-do people.
Our activities and the hotel are both accessible. The sports club on the lake is also accessible and is used by professional Paralympic athletes for kayaking and rowing. The horse riding center 1km from the hotel is certified for disabled riders and they have a lot of experience with different accessibility needs and making sure you enjoy your time horse riding.
We are pleased to have hosted people with a range of different accessibility needs over the years and consider ourselves can-do people.
Our activities and the hotel are both accessible. The sports club on the lake is also accessible and is used by professional Paralympic athletes for kayaking and rowing. The horse riding center 1km from the hotel is certified for disabled riders and they have a lot of experience with different accessibility needs and making sure you enjoy your time horse riding.
Limited mobility:
We have two fully accessible bathrooms and six suites with walk in showers. There is a short ramp or 4 stairs up to the pool area. The gym, tv / games room and sauna are all on the ground floor.
The dining area is on the first floor and there are stairs to reach it. But for those that prefer they can enjoy breakfast and evening dinner on the patio area enjoying the views or in the ground floor barrel vault.
There is also a new shaded outdoor eating area in the garden of the suites. There is a level footpath around the lake for you to enjoy a hike. Onsite we have a sports injury therapist and massage therapist should you want to enjoy some coaching. For those who can walk 400 meters plus we you can enjoy short walks from the hotel or we can suggest local medieval towns for you to enjoy a walk around.
The dining area is on the first floor and there are stairs to reach it. But for those that prefer they can enjoy breakfast and evening dinner on the patio area enjoying the views or in the ground floor barrel vault.
There is also a new shaded outdoor eating area in the garden of the suites. There is a level footpath around the lake for you to enjoy a hike. Onsite we have a sports injury therapist and massage therapist should you want to enjoy some coaching. For those who can walk 400 meters plus we you can enjoy short walks from the hotel or we can suggest local medieval towns for you to enjoy a walk around.
Wheelchair:
Activities and the hotel are both wheelchair accessible. The hotel has two wheelchair accessible bedrooms, both with a roll -n shower with seat and a double bar by the toilet and a lower easily accessible sink. The door ways for the rooms are 90cm wide.
The pool area is accessible up a ramp and has a large patio area. There is no hoist but we are here to help and we have inflatables/buoyancy devices as required. There is also a small sit down whirlpool to cool off in and relax.
The dining area is on the first floor and there are stairs to reach it. But for those that prefer they can enjoy breakfast and evening dinner on the patio area enjoying the views or in the ground floor barrel vault.
Onsite we have a sports injury therapist and massage therapist should you want to enjoy some coaching.
The city of Girona has a wheelchair accessible map, that shows you how to explore the old town and enjoy the sites.
The pool area is accessible up a ramp and has a large patio area. There is no hoist but we are here to help and we have inflatables/buoyancy devices as required. There is also a small sit down whirlpool to cool off in and relax.
The dining area is on the first floor and there are stairs to reach it. But for those that prefer they can enjoy breakfast and evening dinner on the patio area enjoying the views or in the ground floor barrel vault.
Onsite we have a sports injury therapist and massage therapist should you want to enjoy some coaching.
The city of Girona has a wheelchair accessible map, that shows you how to explore the old town and enjoy the sites.
Blind or limited vision:
We are more than happy to cater for people who are blind or have limited vision. In addition the door code pads have braille numbers.
Deaf or limited hearing:
Travelers who are deaf or of limited hearing are very welcome and we will make every effort to help you get the most from your vacation.
Cognitive conditions:
The hotel and the surrounding area are quiet and relaxed. Autistic children have found the quiet large rooms and the woods at the back of the property relaxing. There is also a quiet place to find peace.
Free from food:
Special dietary requirements are absolutely no problem. We are used to allergies, intolerances and particular diets.
We take nutrition very seriously. Meals are all freshly cooked from fresh ingredients. We customise everything as required, just let us know in advance, so for example if you have a nut allergy, we will remove nuts from the kitchen for your stay.
We take nutrition very seriously. Meals are all freshly cooked from fresh ingredients. We customise everything as required, just let us know in advance, so for example if you have a nut allergy, we will remove nuts from the kitchen for your stay.
LGBT:
Everyone is welcome. We have guests from all over the world, from all ages, all genders, all backgrounds. We want everyone to be able to have a healthy active happy vacation.
Reviews
11 Reviews of Catalan countryside hotel, Spain
4.5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed on 03 Sep 2023 by Angela Graef
Wonderful vacation. Fiona and Gareth are very engaged and welcoming hosts. They were very kind and took me to get takeaway sushi one night with them. I wanted to do a tech detox and relax and that's absolutely what I got. Read full reviewReviewed on 27 Aug 2023 by Laura Masson
I enjoyed the yoga pilates class in the open air every day at 8.15am, riding bikes just outside and beautiful cycle lanes and the fantastic swimming pool which was empty during breakfast and other times of the day... I really enjoyed and have recommended it to many friends. Read full reviewReviewed on 10 Aug 2022 by Masa Pupaher
The most memorable part for me was the openness of everyone I met and the amazing feeling of traveling alone for my first time... It was amazing. Read full reviewReviewed on 10 Jul 2021 by Dan Allingham
Really good. Shame we only stayed here for 6 nights as could have happily stayed longer. Very highly recommended Read full reviewReviewed on 30 Oct 2019 by Vanessa Phillipson
The most exciting part of the vacation was the canyoning. Read full reviewReviewed on 27 Sep 2019 by Sheila Scott
The most memorable part of the vacation was meeting and getting to know people from different countries, and sharing experiences and meals with them. Read full reviewReviewed on 03 Sep 2017 by Liz Glover
So many lovely places, arriving at night with the tiny windows lit up, the smell of the air, exploring the village Seinya with it's fruit trees, vegetable patches and beautiful sand coloured buildings and village square and gentle village life, arriving in Besalu-wow, the most spectacular Medieval village, swimming in the lake at Banyoles, the landscape, seeing a wide boar, swimming in the river, visiting Girona-that first veiw of the old town lining the river, the cat family... the teenagers getting on and mucking about in the pool together! Read full reviewReviewed on 01 Nov 2016 by Melissa Wright
Perfect relaxing, rural location convenient to sight-seeing spots such as Girona and Besalu. Read full reviewReviewed on 22 Apr 2016 by Caroline Wigart
It was a great vacation, a bit like when we go skiing... you come home feeling fit and energised. Read full reviewReviewed on 03 Sep 2014 by Trish Dooley
Great. I'd go again....Beautiful accommodation, loads to do and a wonderful Salvador Dali Museum to add to the healthy, outdoor break. Read full reviewResponsible Travel
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we've screened this (and every) vacation so that you can travel knowing we've worked to maximise the benefits of your vacation to local people and places, and minimise any negative impacts.
Planet
We think about water and power usage and what waste we are producing. We plant local plants like olives and lavender that require little watering. We have left the wood at the back of the property that we look after and harvest, but still keep the healthy trees. The harvested wood is then used in the wood burning stoves. We have underfloor heating as in the winter the nights can be a little chilly. The historic house has been rebuilt in the old ways but with added insulation, so it stays warm in winter but cool in Summer. The walls are 60cm thick, so slowly heat up in the Summer and then keep their heat through the winter. This system works really well, so you do not need much AC, but we do have a large AC unit run by PV panels in the center of the building to keep the bedrooms at a good temperature (25°C indoor temp even in the last heat waves). People are always amazed how cool it is in the Summer inside. We also have shutters fitted to all the windows, so we can shut the shutters in the Summer to prevent the sun warming up the rooms. As the walls are really thick and as we have thought about window placement, this means in the Summer the sun misses the south facing windows due to the sun height, but in the winter can warm up the rooms as the sun is at a lower height and therefore shines in. We also vent in the cool night air in the Summer. The new suites have the eco ventilation for the night and we run the AC in the afternoon via the PV panels. To keep what PV electric we make we first turn on the central AC unit in the main building, as that keeps its temperature well. Then in the afternoon we move the power to the AC units in the new suits to get them down to 24°C and then at night we turn on the eco ventilation. The window and the roof placement for the new suites allows for shade in the Summer and the suns warmth in the Winter, so we hardly ever need to heat the new garden suites in Winter.We have a solar pool cover and a PV solar system run the AC and the hotel in daylight hours. This means our pool is swimmable from March through to November all via the suns power. Our light bulbs are all eco and we think about each watt that is used. Our hair dryers are all 1kw rather than 2kw for example and we do not have electric kettles. Instead we provide thermoses of hot water for tea and coffee in the dining room and kettles on the gas rings of the BBQs. We look at each product and try and reasearch and buy the ones that used the least amount of power but still function well.
All waste is divided and what can be recycled is recycled. We also compost. All of our waste water goes through a septic tank which technically produces drinkable water. We water our garden from the old cisternas which are connected to our roof, so we collect rainwater to fill the cisternas, as they did in the old days. We run the whole of our small boutique hotel on 4kw usually, but can up the power automatically for example if everyone turns on their hairdryers at the same time. But usually we run at less than 4kw, which for such a large place is unheard of in Spain.
We plan to keep buying PV panels and adding more AC units as the number of heat waves escalate, so that we are not burning fossil fuels to keep cool. We are off grid, but do not be scared, most people do not even notice.
People
Where we can we buy local in season produce, so for example our onions are Figueres onions, apples & pear from local orchards, local wines etc. We also have our own small vegetable garden. We buy locally and use local companies for almost everything. We also support the local restaurants, by booking tables for our clients. We send our clients to the local best shops if they require anything and let them know the local market days etc.We offer good wages to locals and train them. For example we have been employing a local guy and supporting him in his university masters studies to become a more qualified sports coach.
We are part of the local community and support the Gegants (this is a local tradition where at festivals the local Gegants (people wearing huge heads, to make them look like giants) go and dance and perform.
We campaigned with the local community against high voltage power lines being put in the area. The campaign was not completely successful but we did manage to get them moved so as not to disturb as much of the local wildlife. We all offered to club together to pay for them to go underground, but the electrical company said this would set a precedent and would not allow it. Which we find ridiculous. In the end the power company said they would put the line where they wanted it or they would work with the local town councils to come up with the best solution, although they would not bury it. So we did have a small effect, but not the one we wanted. The MAT is a very controversial project here, but it has all been passed in Madrid and Catalunya is very angry.