Parador de Olite

Well I don’t quite understand why this parador (state-run luxury hotel) is only three stars, in what hotel of this category do they take your bags up to your room, make your bed mid-afternoon if you rest after lunch, and treat you with such absolute delicacy!

I get a special thrill when I stay in these types of buildings that the parador chain is so unique in offering. It is not the same staying in a new building with minimalist decor and impersonal service (the most common), than to stay in a fifteenth century castle-palace that from Carlos III, to our current royals have passed through, as well as countless famous people where affable and polite treatment is the norm.

The Prince of Viana hostel is an integral part of the palace-castle that dominates the skyline of the city Olite.

In one of its wings, the so-called Palacio Viejo (Old Palace), built by Sancho el Fuerte (Sancho the Strong), the doors to the Parador (state-run luxury hotel) open. It would be Carlos III the Noble (14th century) who was responsible for granting the castle part of its gran splendour. He selected it as royal residence and it transformed into one of the most luxurious of that era.

Such is the majesty of this magnificent masterpiece that it is not surprising that a German traveller, back in the fifteenth century, wrote these words: "I'm sure there is no king who has a more beautiful palace or castle, with more gold rooms... ". This and many other curiosities about the Olite Castle can be found on the Paradors website.