September 4th, 2015
The difference between our last hotel and our new hotel was striking.
We unwillingly left the five star life behind as we drove to Haro. The modern architecture and amenities of the
Marques de Riscal were in our rearview mirror. Our new location would be
just a bit different.
Enter the
Hotel Los Augustinos.
Los Augustinos is arguably the best hotel in Haro. But let's be realistic. There aren't a ton of hotels to choose from. This building has had many incarnations since it was built in 1373.
Yeah. You read that right.
1373 is not just a number. It's an actual
year. Knowing this has place has so much history kind of baffles my mind.
So the building. It started off as a convent, but in the centuries since, it has been a military garrison, a prison, and a hospital. In 1989, the former convent became a hotel. Or as the Los Augustinos likes to say, a four star hotel.
Cool, huh??
We found a parking spot directly outside of the front door and after finding a parking enforcement duo, figured out how to pay for parking (it involved knowing the license plate and a knowledge of Spanish...I still don't know what the rules were). Now, the hotel does say they have a parking lot for a fee. We really never found the lot. Though to be honest, we never really looked for the lot. Parking in front of the building was a bit more fabulous than searching for a lot somewhere around the block. The car was left in front of the building until we left Haro the following morning. Remember, there was
wine to be had here.
The hotel itself was fascinating. The lobby and restaurant (more in a few) were pretty darn impressive. The room itself had a door that took us a few tries to actually be able to open (though apparently I couldn't be bothered to take a picture of this difficult entryway).
Once we got inside the room, there was an undeniable smell. It was the smell of old. The smell of Grandma's House (circa 1980's...I don't want to disparage any current Grandmas). It wasn't overwhelming, really. It was just there.
The room wasn't bad. Really. It was just the polar opposite from our last room.
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| Hallway into the room. |
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| You can always tell my bed in a hotel room. It's the one with all of the garbage strewn about. |
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| I think we watched TV here. But I also think I fell asleep quickly, so I have little memory of this TV. |
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| The couch was wildly uncomfortable, but good for storing luggage. |
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| Hello from the bathroom!! |
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| Any self-respecting hotel in Europe has a bidet. |
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| In case you forgot there was a glass door in the shower, I present you a big red dot!! |
The restaurant in the hotel is also considered the best restaurant in town. We had done a small tapas crawl in Haro before determining we had consumed more wine than food and needed to rectify that immediately. We rolled back to the hotel and tried to have a small meal. I think this was the first food I'd had in a week that didn't have a glass of wine accompanying the meal.
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| Anyone want to hang in an indoor cabana inside of the restaurant?? |
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| Duck Breast FTW!! |
Overall, the hotel was fine. I may sound underwhelmed by the stay, but it was also a long day of wine consumption. We were pretty tired in Haro and this was a one night stay. I do think if you're staying in Haro, you couldn't do much better than the Los Augustines. The location is perfect for wining and the price was right. But managing expectations might need to be on the docket. Then again, how many of you are going to be arriving directly from the Marques de Riscal?? Oh, you're not?? You'll be fine. Just be ready for the smell of Grandma. Other than that, you'll have a great time.
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