Casa Beatnik Country House
In the pink
Grape escape in Galicia
Don’t be fooled by its name; there’s nothing anti-materialist about Casa Beatnik Country House, a hot-pink palazzo surrounded by vineyards in Galicia’s sun-dappled terroir where a medley of patterns and textures take centre stage. There is, however, plenty of beat spirit to be found in the hotel’s non-conformist design, which lands somewhere between Italian maximalism and Moroccan bohème. Look up for Murano-glass chandeliers, down for colour-popping tiles topped with splendid shags, and out for a dash of mountainous drama framing the fire-red pool.
Planes
Santiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport (SCQ) is closest, just a 25-minute drive from the hotel. Taxis at the airport are between €30–40 each way. For more discerning travellers, a black car service will set you back around €100-120. Alternatively, guests can fly into A Coruña (LCG) or Vigo (VGO) airports, with a journey time of just under an hour.
Trains
Santiago de Compostela train station is a 20-minute drive from the hotel, taxis are available at the station.
Automobiles
Largely composed of countryside, small towns and villages, cars come in handy in the Galician wilds, though if you’re vineyard-hopping, take a cue from the passing Camino de Santiago crowd and ramble your way home; or better still, ask the concierge to arrange a taxi. There’s a secure, private car park available for guests.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
Guests of Casa Beatnik Country House may find themselves beset with the perfect conundrum; stay and soak up the hotel’s design-led details or hit the road and explore all of Galicia’s ripe-for-the-picking plains. The solution? Let the concierge craft you a canny itinerary that allows for plenty of time for both. Ask for a walking tour of the neighbouring Santiago de Compostela, where the story of a past spent at the crossroads of power is best told through its architecture. Destroyed by Almanzor in the year 997, the old town was completely rebuilt over the 11th century, starting with the Cathedral Santiago de Compostela, a gothic symbol of the region’s dawn of Christianity with imposing Roman colonnades and 53kg Botafumeiro (‘smoke expeller’ in Galician), which wafts incense among the congregation from above. For those with more contemporary tastes, the City of Galician Culture complex on the outskirts of the city was built by Peter Eisenman as a tribute to fellow architect John Hejduk showcasing a modernist flow of concave and convex structures that organically rise and fall. Known for its vineyards and country houses, Galicia has its fair share of rural romps to enjoy, too. Head to Combarro for excellent seafood, traditional hórreos and colourful coastal houses or O Cebreiro for mountain-top views, quaint cobbled streets, sacred monasteries and not-so-sacred tipples courtesy of Ribeira Sacra grape enthusiasts. And if you fancy a hike you’re in the right place, the camino crowd should be rambling past any time now – lace up and join them.
