Terra Dominicata

Style

Vintner vintage

Setting

Priorat peaks

Wine-y and wonderful, Terra Dominicata is in Spain’s vertiginous, vineyard-covered Priorat region, where the Serra de Montsant mountains loom over near-endless grape terraces. The hotel’s terracotta buildings are lined with lofty cypress trees: its colour scheme is thoughtfully in tune with the local architecture as well as the mountains themselves (and it’s especially effective in the glow of the setting sun). Explore the working winery, be fed and watered like royalty in the restaurant (where high-backed velvet teal chairs basically double as thrones)… and then retreat to your design-den chambers to sleep it off.

Facilities

Rooms

26, including two suites.

Checkout

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 4pm.

More Details

Rates don’t usually include breakfast (€25 a person).

Also

The communal areas are accessible for wheelchair users and there’s a specially adapted room on the ground floor. The pool area can be reached via a lift.

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

At the Hotel

Free WiFi throughout, valet parking, winery. In rooms: air-conditioning, minibar, free bottled water, Nespresso coffee machine, tablet, hair straighteners, sun hats and L’Occitane bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

We loved room 26; it’s in a small courtyard, and has two cosiness-boosting factors (especially good if you visit in winter) – a roll-top bath tub at the end of the bed, and a fireplace. (It also has one of those for-decoration-only ladders that don’t do much but look rather nice.) Stealthy sorts will love the secret underground corridor that links room 22 with the restaurant – it was once an emergency escape route, but now it’s more likely to be used to usher hungry guests to the restaurant more swiftly.

Poolside

The mountain-flanked pool at the property’s edge was once a watering hole for wild hogs – hence the gate to keep the thirsty porcine bathers out after dark.

Packing Tips

Bring a nose for a fine vintage and a refined palate.

Also

The working winery regularly hosts tastings (for an additional cost) in the terracotta kitchen next-door – the wine may be the star of the show, but the shelves of colourful crockery will encourage some serious ceramics envy.

Children

This retreat is for over-13s only.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Take your seats along the edge of the terrace outside, or by the table inside for more greenery gazing.

Dress Code

Pack something elegant but expandable.

Hotel Restaurant

The chef and his team moved in 10 months before the first guests, and it shows: the menu has been planned to perfection. Even the table settings are immaculate. The Italian cook adds a little home-country flair to his Spanish cuisine, but all ingredients are sourced from local markets or the kitchen garden. This creative crack squad aims to surprise, so the dishes are constantly evolving; one majorly memorable recent feast included apricot and mascarpone gazpacho, oysters with hollandaise, langoustine and monkfish courgette cannelloni and duck risotto. The food is designed to match the outstanding natural wines this area produces, which set standards to really high. Come morning, the impressive young pastry chef will have baked a bounty of hot and cold treats; look out for the miniature chocolate muffins and the baked cheesecake.

Hotel Bar

The bar is attached to the restaurant and has a sommelier, who is also an expert in cocktail curation. Some of the muddles make use of the local wine, as well as herbs plucked straight from the garden. Even the house white is delicious – with a surprising orangey, pinkish glow (as opposed to the regular white or yellow) verifying its all-natural composition.

Last Orders

The restaurant is open from 7am until 10pm. The bar’s hours are noon to 11pm.

Room Service

The full menu can be served in your room if you prefer.

Planes

Tarragona’s airport is nearest; the drive should take 45 minutes. Otherwise, fly to Barcelona and continue by train or car; the hotel (our Smith24 team) can arrange transfers on request.

Trains

There’s a railway station, Camp de Tarragona, an hour’s drive away, which links up the city with Barcelona – most services take just over an hour. The hotel can fetch you from here.

Automobiles

The drive from Barcelona will take around two hours. There’s free valet parking when you reach the estate. A car will come in handy if you’re planning on touring the nearby towns and wineries.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Beat the wild hogs to it and cool off at the pool, hike one of the trails in the surrounding national park or enlist the expertise of the winemaker to show you how it’s done. There are several wineries to visit in this abundant region, including Clos de l’Obac, owned by an eccentric friend of Bill Gates, and Trossos del Priorat, set within a mountain, with a prolific output – two people produce around 80,000 bottles a year.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .