CoolRooms Palacio de Luces
Transatlantic tale
Cantabrian coastline
It’s hard to take in the majesty of the Asturias region all at once – as soon as you’ve soaked in the brisk and rugged beauty of the Atlantic coast then there’s a sawtooth sierra or fulsome forest vying for your attention. But, 16th-century Palacio de Luces (now a stay in the CoolRooms stable) has packaged up this natural fray so you can enjoy it at leisure. Once the blue-blooded Victorero-family seat (whose Mexico-made fortunes echo in the Caribbean-comes-to-Cantabria restaurant and tropical decor touches), it’s now a welcoming retreat where you can enjoy champagne picnics, gentle games of pool and estate wines on the terrace in-between gastronomic and cultural expeditions.
Facilities
Rooms
44, including nine suites.
Checkout
12 noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 4pm.
More Details
Rates don’t include breakfast (€29 a person for buffet or à la carte).
Also
Public areas are wheelchair accessible and one room is adapted for guests with mobility issues.
Fitness Center
Free Internet Access
Laundry
Pool
On-Site Restaurant
Room Service
Spa
At the Hotel
Spa and gym, lounge with a pool table and honesty bar, gardens, chapel, mini golf, charged laundry service, free WiFi and newspapers. In rooms: 55-inch Smart TV, radio, Nespresso coffee maker and tea-making kit, minibar, climate control, bathrobes and slippers, high-speed WiFi, Molton Brown bath products.
Our Favourite Rooms
Rooms are all elegantly styled in a palette inspired by the Asturian countryside (the greens of the forested mountains, greys of the limestone massif, varying blues of the sea), with nods to the family’s move to Mexico in botanical drawings and Caribbean-style furnishings. The outdoors is very great here, so opt for the Junior Suite with a sizeable private garden.
Poolside
The indoor heated spa pool is made all the more soothing with massage jets.
Spa
There’s just one treatment room in the spa, mostly used for massages, but the spoiling doesn’t stop there. Sweat out the bad in a sauna, bathe in chromotherapy lights in a Turkish bath, or laze in the pool. And there’s a fitness room filled with Technogym kit too.
Packing Tips
Leave room in your suitcase for eclectic culinary treats: tins of anchovies, rolls of smoked cheese and bottles of cider.
Also
For rainy days or just lazy afternoons, the La Canela lounge has a pool table and honesty bar. Or admire the nature-themed light sculptures made by Spanish artist Gabriela Calderón Chillida, granddaughter of the famous sculptor and engraver Chillida.
Children
The hotel is child-friendly indeed, with a sofa bed in Suites, babysitting on request and a dedicated menu in Tella. Plus little ones will enjoy learning to surf, biking in the wild and frolicking on the beach.
Gallery
Food & Drink
Top Table
Tella’s banquettes are very cosy, but they are set away from the modular window. You can spy the sierras from any table, but we recommend putting nose to glass (or close as) or taking a seat on the terraced patio.
Dress Code
Fusion-wear.
Hotel Restaurant
There are two eateries at the hotel: La Palmera Snack Bar is the more laidback of the two, serving up delicacies such as spider-crab croquettes, stuffed peppers in a Biscayne sauce, calamari with citrus aioli. Plus there are hamburgers and sandwiches, burritos and tacos. The latter of which will give you a hint as to the direction main eatery Tella takes – inspired by the Victorero family’s Caribbean adventurings, the menu arrives at the Med via Mexico, under the direction of chef Nacho García Canellada. Food veers away from the simple, offering flight-of-fancy dishes such as guinea fowl stuffed with apple, chestnut and cinnamon cream; cocoa-rubbed venison with orange gnocchi and smoked potimarrón pumpkin; candied Navarran artichokes, smoked cheese and pesto; red prawns with lime and jalapeño – and caramelised French toast with rice-pudding ice-cream for dessert (hola, lover). And dig into traditional stews, warming bowls filled with beans and hare; cod, mushroom and black-garlic mousseline; or venison and foie tataki.
Hotel Bar
The hotel’s drinks list really DOPs, with wines from Spain’s most drinkable appellations and beyond to be taken in Tella, La Palmera, or on the terrace. And the spirits list is very robust, showing its Caribbean clout when you get to the rums.
Last Orders
Breakfast is from 8am to 11am, lunch from 1pm to 4pm, and dinner from 8pm to 10.30pm. On the weekend last orders at both restaurants are 11pm.
Room Service
Dine in-room on the Snack Bar menu from 1.30–3.30pm and 8.30–10.30pm.
Planes
Asturias Airport is the closest, around an hour’s drive away, with direct links to some major cities in Western Europe. Transfers can be arranged from €100 one-way. The next is at León, 90 minutes’ drive away, with limited European routes, and the best connected is Bilbao, a two-and-a-half-hour drive away.
Trains
You can ride to Oviedo train station (a 40-minute drive away) from major cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao and León; however, you’ll need plenty of reading material for the journeys, most of which take around seven hours. Transfers can be arranged from €100 each way.
Automobiles
The hotel is set in a rustic area, away from major cities, so for the freedom to explore coast and countryside some wheels will be essential. There’s a free car park onsite, plus valet parking and e-charging points too.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
Palacio de Luces pulled off a hat trick when it comes to location, location, location: those would be the Cantabrian Sea stretching out blue-ly from the Atlantic Coast, the Picos de Europa mountains to the aft, and the Sierra del Sueve massif to the east. They make a gorgeous whole and offer up beaches, dinky towns to explore, and gastronomic excellence. Firstly, take the two-kilometre trip to Lastres, a fishing village whose beauty is feted; the hotel can arrange a guided tour, and then you can hit the playa (there are two in close quarters). And a little further along, La Isla’s sandy stretches are also charming. Here you can indulge in maritime pursuits, such as making fishing nets, heading out to sea to use them with a local or sailing around the lighthouse. Or you can spend the day learning to surf (from seven years old). Or if you’re eager to dive into the fray of yew, beech, cherry and pine trees surrounding the hotel, you can hike up Pienzo peak, trek the sections of the Camino de Santiago route that cross into Asturias, or wander through the picturesque Biescona beech forest. The Victerero’s weren’t the only noble family to go over to the other side of the world – the hotel can arrange for a tour of the Caribbean-inspired architecture in the neighbourhood, with a stop at the Indiano Archives-Emigration Museum. For more local history, see Oviedo’s Romanesque churches, Gijón (the city that inspired Spanish Realist writer Clarin) for its Campoamor Theatre, or Avilés for the retro-futurist Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre. Quad biking brings the adrenaline, but for more decadent thrills, you could visit the Los Caserinos cheese factory, have the chef put together a champagne picnic, taste Hazas anchovies with Asturian wines or – come July – drink your fill at the annual Nava Cider Festival.
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. .
