More than 400 years ago Spain’s King Charles V gave up his throne for retirement and headed for the mountains west of Madrid. On his way he stopped and stayed in a 15th-century feudal castle that, at the time, belonged to a local nobleman — the Count of Oropesa.

Today, even though you may not have royal blood flowing through your veins, even though you may not have a friend who knows a friend of the count’s family, you too can move in for a stay at the count’s castle. The Spanish Ministry of Tourism has turned it into a parador — a government-run tourist hotel.

Best of all, you won’t have to hock the crown jewels to stay at this parador or any of the other 84 paradores in this unique chain. Rates for most paradores range from around US$73 to US$125 a night.

What sets these paradores well apart from other hotels is that most of them are built in old, restored castles, refurbished monasteries, renovated palaces and recycled mansions. Others, though, are housed in spanking-new modern buildings.

The idea behind Spain’s paradores is to provide accommodations in those towns and areas that, although they may merit a detour, have few if any tourist facilities. The tourist ministry, however, has been so successful in the design and operation of these lodgings that just being able to stay in one is often enough of an attraction to draw visitors.

In addition to the count’s castle, located in the town of Oropesa, dozens of other castle paradores dot the Spanish landscape. Typical of these castle hotels is the Parador de Carmona which sits in the rural town of Carmona, 20 miles east of Seville. This castle crowns a hilltop that drops away sharply and commands a view for miles of plains where Roman and Carthaginian armies once clashed.

Originally, the Romans built a castle on this site. The Moors reconstructed it during their 700-year occupation of Spain. After the Christian reconquest, King Don Pedro I carried out an extensive renovation. Of course the tourism ministry also put considerable work into the castle to turn it into a parador.

Inside this castle hotel, which opened in 1976, marble floors, stone walls, tall arches and beamed ceilings create roomy, wide-open public areas. The rooms themselves are more cozy with tile floors, animal-skin rugs, plaster walls and lower ceilings.

Many of Spain’s paradores could easily be singled out as a showpiece. Included among these would have to be the Parador de Granada, which is located inside the walls of Granada’s famed Alhambra. This parador started life as a Franciscan convent founded by Queen Isabel in the 15th century. Today it’s among the most sought-after accommodations in Spain.

In one of Andalusia’s white-washed towns, Arcos de la Frontera, the Spanish tourist ministry has converted a former mansion into a hotel that blends in with the local architecture. Arcos de la Frontera is perched on a long, narrow ridge, and the parador occupies a choice location in the middle of the town. It sits at the edge of a precipice with a sheer drop, straight down, some thousand feet to the Guadalete River. As with so many of these hotels, the Parador de Arcos de la Frontera offers its guests impressive views of some of the finest scenery in Spain.

No exception is the Parador de Toledo, located on a hill overlooking the city of Toledo. The parador sits on the spot reportedly selected by El Greco in the early 17th century to paint his renowned “View of Toledo.”

For the sun and surf set, some of Spain’s seemingly endless beaches also have their paradores. These hotels are mostly modern buildings constructed in a particularly scenic area. One beachfront parador, the Parador de Mazagón on the Atlantic coast’s Costa de la Luz offers an isolated location and miles of deserted beaches.

At the other extreme, on the Costa del Sol, the three-story parador in the town of Nerja sits on a bluff above the Mediterranean. Here it remains an island of tasteful serenity alongside the highrise building boom on one of Europe’s most popular playgrounds.

If a parador sounds like your kind of hotel, don’t think you’re going to be roughing it just because you choose to stay in a centuries-old castle, convent or palace. Most of the paradores are three- and four-star hotels and all have central heat, private baths and in-room telephones. Some also offer air conditioning, pools, tennis courts, golf courses and beautifully landscaped gardens.

Each parador also has its own restaurant, which offers the culinary specialties of its region. The quality of both the food and the dining rooms in this hotel chain is so uniformly high that the Spanish themselves flock to these restaurants for their Sunday lunch. What better recommendation for a tourist facility than the patronage of the local population?

One of the most attractive features of paradores is their price. You don’t need a royal fortune for a double room in the Count of Oropesa’s castle hotel — you’ll pay about US$95. Lodging with El Greco’s view of Toledo carries a price tag of about US$117. Granada’s popular parador within the Alhambra, the most expensive in the chain with a room rate well above that of most paradores, charges about US$208 for a double room.

Restaurant prices are just as much of a bargain. A full-course meal at a parador will set you back around US$14. And if you desire, you can go full pension for about US$24 a day.

The one drawback to these hotels is the number of rooms the tourist ministry can put into an existing, historical building. One castle parador has just six rooms. But even the new buildings are relatively small, and the largest hotel in the chain can boast only 135 rooms. Consequently, reservations are always a good idea.


Helpful Resources

Parador Website
Provides detailed information on each parador, including prices. You can also make reservations online at the site.

Culture Briefing: Spain
Provides details on the Spanish way of life — the country's culture and customs.