Hotel Rural El Refugio (Cruz de Tejeda, Spain)

Guests couldn't say enough good things about the host, Juan Manuel. Many had come to the mountains to do a bit of hiking, and Juan Manuel was said to be a wealth of information on the best routes to take. Guests felt they received excellent tips that really seemed to work out for them.

Of course the hotel is nowhere near the beach, but high up in the mountains. Guests had naturally selected the hotel based on this fact, but were nevertheless genuinely impressed with the lovely mountain scenery that awaited them on arrival.

Though guests said that the food certainly wasn't fancy, that was precisely what so impressed them about it. They described the food served as honest and delicious country food cooked and served without pretensions.

This was a very specific, and surprisingly common, comment from guests who were travelling in the winter. Of course it can get pretty cold up there in the mountains and guests felt the odd heater that was set up in the dining room was not quite up to the task of heating the room.

While most guests liked the rustic style of the accommodation, others felt that their room was just a little too basic, perhaps a little monastic. They would have preferred a bit more decoration and more facilities in their rooms.

Like many rural properties, one or two guests said it was a challenge to find it. SatNav is sometimes quite inaccurate in the deep countryside, so it may be advisable to take along a detailed physical map.