A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the main types of accommodation where you can stay while doing the Camino de Santiago. And last week’s post was all about albergues.
Today, I’ll tell you about two more types of accommodation that you can find along the Camino de Santiago, plus I’ll give you a few words and phrases you will need when arranging a place to stay.
¿Dónde vas a dormir?
- Casas rurales are privately owned properties, usually old farmhouses or manors that have been refurbished. They are a relatively new type of accommodation. As the name suggests, they are located in rural settings. This means that they won’t always be available, especially if you are around bigger towns. You can just book one habitación (room), but if you are travelling with a group, you should know that many casas rurales give you the option of renting the whole house.
- Paradores. Chain of luxury hotels, managed by a state-run company. They are usually located in historic buildings such as castles or convents. In Santiago, for instance, you have the Hostal dos Reis Católicos, right beside the cathedral. It was built in the 16th century as a hospital that cared for the pilgrims arriving in Santiago de Compostela.
The choice is all yours and, as I said before, you don’t have to stay in the same type of accommodation every night. Just be aware of all the possibilities available and decide which one is the best fit for you, based on your personal circumstances.
Useful Spanish phrases
If you have booked your accommodation in advance, you can just show up and say Tengo una reserva (I have a reservation). If you haven’t, it can happen sometimes that you get to your destination after having walked for many hours and you find a sign at the albergue saying completo (full, no vacancies). Oh, no! you have to start looking for another place for the night.
A very useful question in this situation (and many others) is ¿Tiene…? (Do you have…?). You can then finish the question accordingly. Since we are talking about accommodation, you can just say ¿Tiene una habitación (individual/doble)? (Do you have a single/double room?). In the case of double rooms, you might ask for one with una cama (one bed) or dos camas (two beds).
And don’t forget to ask about el baño! ¿Con baño? (en suite), ¿Con baño compartido? (with shared bathroom).
So,
¿Dónde vas a dormir?
¿En un albergue (público o privado), en un hostal, en una pensión, en un hotel, en una casa rural o en un Parador?
(For the pronunciation of albergue, hostal, pensión and hotel, please go to this previous post).
If you have done the Camino already and you have any accommodation-related story that you would like to share, I’d love to hear about it.
Today’s Spanish words
Casa rural
Parador
Habitación
Tengo una reserva
Completo
¿Tienen una habitación?
Individual
Doble
Cama
Dos
Baño
Compartido
¡Buen Camino!
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