Atrio

The hotel is a combination of historic details and contemporary design with a beautiful rooftop terrace and two plunge pools. The staff is very welcoming and goes the extra mile for their guests. The restaurant is a true experience where local products are combined with the most delicious flavours. We really enjoyed our stay. Well worth the trip.

This is a really lovely, modern hotel tucked in a historic building in the medieval town center. It is a bit tricky to find, photos would help, but they guide you by phone from the nearby plaza. The location is great, you feel a million miles away from the modern city that surrounds the old town. It's perfect for exploring and feeling immersed in Caceres. Our room was comfortable and well-appointed. The bedside tables are tiny, and the shower temperature was hard to regulate, but other than those nits, it was perfect. The wi-fi was a bit dodgy. Service was top-notch, including twice-daily housekeeping. They have valet service for the car. And when we checked out, they gave us a bag with water bottles and a handful of the caramel candies they keep in a big bowl in the lobby. There is a delightful rooftop terrace and two small pools (one cold, one heated) with a few loungers. It was a great place to relax in the afternoon when it got too hot to keep wandering around town, and it never seemed to be busy, maybe one or two other guests when we were there. Breakfast is a bit later than usual, starting at 8:30. Not the usual buffet, it is a set breakfast delivered to your table, very good. We were able to get it delivered to our room a bit earlier one morning when we had an early appointment. There are two restaurants for dinner, one Michelin 3-starred (Atrio) and one more casual (Torre de Sande) with a beautiful outdoor courtyard as well as indoor seating. It was a magical atmosphere for enjoying a good dinner.

My wife and I booked the "Total Experience" package at Atrio which consisted of 2 nights stay in the hotel with breakfast, 2 gourmet meals, a casual meal, Champagne and ham and visits to the wine cellar and kitchen. We can sum up the experience in one word - amazing. Firstly, the hotel. From arrival to departure the service we received was impeccable. All the staff were attentive, friendly and helpful. We had booked a junior deluxe suite and the room was superb. Large, airy, with high quality furnishings and fittings in both the bedroom and the bathroom. After our arrival we had our Champagne and wonderful local ham sitting under a shady tree in the beautiful courtyard garden. It was magic! During the afternoon we made use of the rooftop terrace where there are two plunge pools. The terrace is furnished again with high class products and with soft jazzour "casual playing in the background was so so relaxing. We phoned down for a pot of tea which arrived on a silver tray within 10 minutes. Our first dinner as a tasting menu celebrating the Iberian pig, consisting of 18 elements. We ran out of superlatives trying to describe our feelings. Every dish was a work of art on the plate, and the flavours just left our palates zinging. Next day we had our casual lunch in the Torre D Sande restaurant in the building next door, owned by the same group. It was 5 dish meal, with each dish larger than a tapas, but smaller than a "media racion" and was just right. I think the corquettas there were the best we have ever had. Dinner that night was another tasting menu, again of 18 elements, but totally different from the previous night. Again every dish was wonderful. During our stay, the kitchen was being run by the Sous Chef Alberto Montes and he and the team of chefs are all masters of their art. The dining room was run by Alba Seruan who was fabulous, clearly describing what was being served to us and how best to eat it. One of the things that really impressed me was that very quickly it was recognised that I was left handed and from that moment my cutlery was set out accordingly. It was an attention to detail I had never experienced before in quality reaturants around the world. Did we have any quibbles? Well, we felt that the visit to the amazing wine cellar was rather rushed and we would have liked more time to talk to the sommelier about the suparb collection of wines. Also, the set breakfast we thought a little disappointing. Having said that, it was an experience that we will remember for a long, long time.

I don't like to give harsh reviews. In fact to be honest the service was so good and the people so kind that I'm giving two stars where I probably wouldn't do that. I really enjoy fine dining and we are always looking for places to go and have an interesting meal, and this place I've been recommended to us by member of our family, and so we went as part of our romantic getaway with myself and my wife. It's a lovely space and it's in a lovely location and we had high expectations. We ordered the tasting menu which is approximately 10 items served over about a 90 minute period. I've had a lot of great tasting menus and was excited to try this. One of the things that has happened in modern cuisine, especially fine dining, is this weird approach to deconstruction and molecular gastronomy, and I think that that's a hit or miss depending on where you go and who's the chef. This tasting menu was a series of small bites of food and under better circumstances could be an incredible experience. (I think of Jose Andres restaurant in Los Angeles, the bazar. One of the best meals I've ever had in my life. Unfortunately this was not the case here.) To be honest the biggest problem for me was that all of the food was either over-salted or bland and tasteless. In this kind of tasting menu each course has to have its own unique flavor profile, mouth feel, transition to the next item and overall just a sense of each food is a unique experience. Nothing stood out. The flavor profiles were very neutral or extremely salty and impossible to taste. There was a crab soup that was so salty that it practically burned my tongue and made it difficult to taste foods that were served afterwards. Also, while I understand that this kind of food requires a specific type of preparation, the pacing was extremely slow and nothing really jumped out as needing that much preparation because it seemed like it was all pre-prepared? And while I definitely felt heavy at the end, I wasn't satisfied full, rather it was just eating too much food that I didn't like particularly. At the end of the meal I not only did not feel satisfied but I felt frustrated because it was fairly expensive. At some point we might go back to give it another chance but I don't see that happening in the near future.

Chef Tono Perez, who has too many awards to list, met us with grace and charm 4 times in our just one day stay. €205 each for dinner, set my personal spending record, giving me a near fatal sticker shock. However, without hesitation, worth it! The wine pairing of 7 wines for €320 for two was not explained and not worth it. It was a bad checkout surprise in the morning. Breakfast, €37 each WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE €440 ROOM CHARGE. Fitting my exhibitionist tendencies, ROOM 105 overlooked the outdoor dining area which looked up at our full glass room wall, and was decorated with brilliance. Little wonder that architects from all over the world flock to a | t \ r | i | o in the historic town of Caceres. Staff exceptional under the charismatic management of CARMINA. Only gravamen was the tepid shower we took after breakfast. Instead of sympathy we were blamed for not complaining at the first sign of NO HOT WATER. From a 5 star RELAIS & CHATEAUX, we expected a sincere apology and a voucher. Cold showers are unpleasant, and now firmly in my bad memory book. Alas, after €1,401,91 we still give 4.9 stars, because each and every staff member, especially Alba, were utterly charming.

It’s a bit like controversial pyramid in Louvre. Here in Atrio it is hardly visible from the outside, that you will stay in a very modern, minimalistic designed, cozy, luxury hotel. I’m sure it was not an easy task to get permission to create such a hotel in such a place. Caseres Old Town is a very beautiful piece of land, full of historical buildings and romantic, narrow, stoned streets. Hotel is located right in the middle of this idyllic place, so on top of all luxury facilities of the hotel, what is also amazing is absolute quiet around, from to time broken by church bells. Our room (104) was fairly big and we also had a nice small terrace, where breakfast can be served. This is also fantastic place to sit in the lazy afternoon with a good book and glass of wine.