Hacienda Zorita Wine Hotel & Spa

Good hotel. The best is the access to winery without extra charge.

We grabbed four nights here on something of a whim and built an enjoyable and informative northern Spain trip around our stay at the Hacienda. The bones of this splendid property are a 14th century monastery where Columbus – along with academics from the nearby Salamanca University and representatives of the royalty -- met to finalize his trip to the New World and hand over the check to make it possible. (I do not hold this against the present owners.) The exquisite renovation is even more astonishing after viewing photos of the sad state of the buildings in the early 20th century. Architectural brilliance and craftsmanship are evident throughout, from the spacious bedrooms with hand-hewn ceiling timbers to the inviting variety of sitting areas, complete with fireplace, period artwork and comfortable furniture. We ate dinner at the hotel several times, and each was delicious. And of course wine (the Syrah and tempranillo are sourced from their vineyards in the nearby Douro Valley) from the hotel’s own winery is available for tasting and to enjoy at your table. Included breakfast was ordered from a menu and was consistently excellent. I enjoyed a massage in the old stone building that once (and still does!) housed the machinery that regulated water flow into the mill race, which still runs cheerfully under the main building. With a special nod to Pablo, whose knowledge of Spanish history and wines was exceeded only his charm and hospitality, the staff was uniformly helpful and welcoming. This is a place to relax and enjoy the gardens and an exquisite property that has incorporated modern comforts in a beautifully restored 800-year-old piece of history.

Hacienda Zorita is truly a magical location. Walking around the grounds is like taking a step back in time to the beautiful monastery where Christopher Columbus once stayed. We stayed in a villa room which was quite large and very private, and the room has an old world charm and even a private outdoor lounge area. We came here toward the end of the season for this hotel, and we enjoyed our stay. The food is the restaurant is quite good though albeit a bit less memorable than some of our other meals on our trip. Overall, I think this hotel is exactly as advertised, but I would make a few recommendations. First, if you are staying here for more than one night, know that the bar and restaurants menus are almost identical so would recommend you work with the hotel to arrange a taxi to Salamanca for dinner on another night. The hotel was wonderful and arranged this for us! Second, the wine tasting is free and you should definitely take advantage of this. It was hosted in an event space which is beautiful, but was a bit lackluster due to the numerous flies. I would have loved to learn more about how the wine was made in that region, but the tasting is truly more about the taste of the wine and the tasting notes rather than the production. Finally, while the hotel is beautiful, they seemed to be a bit short on staff. They all did a fabulous job taking on numerous roles and I am unsure if this is due to the time of year when we visited, but service was slow at times! Overall, if you are staying near Salamanca, you should absolutely stay here if you are looking for something outside of the city or just a place to relax! It truly is gorgeous!