Name: Hotel Rural El Otero
Address: El Cereceu, s/n - La Borbolla, 33598 La Borbolla, Spain, Llanes, Llanes, Llanes, 33598, Spain
Rating: 9

Smoke-free property

Heating

Newspapers

Garden

Terrace

Outdoor furniture

General

Non-smoking rooms

Family room

Rooms

Ironing

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Services and amenities

Restaurant

Packed Lunches

Meals

Internet access

Internet

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Hiking

Recreation

Free Parking on Premises

Parking

Swimming pool

Beach facilities

Pool and beach

Children's playground

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids' TV Networks

Kids

Pets allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Nacimiento Río Cabra

Santander Cathedral

Santander Ferry Terminal

Plaza Porticada

Centro Botin

Municipal de Este

University of Cantabria

El Sardinero Stadium

Hotel Rural El Otero

Llanes

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

If you are looking at this hotel, you must have already recognised the brilliance of its location.  We chose it for a week’s stay in July 2022, wanting to do some walking in the Picos de Europa as well as exploring the stunning coastal towns and villages which are separated from each other by numerous coves and fine sandy beaches.  But apart from the convenience of its location, we weren’t prepared for how stunningly beautiful was its actual position.  Sitting on a verdant ridge, with only two or three other neighbouring properties, the land drops away on both sides of the hotel with lush green fields and grazing cattle. From the terrace, where we ate breakfast each morning, you look beyond the well tended garden and discreetly placed swimming pool, towards La Borbolla, a rustic hamlet of red tiled houses, which nestles in the valley. There is an almost eerie stillness, only cut through by the tinkling of cow bells drifting up from the fields below, and from the patchwork of meadows which cling to the seemingly vertiginous folds and creases of the landscape which eventually rise up into rock covered peaks.

Hotel Rural El Otero is a family enterprise run with all the personal pride you would expect from a venture which has clearly been an ongoing and passionate project ever since its inception, when the decision was made to extend what was a modest house, into a larger, yet still relatively modest, hotel.  Everything was spotless, with bedrooms and bathrooms cleaned meticulously each day and not a spot of dust anywhere in the lounge or elsewhere.  

There were no more than about ten other guests, apart from our family of four, which I reckon must have represented total capacity.  There’s a tiny dining room where we played cards one evening, but for all our breakfasts and the two evening meals that we ate at the hotel, we sat outside on the terrace.

Would we go back?  Absolutely.  Aurora and her daughter Paloma, were absolutely charming and extremely welcoming, as too was the only member of staff, who served breakfast wearing a perennial smile and a spotlessly white tunic and trousers.  They were eager to offer suggestions for places to visit and their restaurant recommendations, particularly Sidrería Tierra Astur Gascona in Oviedo, were spot on. And to further confirm its status as a family business, when Paloma left for a weekend away, her similarly cheery sister, Berta, arrived to take her place.

We were very sad to leave, and when we did, it felt like we were parting as friends.

The week we fell in love with Northern Spain.

We stayed at the Hotel El Otero for the first two weeks of August.  We took  our car on the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander and drove to our destination.  It was a little difficult to find, as it is in a very rural location, approached by very winding, narrow roads!  The hotel is family-run, with the family's daughters helping in August, especially Paloma.  Only the girls speak English, so you will need to brush up on your Spanish, which is necessary in this part of Spain anyway, as there few English tourists in this area.  We were made to feel very welcome, the rooms were well furnished in traditional style and kept spotlessly clean. Che, the  mischeivous family dog also kept us entertained! We ate in the restaurant on alternate evenings and found the cooking to be excellent. Don't expect a large restaurant with a menu though; the system seemed to work with us saying each morning whether we wanted to eat in that evening, and then we would be served a traditional three or four course Spanish meal with good Spanish red wine in the small dining room.  We found the cost per person for this of 20 euros to compare very well with local restaurants, as it was of such good quality and quantity! My husband needs a gluten free diet and we informed the hotel of this when we booked.  They really couldn't have gone more out of their way to accommodate this request.  Every day, my husband had gluten free bread (sometimes fresh from the local bakery), cakes, biscuits, served with his breakfast and gluten free variations on the evening meals when necessary!  We have stayed at many hotels at home and abroad that have failed dismally to cope with this dietary requirement, but here, nothing was too much trouble. The cost of the accommodation was very reasonable.  Mama did all the cooking, a lot of the cleaning, washing, shopping as well as cooking for her own family, including looking after her elderly mother.  In addition to this, she squeezed in some shifts at the local general hospital where she is a nurse!  Superwoman!  The girls invited us to join in with them on the wii in the evenings and generally made us feel like part of the family.  We had the swimming pool to ourselves as other people staying seemed to be using the hotel just as a base for sightseeing trips or spending days on the beach.  If you want peace and quiet in the mountains with eagles flying overhead and the only noise from the bells jangling from the necks of the grazing sheep, then this is the place for you.  If you want a busy nightlife, then this is not!  This is a very interesting and beautiful part of Spain, not at all commercialised and we would love to visit again.

Hotel Rural El Otero

Main amenities of the hotel

Location

Available rooms

Location

Description of the hotel

What other amenities are there?

General

Rooms

Services and amenities

Meals

Internet

Tourist services

Recreation

Parking

Pool and beach

Kids

Pets

Policies

Check-in terms and conditions

Additional information

Payment