If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR209.19), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Centuries-old stone buildings overlooking a mountainous natural park in Asturias are the setting for Solo Palacio – a boutique stay of simple, rustic suites tucked into the original architecture and set around a scenic infinity pool, with a sauna and Jacuzzi. This lo-fi retreat embraces a wabi-sabi philosophy with a deliberately pared-back aesthetic that shows reverence to the heritage of your lodgings and to the beauty of the surrounding countryside, as well as thoughtfully curated, mindful experiences from tea ceremonies to meditation to convivial fireside gatherings.
Noon, but flexible up to 2pm, subject to availability and a 10 per cent room-rate fee. Earliest check-in, 4pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £197.06 (€230), including tax at 10 per cent.
More details
Rates are room-only, but you can buy breakfast at Solo Bistró from €25. There’s a two-night minimum stay; three nights during peak August and September dates.
Also
The historic nature of Solo Palacio makes it unsuitable for wheelchair-users.
Hotel closed
Solo Palacio is open seasonally from 1 April until 10 January.
At the hotel
Free WiFi. In rooms: layouts vary but most have a kitchenette and a fireplace; all have Anne Semonin bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Solo Palacio’s 11 rooms and suites are all in storied stone buildings dotted around the walled estate, some of which date back to the 15th century. Each room layout is unique, but all are awash with period charms in the guise of beamed ceilings, exposed stonework, original chimneys and carved-wood doors. Some have freestanding bath tubs; others have kitchenettes; many are duplex: our favourite is the Solo Unique apartment for four in the main palacio, which has generous living space, an impressive ensuite master bedroom and a private balcony.
Poolside
A masterstroke of contemporary contrast, Solo Palacio’s infinity pool has been carved out of a patch of countryside, perched on top of one of the original 15th-century stone walls where the land slopes towards the national park, to serve up uninterrupted bucolic vistas. Although unheated, it’s warm from July through September.
Spa
A stone outbuilding now houses a Finnish sauna fitted with a vast picture window so you can soak up the mountain vistas while you bake – or admire similar views from the outdoor Jacuzzi.
Packing tips
Simple linen or hemp separates, crocheted layers or tactile knits – neutral-hued, textured threads will be most in keeping with Solo Palacio’s wabi-sabi philosophy.
Also
Solo Palacio is a not-for-profit hotel where the proceeds go into hyperlocal community projects – some of which you can witness for yourself from the saddle on a hotel-arranged horseback tour.
There’s more of an adults vibe at this serene mountain stay, but over-12s are welcome, and two of the suites sleep up to four.
Sustainability efforts
Solo Palacio is a not-for-profit operation: after staff pay, running costs and taxes, the remaining 11 cents for every €1 spent go back into Solo Palacio’s community and conservation partner projects. These include carbon capture and offsetting project Solo Goat Forest; plans to rehome local stray dogs, and the establishment of recycling facilities in the nearby village. Two of the hotel’s employees are from the village (whose population numbers in the teens), and Solo Palacio’s owners are intent on building a network of hyperlocal producers and entrepreneurs to strengthen the local economy and deliver a truly Asturian stay for guests.
The countryside panoramas afforded by tables on the terrace are hard to tire of.
Dress Code
As long as you’ve changed out of your hiking kit, there’s little need for formality here.
Hotel restaurant
Guests-only Solo Bistró is open for breakfast and dinner. Choose from terrace tables with that view or opt for the high-ceilinged, tile-floored dining room where a towering original fireplace presides. Cuisine at the Bistró is Asturian, brought together by chef Estela Mencía, who showcases local produce in a menu that changes by what’s in season and available, but features her beloved mushrooms as pickings allow. Breakfast is Continental, with vegan options as desired. A typical three-course dinner could be mushroom croquettes served with apples and cider, followed by slow-cooked venison tenderloin, and for dessert, a chanterelle crème à l’orange (try before you shy).
Hotel bar
Back-lit shelves of bottles, featuring a healthy selection of local spirits and vintages, denote the bar housed within the Bistró – there to serve refreshing flagons of sidra come apéro hour.
Last orders
Breakfast is from 8am until 10.30am, and the hours for dinner are 8pm to 10pm. The bar opens for pre-dinner drinks, from 6pm to 8pm.
Room service
There’s no room service at Solo Palacio, but some of the Loft and Unique suites come with kitchenettes which feature a mini fridge, should you wish to stash a few drinks or snacks.
Overlooking the mountainous Las Ubiñas Natural Park, Solo Palacio is in Llanuces, a 40-minute drive south from Oviedo in the rural Spanish region of Asturias.
Planes
Asturias Airport is just over an hour away by road, and the hotel can arrange private transfers from €100 one-way for up to seven guests.
Trains
Polo de Lena is the nearest train station, served by suburban services, and 20 minutes by road from the hotel: private transfers can be arranged from €30.
Automobiles
There’s free open-air parking at the hotel.
Other
Let the hotel know if your preferred transfer is by helicopter and they can direct you to the nearest landing site.
Worth getting out of bed for
Solo Palacio is a place to unwind: you’ll want to intersperse plenty of downtime by the pool, in the spa, or wandering the gardens between dips into the hotel’s curated mindful activities. Sign up for a guided meditation, or enjoy a tea ceremony; an archeological tour of Cuevo Huerta in the Estrechura Gorge is a chance to reconnect with the land. Fireside pow-wows offer a chance to eat, drink and share; and if you’re working on a solo project that feels like a mountain to climb, the hotel’s happy to create the headspace to help you move forward. Further adventures include deep-sea fishing; a gastronomic tour, horse-riding through the Asturian hills, or unearthing the region’s pre-Romanesque heritage on an expert-guided tour. And then there’s the Las Ubiñas Natural Park – as well as providing the bucolic scenery at the hotel, it serves up marked hiking trails through its forested valleys and craggy peaks.
Local restaurants
Worth booking ahead for, starred restaurant Monte in San Feliz is a dining spot made for long lunches – either on the alfresco terrace or in the timber-lined dining room – exploring whatever seasonal odyssey chef Xune Andrade has choreographed for his regularly evolving tasting menu: in high summer, Monte is also open for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights. Asturian culinary whizz Jairo Rodriguez champions his home region’s mer-and-terre larder in refined rustic plates at Roble, starring chanterelles, truffles, Iberico ham, León charcuterie, succulent gambas, and fresh Cantabrian anchovies, while his partner Paula Lamas presides front of house in the modern, slate-hued dining room. If you’re planning a coastal jaunt to Gijón, Restaurante Auga has a prime spot on the harbour and serves seafood with Spanish flair and a side of theatricality.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this history-steeped stay deep in the Cantabrian mountains and turned their tech back on after a blissfully lo-fi stay, a full account of their countryside break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Solo Palacio in Asturias…
‘What a place’ and ‘what a past’ are your likely exclamations on checking into boutique retreat Solo Palacio. At this walled estate of stone buildings dating back to the 15th century, you’re in for a love affair with history that pairs breathtakingly with the romance of its pastoral setting amid the Cantabrian mountains and beech forests of Las Ubiñas Natural Park. A handful of suites have been installed into the original architecture, kitted out with wabi-sabi minimalism that celebrates the time-worn appeal of exposed stone and brickwork, gnarled beams and rafters, original fireplaces and ancient carved-wooden doors. A place to check in and zone out, Solo Palacio makes mental decluttering effortless – a view-affording sauna, hot tub and infinity pool are its lo-fi starters for 10. Dinner is a guests-only affair of proudly Asturian plates, and the tours and experiences on offer are fittingly mindful. (The hotel’s not-for-profit set-up is a feelgood move, too.) As well as outdoorsy appeal by the backpack-load, this rural region has a surprising tally of starred restaurants worth tracking down. And when the Cantabrian coast calls, lively Gijón is less than an hour’s drive away.
