Hotel Tugasa Castillo de Castellar

A fantastic location in the hills above Gibraltar (approx 35 kms away) overlooking a beautiful lake and surrounding countryside. An old castle converted into a modern hotel with rooms in the castle and also the surrounding village. The room was excellent. Huge with a bedroom, a sitting room, a mezzanine sitting area, and a separate bathroom. The bed was a King Plus, a very comfortable mattress, a choice of pillows, and beautiful bed linen. The reception staff were very helpful. We arrived much earlier than our predicted time of arrival because of inclement weather. The staff were accepting of this and managed to get us into our room even before the hotel prescribed check-in time (2.00pm). When the weather cleared up, we had a great time exploring the castle environs and the surrounding old village. Charming. We also took a short walk around the village extremities, finding a local bar, which was great for a beer and snacks before dinner. We didn't have the time or the correct footwear, but we noticed several signed footpaths, which looked like interesting countryside walks. Dinner was in the hotel's restaurant 200 m. outside the hotel. A large multi-levelled restaurant. We sat in one of the smaller rooms with about 5 other parties, plenty of space, good atmosphere. Food was traditional, local Spanish country food. Lots of meat choices! Plain but good ingredients well cooked and tasty. Breakfast was a buffet in the hotel. Excellent variety of products from cornflakes to fresh fruit to pastries to cold cuts to cooked bacon and tortilla. All lovely!

This is a totally unique hotel. A bona fide castle. And, a super bonus for us was that we were allocated a room - or rather, suite - in the turret, with a roof terrace. Amazing! The actual castle itself, and the location/views are absolutely stunning. It's not what I would call a "boutique hotel", in terms of decor, but the way it is decorated - quite traditional - is perfect, because it is a castle, and there's no getting away from that. The castle is located at the top of the mountain, surrounded by a pretty village, and if you want a get-away-from-it-all break, this is the place to head to. The restaurant for dinner is actually is one of the town houses about 100m away, and the food is absolutely excellent. I don't think there were any other places to eat, very close by, so this restaurant is an excellent choice. Breakfast is served in the castle - lots of choice, fresh and plenty of it. The views of the surrounding countryside are quite simply awesome.

If you get a chance, definitely stay at this hotel. Highly recommended. Absolutely stunning to sleep in a castle. To look out over the mountains from your private terrace on top of a castle tower. And everything was perfect. Spacious, very comfortable room, good bed, very good breakfast with good coffee. And an excellent dinner in the nearby restaurant El Aljibe. Great place to be when visiting surrounding places such as Gibraltar or Ronda. Just a great place to be.

We were kindly offered a choice of two different rooms, and the one we chose had eight windows and a pair of french doors opening out onto a small balcony. The view from there was positively breathtaking - never before have we been able to see eagles from above! The restaurant (in a separate building) was also excellent, both in terms of food and value. The breakfast was also extremely good.

The whole unspoiled historic venue surrounded by nature. Great view from balcony. Spacious luxury clean room. We only order drinks which were good priced.