Accommodation in Galicia - where to stay

Sourcing accommodation in southern Spain is generally quite straight forward, be it a hotel, villa, or rental apartment. In Galicia however, things are not quite as easy. This region of Spain is fairly new to foreign tourism and the promotion of Galician accommodation, especially in the "English language", is still slightly limited. This can make finding somewhere to stay in northern Spain a more challenging task than say in Malaga or Murcia. That said, there is plenty of available accomodation covering every budget, level of amenities and location throughout Galicia's four beautiful provinces - its just a question of knowing where and how to look. Below are two link buttons to our Hotels and Villas' pages and there is some additional information further down this page that may assist you.

 Hotels in Galicia     Villas in Galicia 

Finding a Villa or Apartment in Galicia

Firstly, you can be assured that there are villas and apartments for rent in Galicia, you just need to find them. take a look at our Villa page for some good links.

Things to be aware of when renting a villa in Galicia

Many complexes in the Spanish Costa's have urbanisations specifically built with tourism and rental in mind. Consequently they have extensive visitor support facilities. These services range from daily "maid service" and inclusive laundering of linen, to pool cleaning and maintenance, normally co-ordinated by the local holiday management company. You will also invariably have an "English" speaking contact on, or very near to, the complex itself.

If you stay in a villa in Galicia it is unlikely that you will benefit from all of these larger scale services. Daily maid service, whilst possible, is not something you should expect, nor is on-site support, or even an English speaker you can contact locally. An interesting fact is that there are less than 1000 full time English/America/Australian residents of Galicia, so our "Anglo Saxon" tongue is unfamiliar.

What you should expect from a villa in Galicia

What you can expect from your villa is a clean and well maintained property, generally owned as a second home and often by a Galician living in the UK. In the event of an emergency, or if you have a genuine problem, there will normally be some way of making contact with a local, but this may simply be an individual who looks after the house as a favour for a friend or family member.

So where are these Villas and how do I find them?

Well first of all what are commonly referred to as villas in the south of Spain, are not generally known by that name in the north. A villa tends to be called a "casa" (house), a "chalet" (house - normally with a large ground level storage area) or a "finca" (farm house). A "Finca" can also be called a "casa rustica".

An apartment (or flat in the UK) translates to "apartmento", and the word for rent in Spanish is "alquilar". If you go on the internet and use these terms you will open up far more potential stay-over options than would otherwise be the case.

As a good starting point, try using the pages accessed from the marroon hotel and villa buttons at the top of this page.

Finding a Hotel in Galicia

Galicia has its fair share of hotels and not just in major cities like Santiago, Lugo and Pontevedra. They can also be found in many of the smaller towns scattered around the coast and countryside. Many of these less commercially oriented hotels will also provide the best value for money and will be in the more scenic of locations. Standards however can be unpredictable and may be more basic than some holiday makers are used to. The locations of these hotels will also require a higher level independence with a rental car becoming an essential necessity.

To see the hotels (over 140) that we offer, click on the hotels link at the top of this page.

See this link Hotel classification to find out about the way hotels are classified in Spain.

A cautionary note. Certain large Galician tourist sites are state funded and committed to promoting not just Galicia, but the businesses of those involved in tourism in the area. Be cautious when arranging your accommodation with the hotels and villas offered through these sites as the standards vary significantly. We have had a number of emails from tourists who have been very disappointed, and in some cases shocked, by the comparatively low benchmarks offered by some of these establishments.

Whilst Galicia Guide does not offer hotels in every location throughout the region, we do use and promote partners whose hotels are regulated and reflect international standards. If we do not have any hotels in the localities you are interested in, research any hotel you are considering carefully and try to see if it is listed by any regulatory bodies or classification organisations. The Spanish government also provide a hotel classification guide.

Specialised accommodation - Paradors

If you want something a bit different, and most probably a bit more expensive, then try looking at "paradors". These are state owned hotels, usually in the form of a castle, manor house, or other historic building, that have been restored and re-designated as hotels. They normally offer a high quality of accommodation, cuisine and service, but may require you to book well in advance of your intended stay dates.

Although originally intended as a means of restoring and finding a use for an otherwise decaying old building, "paradors" are now considered to be the "elite" of Spain's hotel structure and offer a unique base from which to explore the surrounding area.