Hotel classifications in Galicia and Spain

The Spanish government has a banding classification system for the country’s hotels which naturally applies in Galicia. The objective of this page is to give you an idea of the quality and service standards you should expect from each of these accommodation options.

The classification system lists the following under the broad heading of hotels.
Be aware that any of the accommodation types below can and will call themselves a hotel, but that your expectations of a hotel and what they actually offer may be quite different. The "*" symbolises a real hotel

• Refugios


• Fondas


• Pensiones


• Hotels *


• Paradores *

Refugios

The Refugios are the most basic and sparse form of book-able accommodation available in Galicia and are nothing more than hostels. More common in rural areas and National Parks, refugios usually offer nothing more than a bed for the night. These should only interest you if you are a trekker, a cyclist or someone who does not covert their creature comforts.

Fondas

The Fondas are symbolised by a blue letter F on a white background. The typical Fondas will have a small number of bedrooms and may or may not have a bar or dinning room. This type of hotel is near the bottom of the scale and should be of interest only to those with economy in mind. Many Fondas are nothing more than houses offering a couple of rooms, but you may get lucky and have a home cooked meal and the experience of staying with a Galician household.

Pensiones

The Pensiones moves one step closer to what most would consider to be a hotel and this type of accommodation also has its own "star" rating. Pensiones are however not hotels and the standards of furnishings, décor and facilities will be of a lower standard than those one would expect of a "real" hotel. If you intend to stay in a Pensiones check it out thoroughly, it may be a basic but good, or nothing more than a former hotel that is now run down and de-classified from its former status.

Hotels

Hotels should have an internationally recognised star rating and will offer on-suite facilities, usually with a TV, coffee making equipment and a number of other hotel services. They will have a dinning room, bar and possibly a spar, gym or conference facility. Locations will vary.

All the hotels offered through Galicia Guide meet the hotel classification and should offer you a high standard of holiday accommodation.

Paradores

Paradors are variant on the "proper" hotel theme, but with the addition of a historic association to the building in question. Paradors are actually state managed hotels that utilise a protected and usually refurbished pazo (mansion) or castle as a modern hotel. Standards are always high and prices may be too, but you get to stay in national treasure and some are quite spectacular.