Spain Trip Highlight: Hotel Rooms Shaped Like Wine Bottles!
Arguably one of the highlights of my trip to Spain with my dad was our stay at Cava & Hotel Mastinell last fall. I’ll admit, I picked it mostly because it was located in the middle of a working vineyard in a building shaped like bottles of sparkling wine lying on their sides. Could it get better?
The hotel was not cheap (~$220USD) compared to other options in the area, but it was the perfect chance to use my Orbitz Rewards on a non-chain hotel stay. Plus our rate came with a bottle of Gran Reserva Cava and breakfast in the highly reviewed hotel restaurant. With only 12 rooms total, I felt lucky to get one with twin beds.
Our GPS had a little trouble with the address, but fortunately I’d checked the directions they provided online and we found it without too much difficulty. Once you circle the town of Vilafranca del Penedes, there’s not too many buildings shaped like bottles…
As soon as I exited the car, I drew a deep breath of grape scented air and relaxed. Barcelona had been great but stressful. This hotel was everything I’d hoped and more.
At check in we were presented with glasses of Cava and the option for a reservation in the hotel restaurant. Learning from our earlier assumptions, Dad graciously agreed to the wine pairing dinner 🙂 We also set up a tour of the winery for the next day.
The problem was it was now 2PM. Dinner was 6 hours away and we hadn’t eaten lunch, and everything in the area was closed. The lady checking us in offered to see if something light could be sent to our room — just local cheese and meats? That sounded great.
So we threaded our way through the tasting room towards the elevator and our room.
We were put in Muscat, at the end of a long, modern, almost forebodingly dim hallway.
Very cool! Concrete floors, gorgeous view from the window which took up most of the wall.
I was relieved to see the bathroom was an enclosed room off the entry and not open-air like everything else. Not thrilled to see the shower and bath was glass walled, but Dad & I just worked out a schedule of talking walks when the other was using it.
Loved the Nespresso coffee maker and the promised bottle of Cava was waiting in our very own wine fridge!
And then the light snack from the restaurant arrived. Ahhhh….
Local cheeses and meats.
Hot baguettes and fresh tomatoes with salt.
A fantastic salad that reminded me of why I love fresh greens.
And fresh macarons and chocolates as a sweet ending.
We couldn’t have hoped for anything more perfect and at that point everything else could have gone wrong and the stay would have been great. But it got better.
To walk off our “light snack” we decided to check out the grounds and the nearby trail up to Montanya de San Pau, a steep hill overlooking the hotel and town.
Once we went down to En Rima for dinner that night, I was extra glad for the exercise earlier in the day. 6 decadent courses with free flowing Mastinell Cava wine pairings for only €45.
Next morning we headed back to En Rima for the decadent breakfast included in our rate. It started with a glass of Mastinell Brut Real 2007. 🙂
After breakfast we packed up and headed downstairs to tour the adjacent winery. It was a great experience and a great introduction to the production of sparkling wines for my dad.
It ended with a tasting of several still and bubbly wines, all affordably priced, but not shipped to the US. 🙁
Whether you planned a trip to this Spanish wine region or not, I highly recommend at least a night at Hotel Mastinell if you’ll be in or near Barcelona.
Nice! There’s a chance that I have to go to Barcelona in February, and I’ve added this to my list. Thanks!
Spain is a true foodie’s paradise.
Hotel is often on Sky Auction at very reasonable rates.
Keri! What a fabulously written and comprehensive review of Mastinell!
Thank you so much!
Axxx