Hotel Monasterio de Leyre

A splendid stay in a monastery. A calm a quiet surrounding with a relaxing feeling. Great opportunities for hikes in the vicinity and great photo opportunities of the mountains and the monastery itself including the church.

I stayed here whilst on a Northern Spain motorcylce tour with a group of friends. The idea was to stay somewhere a little bit different, but it didn't quite live up to expectations. The hotel itself is perfectly pleasent, clean, and in a good location near Pamplona. It's part of a working monestary, but you won't really see anything of the monks unless you visit the chappel for one of the services which run 3 or 4 times a day. The rooms are very spacious, clean and comfortable. It's really the views over the lake and valleys below that make the hotel stand out for me. There's a central courtyard within the walls leading to the chappel, and they're very serine. We ate at the hotel (there's not much else nearby), but the food was decent enough. Nothing mind-blowing, but good quality. On the downside, you can very much tell you're in a location devoted to worship and not the sins of the flesh! We turned up late afternoon, but couldn't get a cold drink from the bar as it closed at 7pm. The restaurant opened at 8pm, where we could then get wine, etc. Once we'd finished our meal, we took a stroll outside. It was very obvious it was time for bed, as all of the lights suddenly went out around 11. I wouldn't disuade anyone from staying here, it's worth it for the views, but I probably wouldn't rush back.

Enjoyed our stay. Peaceful. Worth a visit