Hacienda Zorita Wine Hotel & Spa

Celebrity guests come and go — plenty of hotels, after all, have had a pop star or a politico muss up their sheets at one time or another — but it says something about Hacienda Zorita Wine Hotel & Spa that the name they’re proudest to drop is that of Christopher Columbus, who paid a visit to this one-time monastery near Salamanca on his way to the New World just over half a millennium ago.

That’s not to say the place is unchanged since then, though the contemporary interventions are subtle; only details like double vanities and the tasteful (electric) lighting break the fourteenth-century spell. The forty rooms are monastic in conception — tranquil riverside views, sparse furnishings, exposed wooden beams and stone walls whose thickness is measured by the foot. There are simple double rooms, and there are suites which offer a bit more space and a plush leather couch or two, as well as villas with private terraces and gardens, but none of them — and this is the point — come with a mess of distractions.

There’s much to be said for the peace and quiet, but the main reason to come here is for the food and wine. There’s so much wine that the cellar, which is big enough to resemble the overturned hull of a ship, can’t hold it all; the gorgeous Chapel of San Nicolás de las Viñas is full of oak barrels, too, right up to the altar. A drink in the tasting room, accompanied by cheeses, olive oils, and hams from Hacienda Zorita’s organic farm, is to live much better than a medieval monk.

Columbus, it turns out, remains pretty relevant to the spirit of the place after all. It’s austere enough to ease the conscience of a zealous Catholic missionary, but also the sort of hacienda you might choose if the Spanish Crown covers your travel expenses, with enough wine to last for as long a trip as you need.

How to get there:
Hacienda Zorita Wine Hotel & Spa is located (by car) 10 minutes from Salamanca, 2 hours from Madrid, and 1 hour from Valladolid.