Hotels with history

The landmark CastelBrando

Towering from its hillside promontory in Italy’s UNESCO-listed Prosecco Hills, the magnificent CastelBrando spa hotel is a cornucopia of historical bounty, with its 2,000-year timeline making it one of Europe’s oldest castles.

The first of the site’s many past lives was as a Roman fort along the Via Claudia Augusta – an ancient military road over the Alps named after the Emperor Claudius Augustus. Many fragments from this era can be spotted throughout the hotel today: the ruins of the prisons and baths, the preserved Roman oven, and the stones from the castrum that were used to build the main tower in the medieval period.

Time has served to embellish the structure; as ownership passed through the hands of various authorities and noble families – notably the Brandolini family who owned it for over 500 years – the fortress transformed into the complex of battlements, annexes, and the central, palatial building we see today.

There is even a museum dedicated to telling the story of the site within the castle grounds – exhibiting weaponry, artefacts, and the clothes of historical figures, and running tours of the vaulted prison cells and the Church of San Martino.* The surrounding hills and forests are also woven with hiking trails and dotted with historical remnants.

But it’s inside the hotel where you really get to feel like you’re living and breathing in another era yourself. Guests stay in rooms in the 16th- and 18th-century wings of the castle (the former once reserved for nobility, the latter for ladies-in-waiting and governesses), each with unique period furniture and carefully conserved historical features, such as original windows, high or varying ceilings, and even, in some, authentic frescoes. Every room displays a different coat of arms, in a nod to the centuries of noble marriages made by previous castle residents.

Wrapped in stories, in short, CastelBrando is more than a place to stay – it’s where the past comes alive.

*Please note: there is an admission fee for the museum and tours.

Stay here on our Walking the Prosecco Hills holiday

Paradores and Pousadas

Rooted in culture and heritage, these Spanish and Portuguese establishments are known for often occupying and revitalising historic buildings, preserving the past while providing the modern comforts of the present.

We’ve collated a list of some of our favourite Paradores and Pousadas to inspire your next memorable stay.

Pousada Castelo de Palmela, Portugal

Like memories contained inside a treasured locket, this Pousada is a former convent from the 15th century, set within a medieval castle built sometime between the 10th and 12th centuries. The old cells make up the bedrooms and the hotel’s restaurant was once the monk-warriors’ mess hall.

While the fortress may have been originally constructed on its high hill for strategic purposes, its position 230 metres above sea level is now celebrated for its spectacular panoramic views, overlooking the Serra de Arrábida, Sado estuary, Lisbon plains, and even over to the Atlantic Ocean.

Parador de Monforte de Lemos, Spain

Blending Neoclassical Baroque style with Gothic and Renaissance influences, this Parador is a palimpsest of historical layers. It’s housed within the Monumental Complex of San Vicente do Pino, made up of a former monastery, the Palace of the Condes de Lemos, and a medieval keep.

The monastery you see today, while built between 1626 and 1802, has origins that can be traced back to the 9th century, and features a three-storey, intricately carved cloister at its centre, looking down on an ancient rainwater cistern and around which guest rooms are arranged.

Pousada Forte da Horta, the Azores, Portugal
Here, the medieval ramparts of a 16th-century fort still stand, their role now to shield a splendid, 4-star hotel.

If these walls could talk, they’d tell of the pirates they were originally built to keep out, the Spanish Armada, the British Navy, and the soldiers who used to live under their protection until the mid-20th century.

Where better to relax than in a guarded stronghold with a track record of almost 500 years, the crystal-clear swimming pool right by the battlements?

Parador de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Believed to be one of the oldest hotels in Spain – and in the world – this building has welcomed travellers to the city of Santiago de Compostela since the 15th century. It was commissioned by the Catholic Monarchs (Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile) and started out as a Royal Hospital for weary pilgrims.

Now it’s a luxurious, 5-star hotel set within the building’s timeless frame, retaining its courtyards, cloisters, and tapestries, with the addition of a museum.

Pousada Mosteiro de Amares, Portugal
Only a short distance away from the lush rolling hills of the Peneda-Gerês National Park, the Mosteiro de Amares is based in a restored Cistercian monastery dating back to the 12th century.

Flaxen-coloured stone walls and arcades flank the garden, fountain, and courtyard of orange trees, overlooked by tastefully decorated rooms, and what was once the convent kitchen is now used as the hotel restaurant.

Warm and reposeful while harking back to the days of the past, this Pousada is a perfect blend of the monastic and the modern.

Old Town overnight stays – a four-night feature

Bavaria’s natural beauty is captivating, but just as charming are the streets of the Altstadt (Old Town) that you’ll find in many of the German region’s cities and communities.

On our Munich & Füssen four-night holiday, you’re able to stay right in the historic heart of both locations – in establishments that go back hundreds of years – and truly immerse yourself in their stories.

For the first two nights, you can upgrade your stay in Munich to the 4-star Hotel Torbräu, which started out in 1490 and has been owned by the Kirchlechner family since 1903. Not only that, but the building is tucked inside the Old Town right by the Isartor gate – built in the 1300s and which, bolstered by a few restorations over the years, is one of just three remaining medieval gates in Munich. Its original main tower still stands, but with an unusual tweak made to its clock that faces the hotel – it runs anticlockwise in homage to the late Bavarian comedian Karl Valentin (find out more about him and actress Liesl Karlstadt at the on-site museum).

In Füssen, Inntravel accommodation is at the 350-year-old Altstadthotel zum Hechten in the centre of the colourful Old Town. While the hotel has been run by the Pfeiffer family for four generations, the town chronicle dates it as one of the oldest stays in the region. This makes it the perfect base for discovering the history of Füssen itself (like CastelBrando, the town sits along the ancient Via Claudia Augusta, among other famous long-distance routes) and the nearby Neuschwanstein Castle – recognisable for its iconic turrets and fairy-tale setting.

Find out more about this short holiday with a long history

Faces of the past

If you, like us, have ever stopped to wonder, upon entering an old hotel, about all the people before you – who’ve walked the same hallways, slept in the same rooms, and laughed with their companions in the same grounds – and wanted to know more about them, you’re in luck.

Many of our chosen hotels have seen famous faces come through their doors...

• The Imperial Hotel, Cork, Ireland. Previous guests here include Charles Dickens, Grace Kelly, John F. Kennedy, and leading Irish revolutionary, Michael Collins.

• Hotel Vila Bled, Bled, Slovenia. This grand 4-star hotel is the former summer residence of President Tito of Yugoslavia and has seen many influential guests arrive for formal occasions.

• Welcome Hotel, Villefranche, France. Famous guests have included Pablo Picasso, Kiki de Montparnasse, and Winston Churchill, but the Welcome Hotel was also a particular favourite of Jean Cocteau, who stayed for long periods in what is now room 22.

• Hotel Richard Löwenherz, Dürnstein, Austria. With its own fascinating history as a convent, monastery, and even partly a tavern, this beautiful hotel is named after Richard ‘the Lionheart’, who was imprisoned in Dürnstein Castle on his way back to England after the Third Crusade.

Hotels with history

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