Hotel Villa Rosario

Sleeping in an indiano villa

Villa Rosario is really three houses on the Santa Marina beach promenade. Villa Rosario I is the mansion, an early 20th-century indiano building on the seafront at Calle Dionisio Ruisánchez 6, with direct access to the promenade. Villa Rosario II is the modern building at number 3, in the second row just behind the mansion and about 30 metres from the beach, with large glass windows. And the Chalé Antiguo de Zabala, at number 26, is a colonial palace from 1915 that is rented out whole. Turismo Asturias lists it as a four-star hotel with 17 rooms and 34 beds, open all year, which is unusual on this beach.

The rooms in the mansion

The mansion has three types. The Economy rooms are the smallest, all with a double bed; some have no view or are reached only by stairs, and the hotel itself does not recommend them for long stays. The Executive Signature rooms are all different because of the building's architecture: they do not face the sea head-on, but may be attic rooms, with side views, a balcony or a terrace. There are six Unique Sea View rooms, with direct sea views; two have a terrace, and one has a door straight into the garden. All have a television, safe, telephone, minibar and free wifi.

The modern building and the chalet

Villa Rosario II has four types: Studio, with a bedroom and an attic lounge where extra beds fit; Ground floor, with direct access to the street, the only rooms that accept pets; Standard, on the first floor; and Attic rooms, on the second. They have air conditioning and heating. It is the most functional option.

The Chalé Antiguo de Zabala is for groups or families who want the house to themselves: seven double rooms with bathroom, a lounge with a library, kitchen, dining room, wine cellar, an attic lounge with a cinema and a terrace over the sea, with the hotel's services. You book it by phone or email.

Breakfast, parking and pets

Breakfast is a buffet with à la carte dishes cooked to order. In the mansion it is included, except in the triple rooms, which pay €18 per person; in Villa Rosario II it is paid separately, at €18 per person. Parking is free: tell them when you book that you need it. Pets are only allowed in the ground-floor rooms of Villa Rosario II, at an extra charge, with prior notice, a vaccination card and a lead in the shared areas.

What it offers

The restaurant Ayalga, with a Michelin star, is in the mansion, and the hotel sells accommodation-and-dinner packages from €212. Turismo Asturias adds a café-bar, garden, meeting rooms and 24-hour room service. You book on its website, on 985 860 090 or at [email protected].

Getting there and what is nearby

Cross the bridge over the Sella and follow the Santa Marina promenade; the centre of the town is about ten minutes' walk away. In front of you are Santa Marina beach and its villas and the surf lessons; across the estuary, the Tito Bustillo cave and the Grúa walk.