Hotel Castillo del Alba

The Castillo del Alba is a three-star hotel built in 2001 on Calle Flórez Estrada in Pola de Somiedo, the capital of the council and the geographical centre of the Natural Park and Biosphere Reserve. It is small, with seventeen rooms, and medieval in feel inside and out: it was decorated by the interior designer Chus Quirós with slate, wood and marble.

Slate, wood and marble by Chus Quirós

The building, of stone and wood, has a garden and a children's play area. One detail worth knowing beforehand: in some of the rooms the bathroom is open to the bedroom, with the bath or washbasin in view and the toilet behind a door. Others have a closed bathroom. If you prefer that, ask when you book.

Doubles of 20 m², suites of 28 and bunks for four

• Doubles, about 20 m², with a double bed or two beds, a shower, flat-screen television, minibar, hairdryer, toiletries and free wifi.
• Suites, about 28 m², roomier and with panoramic mountain views: a hydromassage bath, a separate shower cubicle and a sitting area with a desk.
• Family rooms: several doubles have a small sitting room that converts into a bedroom with two 90 cm bunk beds, for families of up to four.

The suites and the upper floor have air conditioning. Turismo Asturias counts 35 places, three of them on extra beds, and a laundry service, a meeting room and a television lounge. Parking is private and free for guests. Check-in is from 15:00 and check-out before 12:00.

Picnics for the braña and guided outings

The hotel restaurant serves traditional Asturian cooking, with the gochu asturcelta, the native pig, and is also open to those not sleeping here. It prepares takeaway food and made-to-measure picnic bags, which suit a day at the Saliencia lakes, where there are no services up top, or at the braña of La Pornacal.

The hotel sells the Enjoy Somiedo package, which combines the stay with a guided outing: bear watching, of about four hours; a route through the park of six to eight hours; a one-night bivouac; the deer rut; reptiles and amphibians; the wolf, or environmental education. It does not publish prices: ask for them. If you prefer to go on your own, Somiedo Experience's bear-watching outing meets in the Pola.

No charge on booking, cancellation fifteen days ahead

Turismo Asturias gives indicative rates of €60.50 to €77 a night. High season runs from 15 July to 10 September, plus Easter and long weekends. It closes from 10 January to 10 March.

Book on its website, by phone or WhatsApp on 669 303 542, or on 985 763 996. You are not charged on booking: the card is held as a guarantee and they may charge the stay in the fifteen days beforehand. Cancellation is free up to fifteen days before; if you do not arrive or warn of a delay before 21:00, the booking is lost with no refund.