Casa Rural Carlota, Breña Baja

Carlota is a country house over a hundred years old in a vineyard area of Breña Baja, on the east slope of La Palma, facing the sunrise and restored in its traditional style, with large windows that let in the morning sun. It has two bedrooms and is marketed by the Asociación Turismo Rural Isla Bonita, which sells it for its views, its silence and its starry nights.

The balcony over Breña Baja

From its hillock you see Puntallana, Santa Cruz de La Palma, Breña Alta and Breña Baja, sea and land at once, and on clear days Tenerife and La Gomera on the horizon. Around it there are vines and native plants, and the house keeps traditional features such as cisterns. Inside, according to the entry of the Cabildo's StarsIsland club, a large living room with the old kitchen, with a hooded fireplace, wooden cupboard and period tiles, wooden ceilings and floors and a small travertine marble bathroom.

Telescopes at home

It is one of the astronomy-themed country houses of the Cabildo's StarsIsland product club. In that club's entry it is listed with a Celestron CPC 800 telescope and a NexStar 6SE, with their sets of eyepieces, 15×70 binoculars with a tripod, planispheres, astronomy books in several languages, a green laser pointer, a Polaris finder, a ceramic plate with a compass and a sundial, plus a tablet and a laptop with astronomical information. Ask when booking what equipment the house has today, because the association's website does not detail it, and whether someone will show you how to set it up.

Getting there and getting around

You arrive by the El Brezal track, the one of the PR LP 18 trail, which links the beach of Los Cancajos, about 8 minutes by car away, with the El Pilar refuge at the summit. AstroLaPalma's guided observations and the night photography tour leave from Los Cancajos, so the return at night is short. For dinner nearby, Casa Osmunda, in Breña Alta, and the Parador restaurant, in El Zumacal. Do not turn up unannounced: the association's office gives you the time and place where the owners will meet you.

The 40% deposit

Book on the Asociación Turismo Rural Isla Bonita website, from €90 a night, or on 922 430 625 and 650 082 553. To confirm, you must pay 40% within 48 hours, with the booking number and your name; otherwise it is cancelled. If you cancel, they keep from the deposit 25% with more than 15 days' notice, 50% between 15 and 7, 75% between 6 and 4 and all of it with less than 4. Shortening your stay gives no right to a refund, and if more people arrive than were booked, the owner may refuse them or charge a supplement. The website does not publish the maximum capacity, check-in and check-out times or rules on children or pets: ask before paying.