Hotel Atrio

San Mateo, at the top of the old city

Atrio is at Plaza de San Mateo 1, in the upper part of the monumental city, opposite the church of San Mateo and a couple of steps from Calle Ancha. From the door you walk down to the Plaza Mayor and pass Plaza de San Jorge and the Santa María co-cathedral without looking for them. It is a five-star Relais & Châteaux hotel with only fourteen rooms, and its reason for being is the restaurant: three Michelin stars and the National Gastronomy Prize, in the hands of the chef Toño Pérez and the maître d' José Antonio Polo, who have been in Cáceres for more than thirty years.

The building is the work of the architects Emilio Tuñón and Luis Mansilla, who raised a contemporary house between historic walls.

Fourteen rooms and eleven more on Calle Ancha

The hotel has four categories: superior double, junior suite, deluxe junior suite and superior suite. They are spacious, with restrained decor, works of art and views of the city. The website does not publish square metres or equipment by category: if the view or the bath matter to you, ask when booking.

The same house runs the Palacio Paredes Saavedra, at Calle Ancha 3, renovated by Emilio Tuñón and Carlos Martínez-Albornoz: eleven rooms of great luxury on three floors, each different, with pieces by artists such as José Pedro Croft or Jorge Galindo. If you are after more space and a palace to yourself, it is the other Atrio option.

Pools, cellar and dinner

There are outdoor pools, a solarium and a gym, and a private wellness room with steam bath, massage area and a magnesium-salt pool that is booked for exclusive use. The cellar holds more than 4,500 references and can be visited.

Coming here is almost always coming to dine. The house sells packages that put it all together, such as a night with tasting menu for two, or two nights in the palace with the Atrio tasting menu and a lunch at Torre de Sande, its eating house on Calle Condes. Prices are not published: you see them when you choose a date in its booking system.

What the website does not say

There is no public information on parking, dogs, check-in and check-out times or breakfast. Plaza de San Mateo is inside the restricted-traffic zone: call 927 242 928 or write to [email protected] beforehand so they tell you where to enter by car and where to leave it.