Albergue de peregrino Cruz de fierro

I stopped here just eating, but it was great. The meat was delicious, the vegetable is soft, and the French fries enough salted. The best was the cake, that is hit. The total 11 euro (with coffee 👌)

I booked this albergue several days in advance through booking.com. However, it was closed when I arrived. I guess the owners decided to close the albergue for a while because the Camino between Astorga and Ponferrada was closed due to a wildfire until several days before my arrival (I saw such albergues in several villages). But if so, the albergue should not accept reservations. Seeing the closed albergue after a long walk wasn't enjoyable.

Awful management. We're pilgrims, we called 3 weeks ago for booking two beds, they mentioned "yes no problem, please call 2 days before". 2 days ago we called, the girl seemed to not know anything, but "confirmed" us. What a surprise arriving at noon today, finding the place closed, calling the phone again and receiving this as an answer "we're closed for several weeks now, there's a paper advising". There's no paper, it's closed and we have had to look for an alternative.

The dinner meal was fantastic! Seriously, better than any of the combination plates I’ve had at a restaurant along the Camino. And the hosts were kind and accommodating with our late (after dark) arrival! The price has gone up from what was online (€20) but with nothing else being open in winter, I was fine to pay it. (And there was lots of hot water!!)

I stayed here on the camino after the incredibly tough climb up to Foncebadón. Because of this I decided to splash out a little and stay in a nicer albergue, and I’m so glad I did. The showers here were enough to justify the price (€20/night with breakfast), the bathrooms are divided by sex and feature lovely clean showers that allow you to choose the temperature unlike many albergues where you press a button for 45 seconds of luke warm water at best. I would highly recommend taking advantage of this albergue to soak your sore muscles in a stunning hot shower. Also the room was very clean and the beds were comfy with sheets and pillows. This was definitely the best sleep I had all camino. The people who run it are also lovely, and turned on the heating for us as the evening turned colder, which was appreciated as it helped us stay warm and dry our clothes completely. I had a lovely chat with the man who runs it and overall enjoyed the beautiful views here and a brilliant night’s sleep. After the climb up the hill it is so worth treating yourself to the facilities here!