Grand hostel offering simple quarters in a 17th-century baroque monastery, plus low-key dining.
Address: Travesía San Nicolás, 4, Villafranca del Bierzo
Phone: 620 32 93 86
Website: http://www.sannicolaselreal.com/
Turn this route data into a practical day plan with live maps, elevation profiles, and stay planning.
09/13/2024 We (pilgrims) found bed bugs/chinches within a few hours of arriving. I brought this up to the receptionist, they responded that I should just change beds. They also told me the room that me and a few other pilgrims were staying in had been “disinfected” for four days already and that other pilgrims either bring the bed bugs in or a few survive from whatever they use to clean the rooms and to otherwise change beds if you find one in your bed. In between talking to the receptionist about the issue, they were checking in another couple in the same room we had just said had bedbugs. All of us got refunds (half if you’ve used some of their amenities already), but it’s clear they’re aware they have bedbugs. We understand bed bugs can be extremely hard to get rid of and don’t want to want to be unkind, but we want others to understand the possibilities of bed bugs before staying here. Super unfortunate because the place is BEAUTIFUL and affordable in the small town.
Where to start? Beautiful building and great rooms, no bunkbeds. However, I am the only pelgrim here. Perfect because I have a whole room to myself. However, the staff seems really uninterested or perhaps even annoyed to have guests (same as 2 years ago with other staff). This place could be so so great but even on the Buen Camino app, there is only one picture which does not do justage to the place. On booking.com, they do not even show an option for a shared room (dormitory). Oh, and they do not let you use the kitchen, it is there but locked. I think they make an effort to "anti advertise" this place for pelgrims.
Caution!! My friends and I are pilgrims, and stayed at San Nicolas for the evening. The bedrooms seemed clean but in the middle of the night, someone woke up to their bed covered in bedbugs. We were all woken up and then checked our beds and nearly all had bedbugs. We left a note at reception and we called the owner the next day to inquire about a refund but never heard back. I do not recommend.
Beautiful old monastery, very budget rooms with excellent bathtub/ shower. The shower gel provided was the best on the Camino to this point, staying in budget accommodations.
Beautiful church but if you’re a pilgrim looking to stay in the Albergue, ask to look at the beds before you choose to stay. We left not even 2 hours into our stay, due to bedbugs. It’s extremely frustrating because as we are all hiking on this pilgrimage and needing beds to sleep, there are many pilgrims staying in this Albergue and therefore the bugs will be transferred in our (the pilgrims) stuff. While we are lucky to have caught it when we did, many pilgrims were not aware of the issue.
