CASA Eiró | Cabin in Vilamea, Galicia

Positive: Warm and cosy 2 bedroom cottage, both bedrooms with ensuite shower rooms, great showers, hot water. Living room downstairs with small dining table and kitchen space, well supplied with equipment (note no foodstuffs provided). All spotless. There is an outdoor space with table and chairs. Helpful owners! Easy parking for two cars. In a characterful rural area between the two hot springs of Lobois and Bande (Bande still flooded though)

Negative: Not the responsibility of the owners but hard to find good restaurants nearby - we drove a while and had a good meal. There may be more choice in high season.

Positive: A cute, querky little house, in a tiny village in the mountains, with three foot thick solid, stone walls, in a National Park. What more could one possibly ask for? Except of course: friendly and efficient hosts and cleanliness - both of which were supplied as well, in abundance! The owners arrived within minutes of me phoning and were assiduous in showing me everything. I loved this little house with its strange semi spiral staircase where the bottom step was huge but the top once miniscule. It has lovely, quite large windows, given the style and age of the property, which means you wake up to the sounds of birdsong and insects and views over the roofs of the old houses up into to the mountains. Very rural. The kitchen has all you need and the sitting area is very pleasant. The outside area is very spartan with only a table and four chairs on the concrete, but I suppose it is perfectly adequate. The internet worked perfectly, even outside at the table on the patio. Lots of things to do nearby - on the top of my list were the Roman ruins and hot water springs at Bano a few kilometres up the road towards Ourense. I liked the two pools (partly now submerged by the dam) next to each other - one fed with hot water from the earth the other with cold water from a man made stream from the mountains. And there are the remains of a Roman fort within easy walking distance. Those Romans knew how to build! If you visit the hot springs near the little house, be careful - they are very hot (50C) - I was told by a German who had burned his feet paddling in them. One thing: if you are using Booking.com, be careful of following their maps. I came from Portugal and the map showed me the upper route to the village before you cross the stream/river. It is almost impossibly narrow and I was sure I was going to bash my hire car, but managed just to get through. There is a much better route where you turn off at Vilamea a couple of kilometeres further along the road.

Negative: I'm not sure that the flanelette sheets were such a good idea in June - even in the mountains. They were flipping hot - maybe the hosts should think about swapping them for cotton ones during the summer.

Positive: - In a very calm village - Own car park - All equipments needed were there - By car, it is very close to Gerês and its surroundings (Portugal), but also to the hot water springs of Bande and Os Baños. - The owner's parents-in-law were very nice and extremely helpful. - The owner's flexibility despite we wouldn't come within the hours.

Negative: - As we were only 2, one of the rooms was closed for us, which felt pretty strange...