Competition in Campiello

[peregrina2000]

Looks like the Casa Ricardo is offering Herminia some competition. It looks lovely. http://alberguecasaricardo.es/el-albergue/

I have a lot of respect for Herminia, even though she is frequently excoriated on the Spanish forum as a miserly capitalist. But I thought her albergue, her dinner, and her breakfast, had a good price/quality ratio.

Has anyone stayed in Casa Ricardo?

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Ouch! The website takes a clear stab at Hermina by mentioning the family's history, the thought process, architeture, environmental protection, etc.

Herminia has built practicality, like any good old "Estaduniense" but keeps pilgrims in a metal dome barn construction type building, next to the hotel with expensive wood trimmings etc. Maybe she missed the lesson on Location- location- location business lesson and invested too much considering what her clientele would be, and may irk those missing the Camino of 10 years ago, but she had the cojones to do it.

I think the Pesetas would have been better invested on Borres, on at the bottom of the Hospitales route, amongsts the cows, but that would not have allowed the family to leveeragw their current property. Let Herminia have what she has, help the new entrepreneur build where it is needed. Hello? Governments? No?

Best of luck to both.

 

[norelle]

Casa Ricardo was under construction when I was there in June.

It will be the first albergue pilgrims come to when approaching Campiello. It looked to have a nice patio area and is right across the street from a lovely little shop/bar.

 

[ramble-on]

The Casa Ricardo website says the next albergues after Campiello is Pola de Allende. I thought from gronze.com there was an albergue de peregrinos in Borres, a few km further on, and that would be the closest place to stay overnight before attempting the ruta de los hospitales, which if conditions are ok would be my intention. Casa Ricardo looks like a very nice place to stay but 28km to Berduceo with no services on the way is lots far enough. If Borres makes that stage shorter, that would be my preference. Can anyone clarify this for me? Many thanks.

 

[norelle]

The Casa Ricardo website says the next albergues after Campiello is Pola de Allende. I thought from gronze.com there was an albergue de peregrinos in Borres, a few km further on, and that would be the closest place to stay overnight before attempting the ruta de los hospitales, which if conditions are ok would be my intention. Casa Ricardo looks like a very nice place to stay but 28km to Berduceo with no services on the way is lots far enough. If Borres makes that stage shorter, that would be my preference. Can anyone clarify this for me? Many thanks.

Hi ramble-on,

Yes, Borres is beyond Campiello (about 5kms I think). The path splits just beyond Borres to either the Pola de Allende route or Hospitales.

Borres is the closest Albergue if you are walking the either route. I didn't stay there but many of my friends did. It's very basic (wasn't that clean) and the only place for food is the bar so make sure you have supplies for lunch the next day - you can pick up anything you need in Campiello.

I would stay in Borres if I walked that way again - just to make the day on the Hospitales route shorter.

buen camino!

 

[peregrina2000]

The Casa Ricardo website says the next albergues after Campiello is Pola de Allende. I thought from gronze.com there was an albergue de peregrinos in Borres, a few km further on, and that would be the closest place to stay overnight before attempting the ruta de los hospitales, which if conditions are ok would be my intention. Casa Ricardo looks like a very nice place to stay but 28km to Berduceo with no services on the way is lots far enough. If Borres makes that stage shorter, that would be my preference. Can anyone clarify this for me? Many thanks.

Hi, ramble-on,

The other thing about Borres is that if the Primitivo is crowded when you're walking, the 18-20 beds may not satisfy all the demand. Some report sleeping on the floor, others have said that some people arrived in Borres, found it full, and then walked back to Campiello. I would imagine that you will have a sense of how heavy the "traffic" on the Primitivo is by the time you have to make that decision though.

There is a thread that describes the differences between the two route for those who are still undecided. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/hospitales-or-pola-de-allande.28334/

I have walked both alternatives and was having a hard time deciding which way to go this coming summer. Since I have an extra day or two, if my knee is holding up, I would like to walk both ascents to the pass. The first day I would walk from Campiello/Borres, up via Hospitales, and then at the the Puerto de Palo pass, go down to Pola de Allande ("backwards") and spend the night there. That looks like about 24-25 km total, 16 or so from Borres to Puerto de Palo, and then Puerto down to Pola is about 8. Then the next day, back up to the pass, retracing those 8 km from Pola, and then continue on down to Montefurado, Berrucedo, etc. Pola to Berducedo is about 18, on to Mesa another 4 more, I think.

It is true that I would miss the part from Borres to Pola de Allande, but you can't have everything!

 

[Harington]

Looks like the Casa Ricardo is offering Herminia some competition. It looks lovely. http://alberguecasaricardo.es/el-albergue/

I have a lot of respect for Herminia, even though she is frequently excoriated on the Spanish forum as a miserly capitalist. But I thought her albergue, her dinner, and her breakfast, had a good price/quality ratio.

Has anyone stayed in Casa Ricardo?

I could scarcely waddle after Herminia's supper and breakfast. I thought she was great, and was extremely kind when I felt unusually exhausted. But as the footfall on all Caminos grows every greater, more facilities are needed, and I don't think Herminia will lose out.

 

[Harington]

I could scarcely waddle after Herminia's supper and breakfast. I thought she was great, and was extremely kind when I felt unusually exhausted. But as the footfall on all Caminos grows every greater, more facilities are needed, and I don't think Herminia will lose out.

That should read "ever greater". Sorry.

 

[peregrina2000]

I could scarcely waddle after Herminia's supper and breakfast. I thought she was great, and was extremely kind when I felt unusually exhausted. But as the footfall on all Caminos grows every greater, more facilities are needed, and I don't think Herminia will lose out.

Agree completely. And for those of you who have no idea what "bread fried in olive oil with fruit jams lathered on top" tastes like (foodies, don't knock it till you've tried it) , that feature of Herminia's operation may be worth the price of admission all by itself.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Borres is basic but you can spend the afternoon/evening on the terrace of the little bar in town. The food is excellent and the lady can prepare something for you for the next day such as a tortilla bocadillo.

 

[Theatregal]

Agree completely. And for those of you who have no idea what "bread fried in olive oil with fruit jams lathered on top" tastes like (foodies, don't knock it till you've tried it) , that feature of Herminia's operation may be worth the price of admission all by itself.

That fried bread with jam was indeed delicious!!!

 

[Theatregal]

I could scarcely waddle after Herminia's supper and breakfast. I thought she was great, and was extremely kind when I felt unusually exhausted. But as the footfall on all Caminos grows every greater, more facilities are needed, and I don't think Herminia will lose out.

Yes - I had a wonderful stay at Herminia's. Very comfortable place to sleep and the dinner was amazing! Very lively evening with great company. Herminia kept bringing out more and more food - we had to convince her we'd had enough. I agree - I expect both places will continue to do well as the Primitivo becomes busier.

 

[ramble-on]

Any or all those options sound perfectly satisfactory for a pilgrim's needs. I think that Borres is a little more than 2 km further on from Campiello, so it probably is not as big a deal to start from Campiello to go via Hospitales to Berrucedo. It would only add a 1/2 hour or so. Either way, I'll have to make a note to purchase the next day's supplies in Campiello or a bocadillo in Borres.

Laurie, thanks for the link. Your doubling back sounds like fun, although I don't think I've time to do it this time. At the end of walking from LePuy to SJPdP, however, I did walk over to Roncevalles the day after arriving in SJPdP and walked back the day after that, both by the Napoleon Route. I "lucked" out and had spectacular, warm, and sunny weather and it was absolutely glorious. My excuse, were one needed, was that I wanted to see the new albergue in Roncevalles - which is quite a change from the old dormitory that held 200 (or 300?) pilgrims in one large room! Still on my bucket list is to walk Arles to Puente la Reina via the Somport Pass.

Dick

 

[ramble-on]

PS I like walking high ways (but not carreteras)!