Albergue Restaurant el Pundito in Hontanas

[Ros. Linnane]

Plan to overnight here, early June, & wondering if anyone stayed here recently or found alternative accommodation in Hontanas?

 

[edandjoan]

We stayed at Santa Brigida and the showers were amazing. They guy running the place was so nice and we did dinner there too. We were the only ones to include the dinner which was lots of good food. Across the street was the municipal and others we knew stayed there without complaint.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

San Bol is where I plan to stay next time. It's in the middle of nowhere, just before Hontanas. From Brierly: " Basic hostel, new shower and w.c.!. No kitchen but communal meal. 12 beds. Delightful location by frove of poplar trees offering shade by the river. The water from the well are said to have healing properties and curing healing feet."

And for the following night, I would not miss Ermita St-Nicolas (13th C.) . No power in the Ermita, kitchen and bathrooms are in a separate building in the back. It's like a miniature paradero in terms of the history. Run by an Italian Confraternity, a beautiful large wooden table takes up half of the main floor, at the far end in an altar. Bunks are to the right of the entrace and up lovely wooden stairs. Also only 12 beds.

As you can tell, I am breaking up the 'traditional' etapas.

 

[edandjoan]

San Bol....a quiet place. We stopped and had lunch under the trees and then soaked our feet in the very very cold healing water. Chatted with a fellow pilgrim and then moved. If you don't stay the night, it is worth the short walk off the main way to visit.

 

[AJ]

And for the following night, I would not miss Ermita St-Nicolas (13th C.) . Bunks are to the right of the entrace and up lovely wooden stairs. Also only 12 beds.

Bunks for the pilgrims are on the ground floor, to the right as you walk in. The mezzanine is for the hospitaleros. The communal meal is good and far too much!

 

[naplesdon]

Plan to overnight here, early June, & wondering if anyone stayed here recently or found alternative accommodation in Hontanas?

I stayed at El Puntido in 2014, it is very popular and has a great bar and restaurant; they do have some private rooms. There are several other similar private accommodations there but I can't name any of them. San Anton is a albergue with 12 beds, serving a communal meal about 7 km beyond Hontanas.

 

[RENSHAW]

Plan to overnight here, early June, & wondering if anyone stayed here recently or found alternative accommodation in Hontanas?

I would start by saying that San Bol is a magic place, very isolated - there IS a kitchen in fact with a monster gas stove. The owner of Santa Brigida or a hospitalero comes and cooks for you. That would be my first choice.
Santa Brigida is also fab and I have spent a great night including dinner at el Pundito as well.
The Municipal albergue has mixed reviews and would not be top of my list.
Then , some dedicated forum members are reviving the quaint albergue just a few kilometers further on at the ruins of Saint Anton - this may be the best experience of all?

 

[naplesdon]

I would start by saying that San Bol is a magic place, very isolated - there IS a kitchen in fact with a monster gas stove. The owner of Santa Brigida or a hospitalero comes and cooks for you. That would be my first choice.
Santa Brigida is also fab and I have spent a great night including dinner at el Pundito as well.
The Municipal albergue has mixed reviews and would not be top of my list.
Then , some dedicated forum members are reviving the quaint albergue just a few kilometers further on at the ruins of Saint Anton - this may be the best experience of all?

Glad you mentionted that Renshaw, it's the reason I suggested San Anton in my post. I'm going to be a hospitalero there for the first half of July.

 

[NualaOC]

We stayed in El Puntido last year. It was fine - no complaints at all. The food was good, but it wasn't a communal pilgrim meal (individual restaurant tables).
We walked with some people who stayed in Santa Brigida and they really loved it.

 

[Ros. Linnane]

I stayed at El Puntido in 2014, it is very popular and has a great bar and restaurant; they do have some private rooms. There are several other similar private accommodations there but I can't name any of them. San Anton is a albergue with 12 beds, serving a communal meal about 7 km beyond Hontanas.

Thanks, I've made a reservation for a private room in El Puntido, which I must confirm one day in advance & I'm hoping that will be ok. I need to overnight in Hontanas as I finish in Fromista the following evening. Cheers, Ros.

 

[NualaOC]

Buen Camino Ros!

 

[naplesdon]

Thanks, I've made a reservation for a private room in El Puntido, which I must confirm one day in advance & I'm hoping that will be ok. I need to overnight in Hontanas as I finish in Fromista the following evening. Cheers, Ros.

That's 32 km the next day, good for you because it takes me 2 days at my age. I love Fromista and I have always stayed at San Telmo for a private room, chance to do laundry and long rest in the afternoon.

 

[Ros. Linnane]

That's 32 km the next day, good for you because it takes me 2 days at my age. I love Fromista and I have always stayed at San Telmo for a private room, chance to do laundry and long rest in the afternoon.

Thanks, San Telmo looks nice though I'm booked into Hostel Camino de Santiago for a single room, as its near the train station for the following day as I need to get a train to Santander.
Cheers, Ros.

 

[clearskiescamino]

I stayed in the municipal. I loved it there. Great facilities. I walked with other people who stayed in Santa Brigida also and they enjoyed their stay there. Seems you need to pre-book Puntido as the bunks fill up quickly. There were empty beds in both the municipal and Santa Brigida however.

 

[wayfarer]

We stayed at Santa Brigida and the showers were amazing. They guy running the place was so nice and we did dinner there too. We were the only ones to include the dinner which was lots of good food. Across the street was the municipal and others we knew stayed there without complaint.

We stayed here too in 2012, it was pretty new then. The food was good and the very nice lady we dealt with allowed us to take our washed boots upstairs and place them near a hall radiator to dry after a long hard wet slog through adobe mud. We found that day that we got taller as we walked because the mud built up on the boots and also got very heavy. We had to stop every few hundred meters and scrape it off and start all over again. I felt really sorry for the cyclists we met that day on the trail, the mud built up on the wheels and clogged the gears and brakes so they had to stop more often to clear everything, they also had to walk with their bikes as the mud was just too deep and sticky.

 

[clearskiescamino]

I met the same mud back in 2013 between Azofra and Santo Domingo
A challenge, to say the least.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I met the same mud back in 2013 between Azofra and Santo Domingo
A challenge, to say the least.

Let me guess: it was in May! I remember a long walk through a field of mud on CF that year as well.

I think we should start a new thread about that now infamous month: "The May 2013 Camino Chronicles" ;0)

 

[clearskiescamino]

Let me guess: it was in May! I remember a long walk through a field of mud on CF that year as well.

I think we should start a new thread about that now infamous month: "The May 2013 Camino Chronicles" ;0)

Yep, May 27th to be precise