Amazing albergue - don’t miss it!

[Lulumom]

The municipal albergue in Cavabelos is not to be missed. It’s a semi circle of rooms with two beds facing a central courtyard around a church! The women who run it explained it used to be a horse stable. Gorgeous, sunny and staffed by really nice people. 5 euros! Looks outside of town on the map but is actually just on the edge of town. Easy restaurant access. We loved it! Stone walls and the whole deal. There are a few public photos on my Facebook page: Kim Bowman. Don’t miss this albergue!

 

[Mournes]

Stayed there in 2006.

 

[Stroller]

Loved it.

 

[Vacajoe]

Is it Cacabelos?

 

[RevBarbaraG]

Wanted to go there... it was closed . Schlepped back into town, exhausted, and ended up staying in a hostel/albergue which had repurposed some of its hotel rooms as albergue space. Two pairs of bunk beds, sharing a room with a hotel bathroom attached - nice compensation for the wasted trip!

 

[intrepidtraveler]

Stayed there in 2015 and enjoyed it. Wouldn't want to stay there in bad weather as bathroom access is across an open courtyard.

 

[Mournes]

Is it Cacabelos?

Yes,Cacabelos ,it sure is..

 

[Anniesantiago]

:::whispering::: I disagree

But I guess that's the thing - depending on a lot of factors (who is hospitalero, weather, time of year) reviews can be positive or negative.

My experience has been that on 3 different occasions, 3 different years, we found bedbugs.
And so though I realize this makes hospitaleros bang their heads against the wall because you can clean the place up on day and a pilgrim carries the bugs in the next, I still won't stay there again.

It is a rather cool-looking albergue, though, and one of the few that have only 2 beds per room, which is nice.

 

[naplesdon]

This place is not on my top ten, not even my top 20. I stayed there once. It was raining and the comment about a long wet walk to the restroom also reminded me there was only a small vending machine area at which to eat. The roofing system of this amazing semicircle is wide open and so you can hear the convesrations of other pilgrims at least 5 or 6 or 10 doors down. The night I stayed there I had two Italians in heat next door, who thought they had some personal privacy in their little cubicle, wink, wink, I shared every bit of their intimacy.
I stay there specifically so I could eat dinner at Moncloa de San Lazaro. That was a 5 star meal. The next time I visited Cacbelos I stayed at Hotel Moncloa and had dinner again.
The next time I am on the CF I will trundle on to Villafranca, it looks a lot more interesting.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Last spring I stayed in Cacabelos at the "motel" as I called it. I wouldn't say it was anywhere near a favorite of mine, but I found it unique and an interesting experience. I agree with both the positive and negative comments. I did have a rainy morning heading over to the bathrooms and although I never saw any bedbugs, for some reason I kept thinking about them the whole night. Maybe if my room had been next to the Italians in heat, like Don experienced, possibly it might have taken my mind off bedbugs!

 

[Oregon's Mark]

The municipal albergue in Cavabelos is not to be missed. It’s a semi circle of rooms with two beds facing a central courtyard around a church! The women who run it explained it used to be a horse stable. Gorgeous, sunny and staffed by really nice people. 5 euros! Looks outside of town on the map but is actually just on the edge of town. Easy restaurant access. We loved it! Stone walls and the whole deal. There are a few public photos on my Facebook page: Kim Bowman. Don’t miss this albergue!

Do you mean "Cacabelos", near Pieros?

 

[Jenyat53]

From memory when I was there in 2014 the toilet paper in the women’s was outside the actual cubicle which meant a good deal of guessing about aniticated requirements .

 

[MoniRose]

I had a good stay and great conversations with fellow pilgrims in the central courtyard, and enjoyed good hospitality from the owner. But I felt the sleeping arrangement was awkward. Just me and whatever stranger they put with me in a dark little cubicle. Fortunately I was with a pilgrim I had met earlier on the route. I may think twice about staying there again because of that.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I was with my son or would have felt awkward with a stranger too. Hopefully they only put same sexes together in those tiny rooms.

 

[MoniRose]

I was with my son or would have felt awkward with a stranger too. Hopefully they only put same sexes together in those tiny rooms.

Another albergue put me in a four-person room with three men I didn’t know. I didn’t find out until it was time for bed. Just wrong.

 

[lissie45]

Another albergue put me in a four-person room with three men I didn’t know. I didn’t find out until it was time for bed. Just wrong.

It sounds perfectly normal to me - I hostelled around Europe years ago and most dorms were mixed

 

[SabsP]

I was with my son or would have felt awkward with a stranger too. Hopefully they only put same sexes together in those tiny rooms.

Same sex only in those two beds rooms...Cacabelos and Azofra.

 

[SabsP]

Another albergue put me in a four-person room with three men I didn’t know. I didn’t find out until it was time for bed. Just wrong.

Why?
I had the most quiet night at Mansilla's muni where I shared a six bed dorm with two real gentlemen.
And I remember a night in Triacastela where I shared the dorm with three selfcentred women.
Guess what I preferred...

 

[Oxford Alice]

I stayed there last night in pouring rain. I can imagine it would be lovely in good weather by, uh ...

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Alice, thanks for reviving my memory of staying there with your great picture!