Wonderful B&B in Acebo

[neutra]

Just spent the night there last night. This is the first town you get to after the VERY steep descent about 17K out of Rabanal. Not a long distance travelled but all that "down" takes it out of you. If you want to treat yourself try this wonderful inn. 45€ for a doble includes breakfast but for an additional 10€ per person you can have a fabulous vegetarian dinner. Incredible fresh salad with pears and apples followed by a rice dish that was delicious. Rooms are perfect; new modern bathrooms, beautiful views of the mountains. The proprietor and his wife are charming. They have a Facebook page at "La Trucha del Arco Iris".

 

[franmaryp]

Agree,I especially appreciated the roaring fire when I arrived,it was very cold in early May of this year,in fact I woke to a fresh blanket of snowing covering the village

 

[grilly]

Yes, it's a good place. Very special.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Here´s another good word for Jaime and La Trucha. Jaime knows the trails around there pretty well, and when I was fed-up with the racket on the Frances he told mapped for me an old "romeria" trail from El Acebo that connects to Peñalba de Santiago, and onward from there to Las Medulas and the Camino Invierno. Had I not spent that evening at La Trucha, I would have missed one of the most wonderful, tough, and solitary hikes of all my camino experience.
And I would not have met his very charming baby goats.

Reb

 

[peregrina2000]

I was so disappointed to find that La Trucha was closed for renovation when I was there in summer 2011. Since I was planning to walk the Invierno from Sahagun, I had hoped to learn of this alternative through Penalba de Santiago, which would skip Ponferrada and allow me to visit this beautiful little town and church. Alas, Reb, I was unable to follow in your footsteps because Jaime was nowhere to be found, and all I heard from the shopkeepers and residents in El Acebo was that the trail was dangerous, poorly marked, and generally a bad idea.

 

[mspath]

During past autumn/winter caminos when La Trucha was closed the nearby Mesón El Acebo always offered hearty mountain food and a congenial local bar. Their private albergue upstairs was wonderfully WARM when cold fog and sleet covered the mountain slopes. Here is the Eroski web link >> http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es./albergue-meson-el-acebo

Margaret Meredith

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Margaret,

I second the recommendation for the Meson El Acebo. The family that runs the place has roots that go way back and they are really decent people. I've stayed in their albergue, too and was happy for the heat! And this was in spring, not winter.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[colinPeter]

Have stayed with Jaime at La Trucha a couple of times, it's like meeting up with an old friend when seeing him again.
Last time we enjoyed seeing all his good work with the renovations.
Highly recommend staying with Jaime at La Trucha.
Buen Camino
Colin

 

[hampshire!tim]

Another vote for Jaime. Lovely man, lovely welcome, vegetarian and will serve vegetarian dinner. The view from the bedroom to the hills is superb. Nice dogs too and he talks beautifully about his goat and the spring where he gets pure water.

 

[sriyantra]

Laurie, this day of hiking would be like a walk in the park for you. Except for a long section of badly paved two-lane road that you would not like at all.

I left Peñalba at about 7:30 a.m., and dragged my carcass into Medulas just as the sun went down... that was April, when the sun goes down about 7:30 p.m. or so. I had a hard time finding someplace open for dinner, ended up eating all the leftover roasted red and green peppers in the only open bar in town and drinking about seven cañas!.. (it may have been Sunday). So let´s say 12 hours hiking. I did stop a few times, btw. And DO NOT drink the water from unmarked fountains up there!

I did this walk in 2010, a very solitary walk all the way from Roncesvalles to Santiago. I left the Camino Frances in El Acebo and picked up the Camino Invierno in Las Medulas -- it became a real journey of discovery!

Hi Rebekah,

I am a bit confused (not hard to do late at night) but is Acebo and Holly the one and the same? I have written down La Rosa del Agua as a possibility to stay at but on one search it says situated at Acebo and another is says Holly. Thanks for your help. Sriyantra

 

[Rebekah Scott]

El Acebo is Spanish for "holly tree."

 

[Susannafromsweden]

I'm testing a new way of splitting threads in the updated software, starting with this thread.
The thread about going from El Acebo to Penalba de Santiago can now be found here:
http://www.caminodesantiago.me/comm...l-from-el-acebo-to-penalba-de-santiago.26012/
Thank you,
Susanna/Mod.

 

[BevBeevers]

Meson El Acebo had a timer light switch in the morning leaving everyone in the dark trying to pack their backpacks.. The door to the meson from the dormitories was locked, only the exit door to the street open, nowhere to breakfast, and no sign of the owners. A long downhill walk followed without so much as a coffee, abysmal!!

 

[peregrina2000]

I have stayed in both La Trucha and the albergue in the Mesón El Acebo and had a very good experience in both. The mesón is owned by a family whose roots in El Acebo go way way back. Anyone who walked in the early 2000s will remember that this was the only place in town at that time. The father died about a year ago. The daughter has taken over and she is spread pretty thin with her family and her work. They have also gotten a lot of competition from the two private places right at the entrance to town, and from the huge private albergue at the end of town (the building that looks like a hotel with a circle driveway with huge flags flying) At least two of these three businesses are owned by "outsiders," not that there´s anything wrong with that, but I think the family feels a little under siege. IMO, the food served at the mesón is much better than at the other two places on the main road.

It´s always a good idea to check to see what time cafés open in the morning. Now that the mesón´s albergue business is so limited, I think they probably have little incentive to open early for breakfast, but might on request.

buen camino, Laurie

 

[BevBeevers]

With stiff competition all the more reason to provide at least "light" whilst dressing in the morning..

 

[Tia Valeria]

With stiff competition all the more reason to provide at least "light" whilst dressing in the morning..

I would respectfully wonder at what time the light should come on. Maybe it is later than some would wish, and maybe there would be breakfast at a 'reasonable hour', which might be too late for early starters. Some albergues have wake up calls etc and breakfast rather than encouraging early leaving, especially as mornings get darker. Maybe this is what is happening here.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The mesón is owned by a family whose roots in El Acebo go way way back. Anyone who walked in the early 2000s will remember that this was the only place in town at that time. The father died about a year ago. The daughter has taken over and she is spread pretty thin with her family and her work.

I stay at Meson el Acebo out of loyalty. They were there for pilgrims before the new places cherry-picked the tired pilgrims at the entrance to the town. Lunch crowds are down noticeably, and dinner is a bit of an empty restaurant. I don't give a lot of support to pilgrims who demand service, but I am willing to admit that there is a level that must be considered a minimum. There has always been desayuno when I was there (a bit over a year ago), so if competitive factors have forced that to end, the end may be in sight for this Camino institution.

It saddens me that you had a bad experience there. I did not know that there was a way out of the albergue that did not go through the bar! In its glory days, it was a superb albergue and bar/restaurant.

As to light switches on timers, it is the wave of the future. Energy costs are the largest cost in operating an albergue. Pilgrims leave lights on, so they are bringing the timers onto themselves. It is irritating, but consider it from the owner's point of view. Like automatic-off showers, it is about the only thing that the albergue can do to react to thoughtless pilgrims. It is not a high margin business by any means!

 

[hampshire!tim]

I ate at Meson el Acebo. It wasn't too many months after the father died. It was apparent that the family loss was affecting everyone, and yet I still enjoyed the place, the meal and their concern for my bad self-inflicted shaving cut which I had clumsily administered.
I wish them well and would certainly support and prefer them over a more modern but minimal personality experience.

 

[La Barre]

Sorry to hear about your experience, Bev. I have stayed at Meson El Acebo on my 3 Caminos, they have always been more than gracious. I stayed there this June( 2014) and the family had a funeral to attend and so did not open for breakfast and you did indeed have to leave through the back door, perhaps it was the same day you were there. They did tell pilgrims about the situation, and indicated it was because of this they would not be open.

 

[La Barre]

Checked my Credencial, I was actually there on June 1st. I cannot attest to the light situation as I don't get up before daylight, not a morning person. By the way, I went back up the street and had breakfast at one of the new albergues.

 

[shefollowsshells]

Just spent the night there last night. This is the first town you get to after the VERY steep descent about 17K out of Rabanal. Not a long distance travelled but all that "down" takes it out of you. If you want to treat yourself try this wonderful inn. 45€ for a doble includes breakfast but for an additional 10€ per person you can have a fabulous vegetarian dinner. Incredible fresh salad with pears and apples followed by a rice dish that was delicious. Rooms are perfect; new modern bathrooms, beautiful views of the mountains. The proprietor and his wife are charming. They have a Facebook page at "La Trucha del Arco Iris".

Is this the place where you have to take a left while going thru town and it looks out on the backside ?
A gal who I ran into often on my Frances stayed there...I went to grab her for a drink and the host was an angel!
He was making a vegitarian dinner, and I believe was exclusive "veggie" all of the time. He was so kind, I was not staying there and he offered for me to stay. I stayed at the parochial place, loved every minute of it and of course ate there...but his hospitality was so sweet.
One of my favorite characters of the Camino was is dog!!!!
A big hairy critter with a HUGE over bite! Loved that fella!

 

[peregrina2000]

Is this the place where you have to take a left while going thru town and it looks out on the backside ?
A gal who I ran into often on my Frances stayed there...I went to grab her for a drink and the host was an angel!
He was making a vegitarian dinner, and I believe was exclusive "veggie" all of the time. He was so kind, I was not staying there and he offered for me to stay. I stayed at the parochial place, loved every minute of it and of course ate there...but his hospitality was so sweet.
One of my favorite characters of the Camino was is dog!!!!
A big hairy critter with a HUGE over bite! Loved that fella!

yes, that's where La Trucha is, Shefollowsshells. The owner, Jaime, serves only veggie dinners. Rebekah and I stayed there this past July during our Valle del Silencio circle. Jaime knows all about those trails and can give you lots of advice if you're inclined to leave the pilgrim rat race for a few days.

 

[colinPeter]

.... Jaime, serves only veggie dinners....

Yes, and they are wonderful meals, we've stayed with Jaime twice, lovely man.
Colin