More than simply a restored mill, hotel and country activity centre, this is
a little piece of history. "Alquería de Los Lentos"
is a great example of what loving, tasteful and painstaking renovation can achieve.
No effort has been spared by its local owners to respect, preserve, even recreate the
ancient Moorish architectural style, while ensuring comfort is never compromised.
Old folk in nearby Nigüelas have donated many items, often museum pieces that
would otherwise have been lost, to this marvellous little hotel, located in sunny countryside
just outside the village.
One
enters from an outdoor furnished patio but not before crossing the running watercourse
that drives the renovated 500-year-old mill machinery in the reception room and
bar. Old ploughs, yokes, saws and winnowing forks adorn the walls. Tables have
been fashioned from old urns, topped with glass. Here and throughout "El
Alquería" there are chestnut beams, old brick and stone walls, stable doors,
terracotta flooring and a fireplace (with added central heating when needed).
Ask about the spyhole …
One continues to the restaurant and dining room, to an interior patio with graceful
fountain and on to a remarkable Arabic bathing room, where light twinkles through
star shapes in the ceiling, tiling is traditional Granadino, and a Turkish-style
warm bath is there to be wallowed in.
The fifteen bedrooms have space, character and delightful touches: fantastic
old doors, beamed and roofed shower rooms, forged washbasin cradles; even the
light switches are ceramic collectors' items. Eight rooms are upstairs, where
terraces afford delightful views over the valley and up to a dreamlike peak behind.
The other seven rooms are on the ground floor and open to the gardens. One has
wheelchair access. All rooms have air-conditioning.
Outdoors there are facilities to please everyone: swimming pool, barbecue, stables,
a farmyard with animals. Walks and stories (in Spanish) for children are another
planned attraction. A market garden provides organic fruit and vegetables
for the Alquería's kitchen.
