Hotel Cal Sastre

Hotel Cal Sastre occupies two 15th-century houses in the medieval core of Santa Pau, on Placeta dels Balls, next to the village's arcaded square and castle. The restoration has kept the layout of the old houses and the character of the traditional village inns: the family that runs it descends from grandmother Ramona, who opened the first inn in Olot, and from the grandfather who was Santa Pau's tailor, hence the name.

Alongside ten rooms and a self-contained apartment, the hotel has a restaurant serving Garrotxa cooking, an outdoor saltwater pool overlooking the Santa Margarida volcano, and accessible rooms. Santa Pau lies at the heart of the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park, about 10 km from Olot and 50 minutes' drive from Girona.

Cal Sastre is run by the family of Jesús Pont and Margarita Colldecarrera, who began with the restaurant and later restored the two historic houses as a hotel. The hotel is also a local tourist information point and helps guests plan activities in the park: hot-air balloon flights over the volcanoes, carriage rides through the Fageda d'en Jordà, horse riding and cycling, walks and boating on Lake Banyoles.

Pets are accepted only in the El Refugi apartment. For family gatherings or small groups the whole property can be booked, for up to 19 guests.

The ten rooms, including Suites, Superior Doubles and Twins, are furnished with restored antiques and have teak parquet floors; some look onto the medieval castle, others onto the volcanic cones around the village. The offer is completed by El Refugi de Cal Sastre, a self-contained apartment with full kitchen, fireplace and private terrace.

Facilities: private bathroom, air conditioning and individually controlled heating, free Wi-Fi. Accessible rooms are available.

Cal Sastre's restaurant, spread over two floors with three dining rooms and a terrace under the arcades of the square, serves traditional Garrotxa cooking based on local produce. The house speciality is fesols de Santa Pau, small thin-skinned beans grown in the volcanic fields around the village; alongside the seasonal menu there is a tasting menu featuring the beans, botifarra sausage and yoghurt from the La Fageda cooperative.

The restaurant is open for lunch from 1 pm to 3.30 pm and for dinner from 8 pm to 10 pm; dinner must be booked and hours may vary in low season. Breakfast is served at the hotel.

Santa Pau is one of the best-preserved medieval villages in Catalonia: the 13th-century castle, the arcaded Firal dels Bous square and the houses of volcanic stone can all be seen in a few minutes on foot. The village lies within the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park, with some forty volcanic cones, among them Santa Margarida and Croscat, and the Fageda d'en Jordà, a beech wood grown on an ancient lava flow.

Olot is about 10 km away (15 minutes by car), Besalú and its medieval bridge about 20 km, Lake Banyoles 25 km. Girona is around 50 minutes away and the Costa Brava just over an hour; the nearest airport is Girona-Costa Brava.