You don't have to be flamenco to want to stay and live here
He said Paco de Lucia that he decided to move to Toledo “because it is a city that takes you back in time, where you go out for a walk down the street and return home with a very beautiful feeling, of peace, of living in another time”.
The guitarist's muses had to hide in this cocktail of emotions that he was drinking, little by little, at his rhythm, during the seasons he spent in the city between 2000 and 2004.
In fact, in these rooms his album Cositas Buenas was born, whose chords, cadences and melodies were scratched in the house where Paco de Lucía lived when he went to Toledo and now, after years of abandonment after his death in 2014, it has been converted into the Entre dos Aguas boutique hotel.
Life is what revolves around this Andalusian patio
“He had hardly come to the house since 2007 and after his death nothing was done with her” , tells Traveler.es the director of the hotel, Rafael Carmena, who confesses that he got into this project "by chance and unconsciousness" , as the greatest adventures usually begin.
"By chance, since I entered Paco de Lucía's house because the father of a friend of mine had the keys to show it to people interested in renting. Due to unconsciousness, because he did not know the number of permits that would be necessary to start up the hotel”, he explains.
Located in the number 2 of the Plaza de Santo Domingo, This 15th-century Toledo house rubs shoulders with the muses. And it's not just because its patio and its rooms housed the genius of Paco de Lucía for years; it is also because the presence of the guitarist ended up forming a sort of triangle of art whose other two vertices make it up the Monastery of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, where El Greco was buried in the 17th century, and the one that was in the 19th century the house of Gustavo Adolfo Becquer _(San Ildefonso street, 8) _.
Inside, in the Hotel Entre dos Aguas, Paco de Lucía plays and it's easy to experience that "feel at home" that Gabriela Otel explains to the guests as soon as they cross the threshold of her door and give them the keys. Two, metal, to open the entrance door and the bedroom door, As if you were actually at home.
Here it is easy to experience that of feeling at home
Life in this hotel revolves around its Andalusian patio, with details halfway between the Castilian and the Mudejar that marked this city so much. Colorful mosaics made with material brought from Fez give warmth to an environment of white walls and wooden balustrades, where references to Paco de Lucía and his career abound. The kentias and their greenery are already beginning to gain prominence and claim a place like the one they had in the performances of the artist from Cádiz.
Guitars, busts, including one of Camarón; donated sculptures, photographs of Paco de Lucía taken years ago somewhere in this same house and even some ankle boots that once belonged to him dress some rooms in which the reforms were reduced to a minimum to respect as much as possible what had been his home.
Only the distribution of some of the six rooms, whose small number makes it possible for an overnight stay in a city of growing tourism like Toledo to be something exclusive and intimate. The cozy becomes easy when the crowded is on the other side of the door.
The message is clear: they take care of you here
Continuing with the premise of paying homage to Paco de Lucía, Rafael chose names such as Río Ancho, La Barrosa, Luzía, Almoraima, La Maestro and Cositas Buenas for rooms in which colonial-style furniture is distributed, simple and robust, seasoned with those details that send a message, a good and clear one: here we are taking care of you. From the entrance door to the third floor, where Cositas Buenas is hidden, camouflaged, a single room with views of the rooftops of Toledo in which Paco de Lucía sat down with his manager to compose the album that gives it its name.
Pure magic, like the one that is also breathed in the roof terrace, open at any time of the day to be enjoyed with a book, some letters, a coffee or a drink. At the guest's taste. Did we already tell you that you were going to feel at home?
If you think this is more of a cliché used ad nauseam to sell rooms than reality, try going down to his kitchen and to serve you what you want and when you want. Try having it on your patio or try looking for even more privacy on your ground floor.
Paco de Lucía plays in the studio
There, between corridors of vaulted ceilings and exposed brick, What was once Paco de Lucía's recording studio is hidden, and it still sports the foam plates that guaranteed good soundproofing. Collected and very quiet, it is the perfect place to close the door and isolate yourself from the world.
Meanwhile, outside, in the world, many things can happen. As long as it's Saturday and the Entre dos Aguas patio becomes a flamenco tablao where to enjoy one of those exciting shows; until it is any morning and Gina, with her perennial kindness, makes you a breakfast of those that make you wish that the next dawn arrives as soon as possible. How are you some toast with cheese, avocado, salmon and black olives? What if we wash it down with a freshly squeezed orange juice and a good coffee? We can finish it with a fruit salad with hints of mint.
WHERE TO EAT
Chanterelle Korokke _(Capuchin square, 2) _
It's celebrating. Celebrates three years making Toledo residents and visitors happy with their croquettes. Dense and soft dough, with a very fine batter, rather testimonial, which attests to that: that what is important is inside. And between stoves, responsible for happiness made croquette: Pillar, who tells us that to get inspired and create new varieties strip of own recipes or popular inspiration. If you had to choose: ratatouille or blue cheese and pear.
El Embrujo Tavern _(Santa Leocadia street, 6) _
The rule is true in this tavern: if it's full of people, it's good. Make a hole in your table, your dining room or your terrace; Y let yourself be advised by its staff, attentive, efficient and friendly.
the downfall was this
You will probably end up herding a venison casserole in sauce (12.50 euros) and thinking about how interesting it would have been to eat caramel cheesecake (4.50 euros) in your living room so you can clean your plate with your finger... Great guilty pleasures.
Alcázar Cafeteria _(Union street, s/n) _
It's a student cafeteria, with coffee with milk for one euro and just enough space to drink it quickly and go back to the books. That comfort is not going to distract us from what is really important. And it is that up to here, one goes up for the views.
Located on the top floor of the Alcázar de Toledo, one floor above the library, from its windows, at your feet, you can see the carpet of orange roofs of practically the entire city, among which the flying buttresses, buttresses and pinnacles of a cathedral that you will look at, for the first time, from a completely new perspective stand out.
HOW TO GET
Train from Madrid: the service Avant de Renfe de Media Distancia It is provided with high-speed trains specifically designed for short trips that allow taking advantage of the advantages of high-speed rail to attend mobility between nearby towns in very competitive travel times.
The Avant Madrid-Toledo service has 15 outbound and return frequencies daily (10 on weekends and holidays). The journey time is 33 minutes.
The first daily service from Madrid Puerta de Atocha leaves at 06:50 and the last one at 21:50. The first daily service from Toledo leaves at 06:25 and the last at 21:30.