We had yet to live it, so, pending the final details, CoolRooms Palace of Lights opened its doors to us a few weeks ago because, let's be honest: We were burning with desire to meet him.
The reasons were many, but one obvious one is that hotels of this caliber do not open every day in the north coast of Spain, although there is a clear commitment, increasing and especially from small groups, to raise the brightness of the green Cantabrian coast.
There is no more to surrender to the evidence: already proven that the saharan winds and the force of climate change squeeze summer after summer, the north is a destination on the rise.
Lighthouse of Lights, CoolRooms Palace of Lights, Asturias.
Little grace makes those who have spent their whole lives enjoying fresh summers with the raincoat tied around the waist because let's see, nobody wants their paradises invaded, but the good news is that there is no evidence that the overtourism be the goal here, but quite the opposite. For proof, this.
The creators of CoolRooms Atocha Palace , in Madrid, and Villapanes Palace, in Seville, with this they add a third hotel to their portfolio, which will soon grow with the opening of Palacio Duarte, in Porto, and another one in Lisbon. But let's go by parts. Let's go to Asturias.
Located next to beautiful (and very fishy) village of Lastres, this 16th-century mansion with later extensions and a garden of 13,000 square meters now boasts of being the only Relais & Châteaux in Asturias and, for just a few days, of the Condé Nast Traveler Spain 2022 award in the hotel category escape. But to achieve this, the CoolRooms team has been working on a deep remodeling since 2018.
CoolRooms Palace of Lights, Asturias.
the glohbi studio signs the reform of its 44 rooms –5 Deluxe, 2 Premium with garden, 23 junior suites, 5 junior suites with garden, 5 Suites and 4 CoolSuites– and the common spaces, in which they have wanted to maintain a certain classicism, which must breathe an Indian mansion, through upholstery vegetable prints, rugs and furniture.
green reigns as an obvious nod to the color of the Asturian meadows, but also to the vegetation of the Indies, where its former inhabitants made their fortune. Details like the lamps of Gabi Chillida, otherworldly flowers that dot the walls and fill them with little sparkles.
There's a lot to look at with a magnifying glass in this CoolRooms, a lot of history to unravel in its fireplace, in its billiards, in its hermitage; but also a lot to rest. You'll understand as soon as you see their wellness area, with a glass sauna that blends with the Asturian green, swimming pool deck and direct access to the solarium.
Gabi Chillida's designs illuminate CoolRooms Palacio de Luces, in Asturias.
He takes care of the kitchen Nacho Garcia Canellada, who better than an Asturian with a long history –and plenty of sympathy– to develop a proposal that looks at the land, of course, but also with winks to those Indians that are the backbone the history of the hotel.
The oyster and seaweed salad from the Cantabrian Sea, the morel ravioli with truffled pitu juice, Asturian bean stew (obviously), verdinas with mushrooms and Norway lobsters, leek vegetable cannelloni confit, stuffed with hake and purrusalda from its marrow… All this and more is Tella, the restaurant gastronomic of García Canellada who walks with a firm step towards a more than likely star. Everything will go. In addition, the chef takes care of the more informal The palm and room service, as well as some pastry bursting breakfasts and fresh breads. What bread.
One of Tella's proposals at CoolRooms Palacio de Luces, Asturias.
We often say in our articles dedicated to hotels that you won't want to get out of them. In this case it would be a mistake to do so. Come out, soak up Asturias (even if it doesn't rain) and take note of the visits that the hotel itself organizes for you to get to know the surroundings.
A step away, in the village of Lights, you will be able to know first hand, very delicate their hands, the work of the women who, one by one, clean and prepare the anchovies Hazas. A family business whose good work has allowed 2020 their anchovies were cataloged with 3 stars in the Great Taste , worldwide blind tasting held in London, and received the prize Golden Fork to the best imported product in the world. That never before in the world had a canning company achieved it says less than trying them. There you will understand everything.
Blue cheese with cider from Los Caserinos, Asturias.
The story of The Caserinos is also familiar, four generations of cowboys who have been more than a hundred years dedicated to making delicious cheeses and other dairy products. Rice pudding, bio yoghurts, afumau cheese and its multi-awarded blue cheese with cider are some of the hits.
But there is more: in his house, always open for groups and children's trips, you will come across pigs, horses, sheep, turkeys, donkeys… as if it were a Noah's Ark, only on solid ground... and with impressive views of the Sierra del Sueve.
Lastres deserves also a walk, not only for that postcard stamp offered by its perched houses on the sea and the mountains, so often snow-capped, as a background. He deserves it because his slice continues to be filled with life every morning with the live auctions of the fishermen.
Lastres, Asturias.
key in the mackerel Season, that sell mainly to haute cuisine restaurants and canneries, they also dance around here hake, monkfish, sea bream, bonito, anchovies... And it is right in front where Theresa Costales, Teté, will tell you about the (hard) work of nets , already in danger of extinction, but whose future she defends and reinvents by creating all kinds of accessories and souvenirs. Genius and figure.
They say that you always come back from Asturias with a couple of kilos more. Logical: who told you that happiness does not weigh?