At the Mas El Mir hotel, the hammocks are also for autumn.
Imagine: you wake up whenever you feel like it. The cell phone doesn't ring, neither does the alarm clock. Only the distant crowing of a rooster that has forgotten to get up early today is heard. You try to get out of bed but it's not easy natural linen sheets and down cushions seem to pull you in until, finally, you manage to put on your bathrobe and go to the window where the morning light filters through.
Wherever you look, you only find that autumnal postcard you have been dreaming of all this time in the office: reddish, gold and brown forests, valleys outlined by meadows where cattle graze and green hills that stretch as far as the eye can see.
You realize that you are lost in a forest in the Girona Pyrenees and that everything is calm, peaceful. You have put yourself in the hands of nature to forget everything (at least for a few days) and to come to this place, to Mas El Mir. But how did we end up here?
Mas El Mir occupies an old farmhouse from the 14th century.
LOST IN PYRENEES
Mas El Mir is an old Catalan farmhouse from the 14th century converted into an intimate rural hotel lost in the woods of the Ripollés region, at the gateway to the Pyrenees.
Five rooms, an environment to compete with that of Smiles and Tears, rigorous disconnection and a lot of soul. Yes soul, since in this way we have all been told about this coquettish accommodation: a 'hotel with a soul'. And what better way than to get out of doubt with an autumn getaway.
El Mir is located just six kilometers from Ripoll, the region's capital, on top of a hill that can be accessed by driving along the C26 road and taking a winding path. At last we see the farmhouse, with its robust stone structure (1,500 m2) ocher color, surrounded by a four-hectare farm where several sheep and a friendly donkey roam freely.
As soon as you enter you feel that you have already disappeared, without clichés. If you had something to do, you've already forgotten it. You have forgotten work, worries and the rest of the world: that is the gift. Let's see if that 'hotel with a soul' is going to be true.
In the central courtyard, with views of the mountain, there is a small pool with hammocks and a chill out area and on the entrance porch, a bed arranged with cushions, candles and wild plants that invites you to lie down, relax and leave Instagram for another time, which doesn't count here.
Mas El Mir is decorated with recovered antique furniture.
Eva Arbonés, the owner, welcomes us and shows us all the rooms of this farmhouse in a wonderful state of conservation. We haven't heard a single noise yet, just Eva's voice, telling us that she was looking for a place with these characteristics for nine years to open her long-awaited rural hotel.
Finally, last fall she found El Mir and got down to business. “In March I started the remodeling, always respecting the original structure of the farmhouse, and in three weeks the doors of the hotel were already open. It was all very fast”, explains Eva.
The hotel is an ode to rustic minimalism. From its stables, decorated with precious still lifes with baskets, candles and chandeliers; its stone porch, where the different products from the neighboring orchards are stored; the common rooms, the chill out spaces or the rooms, which deserve a separate chapter.
On her travels, Eva has been buying furniture and antiques for years to create today an interior design collection cared for in the smallest detail. “I love that people feel at home here, that they relax and unwind”, confesses Eva, “it really didn't cost me anything to decorate El Mir. Almost all the furniture you see I had in my house. I just moved in and put everything together."
Espernellac room at the Mas El Mir hotel, Girona.
THE VALUE OF SIMPLE THINGS
How could it be otherwise, the rooms (between €125 and €145) are named after native Ripollés plants: Espigol, Espernellac, Civada, L'Hisop and Milfulles; its beds, natural linen sheets and down cushions; its bathrooms, marble sinks and vintage taps and its walls and ceilings, the same wood with which they were restored decades ago to preserve their rural aesthetics.
In short: the forest cabin you always dreamed of but with organic amenities and Wi-Fi. "For me, the essence of the farmhouse is that austerity, valuing simple things, life in the countryside: disconnection. It's like living in another era”, explains Eva. In addition to the five rooms, the hotel has a private home, La Casita, as Eva calls this single-family apartment with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and its own garden.
Lie down to read in the cozy living room in front of the fireplace now that the cold arrives; prepare a gin and tonic at your leisure in the old kitchen or look for the best chill out corner to take a nap. The goal is to do nothing, just enjoy. Nature is the only one in charge here and we simply obey.
Each of the bathrooms at El Mir is personalized with antique details.
AT DAWN... OR A LITTLE LATER
In the morning, the smell of coffee and freshly made sponge cake indicates that it is time for breakfast, which here usually lasts until one in the afternoon, without rushing. If the rooms needed a separate chapter, the breakfasts too.
At Mas El Mir everything is seasonal and local . Fresh milk and yoghurts from Las Llosas, cheeses and cured meats from Ripoll, pastries and bakery from the villages of the Vilardell valley, vegetables and fruit from an organic garden in La Garrotxa and homemade eggs. All arranged in the dining room in an extensive magazine assortment where you will almost always find some cake or sweet made by themselves.
The dinners are established with a closed menu according to, in the words of Eva: "whatever you find in the market that same day". Of course, she clarifies, "one day meat and the other fish. You have to vary". Here everything is done with care and care and right away you realize. If you have any type of food allergy, rest assured, this is your place; and if you have a pet, too, but with a supplement of 15 euros.
The homemade and local breakfast is served until one in the afternoon at El Mir.
EXPLORING THE RIPOLLÉS
If at any time you get stressed between so much peace and harmony, the natural environment that surrounds Mas El Mir is ready to be explored.
in ripoll cyclists will find the Iron and Coal route, a bicycle itinerary that runs along the old railway line to Ogassa (14 km) . In Ripoll, a visit to the Romanesque monastery of Santa María, built in the 9th century, is a must. Its spectacular doorway and interior cloister stand out.
A little further north, lovers of trekking can take the rack railway from Ribas del Freser to the Sanctuary of Núria and jump to conquer the peaks of almost three thousand meters that surround the iconic valley on the border with France. The route to Puigmal (2,913 meters) or Pic del Segre (2,843 meters) are the most popular.
Those who want to take it easy can walk along the path of the gorgs (pools) following the course of the Vilardell river, between waterfalls and riverside forests, stroll to the hermitage of Remedio or to the ruins of the church of Santa María del Catllar, near Mas El Mir. Like everything here, the key is to let go.
The Núria Valley is perfect for trekking.
Rustic details at the entrance to the kitchen of Mas El Mir.