Hotel Villa de Alquezar, Alquezar Spain

Alquezar is one of the innumerable small hill towns (in this case, little more than a village) in Aragon -- in medieval times, when Muslims and Christians were engaged in everlasting combat. A town, if it were to survive, needed to be defensible and siting it on a hilltop contributed to that end. When I first discovered the place it was still relatively unknown and genuinely rustic. The hotel, a brand new construction, was built over a sheep fold, and sheep wandered the narrow, winding streets all day long. This has changed, the town has been gentrified, the sheep have been banished to outlying pastures, but the inherent beauty of the town remains. There are seductive vistas in all directions, charming miniscule squares and two very considerable Romanesque churches. The hotel has added on a number of upscale rooms, so that one can choose between a standard room, which is perfectly adequate with a nice bathroom, at roughly $60 for the night, or the larger, more luxurious, variety, at around $90. Nice breakfasts are included, with juices, various breads, jam and pastries, with unlimited quantities of good, strong coffee. That is the only meal served, but there are several acceptable restaurants in town. My favorite is the Refugio, an establishment catering to hikers and canoers , which serves hardy table d'hote fare and decent caraffe wines. The lively market town of Huesca with its imposing Romanesque cathedral is nearby, as is Jaca, where one can see the most important, by far, of the Aragonese Romanesque churches.