An affectionate greeting,

 We are crossing one of those areas which are emptier now than in days of yore but were never intensely settled.  It is a stretch of farm land, a bit of arable, mostly pastoral , about 130m above sea level and rolling towards the sea.


Given we are in Lastres tomorrow, which will be busy, we will cheat a little.  We will pass the IES de Luces.  The website wouldn’t open.  It gets 3.5 stars and the first one is by Nel Serrano.  I think you will find it diverting.  ‘Thanks to what I learned in topography I can say that the coordinates of La Parra are: Caserio Aspo, 38A, 33328 Luces, Asturias. I put one star because I can't put less. PS: I am not the same Nel Serrano that is in the first year of forestry. Arcadio World.’  Alejandro added ‘An institute without further ado in which the management has favoritism for certain courses and Vocational Training courses are devalued. It is worth highlighting the good work done by the residence staff, especially the head of residence.’

None of the five star reviews give reasons.




The cheating comes next.  We go near the ‘Coolrooms’ Palacio de Luces. It gets 4.7 stars from over 700 reviews.  Two days ago Martuka said ‘We only stopped for a drink, but you immediately want to stay. The hotel is very nice: stylish decoration, nothing overloaded and relaxing. Terrace, spa and good restaurant.’  Juan Manuel Martin adds ‘5-star hotel, with everything it entails: Rooms, Facilities, service...another level. It has a spa with a good pool and excellent complementary facilities and services. Large and well-kept gardens. Very good attention and disposition on the part of the service. Room cleaning morning and afternoon. A la carte breakfast, very complete. A vehicle is necessary to visit the surroundings since it is a bit far away, but it has parking.’




Diego was not impressed.  Four weeks ago he opined


‘A three star hotel with aspirations of a five star. But, of course, charging like a five star.

A 250+ euro room with faulty air conditioning in the peak of summer, faulty and slow wifi and with no cafeteria service until noon.


And to make things worse with a ridiculous breakfast policy that obliges you to have a €30 per person "brunch". Take it or leave it; otherwise they won't serve even coffee.

On the first day we were instructed by hotel personnel to go to the nearest town ( 3 km away) to find a cafeteria. Which we did and turned out to be a disaster. On the second night and after having to complain to the manager we were offered (bad) coffee and toast inside the room for a fee of a five star hotel. Ludicrous.


So quite simply cannot recommend the hotel and will not be returning.’





I include it because Coolrooms answered back….


‘Dear @Diego B.,


Thank you very much for taking your time to review your visit to CoolRooms Palacio de Luces.


We are saddened to know that, despite all our efforts to guarantee you a splendid memory of your stay at our hotel, we have not been able to make it a reality.


Throughout a client's stay, situations may arise that are beyond the reach of a hotel to avoid, as may have happened with the Wi-Fi outage for just a few hours on the second day, where we are 100% involved to guarantee its solution with the greatest possible efficiency, just as a 5-star hotel deals with any setback. Judging by the demanding evaluations that we have been able to read in your profile, we understand that this may have caused you some discomfort, although not how after checking and ensuring the correct functioning of the air conditioning in your room you have been able to consider it "defective".


On the other hand, we are sorry that our a la carte breakfast offer was not to your liking. We strive every day to offer a unique, local and self-made product that is recognized daily by customers who value quality service served at the table and the enjoyment of unparalleled views from our Tella restaurant. Given this situation, we offered them the exception of enjoying a room service breakfast without charging them the official price, but rather the price per drink with a 10% discount. Despite it being an exception that to date we had not seen the need to offer, we did it with pleasure, just as we attend to any special request from our clients.

Regarding our prices, we consider that they are in line with the quality of the products, the category of hotel with a Michelin Key in which it is located and the professional and friendly attention of the team. In any case, your satisfaction is our commitment and therefore, we appreciate all your comments, as they are an opportunity to get to know our clients better and better address each and every one of their needs.


An affectionate greeting,


Palacio de Luces Quality Team by CoolRooms Manor Hotels


Tomorrow, Lastres.





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