Concrete castles and aged furniture

 Happy New Year! Right, we’ve got that over and done with, let’s head to Cox.

Cox has about 7600 people living in it and has lot of orchards around it. It has a hill with a castle and people have thought it was a jolly good place to hang out since the Copper Age.   Diverse Romans, Eastern Romans, Visigoths and Arabs turned up.  Eventually they were replaced by James I and his Argonese hordes.  It was doing alright till the 17th century, when the Moriscos were expelled in 1609 and the plague depleted the population.  Eventually Castilians arrived to fill the gaps. 

We have entered a paradise of things to review as we head down the high street.    The Hotel Versalles gets 3.9 stars from people and three for facilities.  R Skelson liked the place.  ‘Please stay here it is without question the best hotel I’ve ever stayed in and I’ve stayed in 5 star all over the world, the owners are so friendly the service brilliant. Rooms clean bathrooms lovely it’s a must if you’re in this area, don’t miss it it’s great’.  

Recent reviews have been less kind.  Izan said ‘ It's pathetic. I find it incredible that this place is considered a 3-star "hotel," if it could even be called that. What appears on the website about fully equipped rooms is true, but they were fully equipped with bugs that came out of the shower drain and crawled on the shower curtain and towels. To say more about the rooms, I'd say they need a pretty urgent renovation. The furniture is from my grandmother's year, the bed is the worst, it's better to sleep on an inflatable mattress, the pillow was covered in makeup residue, and the bathroom is worse than a hostel's. It doesn't have a screen, just a curtain, so the whole bathroom fills with water (room 102). This is the first hotel where I have to leave my keys when I leave, which is incredible. If you leave them, you have to wait outside for the owner to come down and let you in because they don't even have a receptionist. I would never go back, not even if they paid me to sleep there.

As always. You are urged to visit the place and judge yourself.

We deserve a treat.  Be you granja offers a 5 star Thai massage.  https://reconectaconelalma.com/   Alan wrote ‘From the first time that I contacted them, I knew that this was a very special place. Totally professional, spotlessly clean salon, lovely people and what a great massage. You are made to feel so comfortable by Emma, (who speaks great English) on arrival and Hortensia, is absolutely the best and loveliest masseuse. The simplest of booking procedures, give them a call, you’ll see that they are wonderful.’

And so to end the day at Cox Castle. The castle was restored in 1466, when Lord Juan Ruiz Davalos built a chapel to Saint Barbara. This became a centre for a mass.  In the 18th century they added Stations of the Cross.  In the 1990s the whole ruinous thing was rebuilt in concrete.  Three weeks ago KW felt ‘A very steep hike up. Once at the top, the view is magnificent. The castle itself is not accessible.’  I’ve looked at the other reviews so you don’t have to.  All say it is steep, great views, hard on the legs and usually closed.

I hope you enjoyed the holiday. It is a holiday in all of Spain, as it has been since 1974 in England. Let us stride purposefully into the second day of this new year.