Tomorrow it will be exactly a month since I started walking the Via de la Plata in Seville and I have experienced the best and the worst (I hope) of albergues and casas rurale on the way.
It is difficult to decide which of the albergues were the best, as each of the good, well-run ones have a unique and special touch that make them stand out.
After the bad to indifferent albergues of the first few days, Monesterio was such a delight, clean and with everything a peregrino could possibly need. My next favourite was the residencia for handicapped men in Alcuescar. It could be that the reason for my delight was the fact that I walked 38 km that day completely on my own and was so delighted to have my own little "cell", the first privacy in almost 2 weeks.
By far the most modern and impressive building must be the beautiful albergue at Embalse de Alcantara, where the hospitalerio went out of his way to ensure our comfort. The other two well-designed buildings that come to mind, are the albergues at Banos de Montemayor and at Zamora. I also thought that the two hospitalerios at Zamora went far beyond the call of duty to make our stay memorable, waking us up with piped music, cooking an amazing meal and sending us off with a blessing.
An older building, but nevertheless unforgettable albergue, is the one at Fuenterroble, also run by volunteer hospitalerios. There were grapes on the table and a fire in the fireplace, giving a welcome to tired and footsore pilgrims.
Some of the privately run albergues that I will remember fondly, are in San Pedro de Rozados where I as a vegetarian had the best meal of the trip thus far, and the one where we are staying tonight in Requejo de Sanabria.
I would not want to embarass those refugios that are less than appetising, by naming them, but want to say to hospitalerios that peregrinos will gladly pay a bit extra, as long as the albergue is, at the very least, clean.