Where to stay in Castejón with a dog

This May, I took a trip with my dog to visit the Bardenas Reales national park in Navarra, Spain. For this trip, we chose Castejón as a base because it is quite close to the park and also conveniently located near the highway.

During our time there, we stayed at El Villa Castejón, a hotel located right by a highway exit on the border between Navarra and El Rioja. To be honest, I was not expecting much from a highway hotel, but overall it was a pleasant stay and I found it to have very good value for money.

I can recommend staying here with your dog with a few caveats. For a full breakdown of my experience, read the review below.

DOG FRIENDLINESS

My dog was overall welcome here. There was even a small dog treat, a bowl and a mat waiting for her in the room. However, they do ask that dogs do not go onto the bed or sofa and that you do not bathe them in the hotel. The last part, I found a bit strange to be honest. What if my dog needs a bath?

Also, since the hotel is at the highway, there is not really a good place to walk them. The do signpoint an area outside the hotel, but it is pretty full of trash so that was really not ideal.

On the bright side, your pup is allowed to join you in the cafeteria (albeit not the restaurant) for your meals.

THE LOCATION

The apartment is located directly at the national highway N232, so as you can imagine there is nothing much nearby. However, as it was meant as a stop between two longer drives for us, we found this convenient.

The cafeteria in the restaurant is open 24hours which is great if you are arriving late or leaving early and are still looking for a bite to eat. It also comes with a parking lot and there is a gas station just opposite the hotel.

THE ROOM

The room was very nice. It featured a large double bed as well as a sofa that doubles as an extra bed, and a huge -huge- TV. The bed was very comfortable, I slept great. There was also a minibar fridge as well as a kettle for tea. The bathroom was very spacious too with a bathtub as well as a bidet.

Finally, the room also had a balconey which I always appreciate. It did not go towards the direction of the highway (yay!) but instead it overlooked a kart track (nay!). In theory, the track is only in use from 11am-8pm on Thursday through Sunday, but I still got woken up by kart noise at 9am on a Monday, so who knows?

The other thing I did not love about the room was that there was really no good place to eat or work. They do have a bedside table that is meant to double as a small desk with a stool, but the stool and table height do not work together and there is no back support on the stool.

Not good for working, or even for eating. They do allow you to take food from the restaurant or cafeteria up to your room, so there really should be a place to eat it comfortably. Unfortunately the balconey was no help there either. There was one chair to relax in (in a double room?) but no table.

So overall, some light and some shadow there.

THE SERVICE

To me, the service here was really good. I had a problem with my car so I was not sure how long I would be needing to stay and they were very helpful and flexible to accommodate. I was also able to take food to my room and was provided a tray to do so with no issues at all. Everyone I interacted with was very friendly, and having the option to get food 24/7 is great service to me.

THE VALUE

At this hotel, I paid 64 EUR per night, which I think is good value for such a large and overall quite comfortable room including parking.

The breakfast buffet cost 9 EUR which I also thought was good. But the absolute best value was without a doubt the dinner buffet It costs 15.50 EUR on a weekday and 18.50 EUR on weekends or public holidays and it is just great.

You have a vast choice of seafood and meats as well as vegetables which will be cooked fresh in front of your eyes. In addition, there are many different side dishes, salads, fruits and deserts that are all included.

Take a look at what I got for dinner! Given that there is nothing else in the area and they probably could charge a lot more for a lot less, to me this is amazing value!

THE BOTTOM LINE

Overall, I found the hotel to be comfortable and good value. However there are also some things that could be improved, especially with regard to dog friendliness and having a better space to eat/work in the room. In summary, I give it a 4/5.