Hotel Ciudad de Cenicero

On Saturday I had the pleasure and opportunity to visit the hotel Ciudad de Cenicero -La Rioja, Spain-. 
It is cozy, nicely decorated and makes you feel like you're in your own home.
Each and every detail of the decor reminds you that you're in the land of wine.
The rooms and lounges are tastefully decorated and bath products are made with wine products exclusively for the hotel.
Its Chef is Angel González Castro, click here if you want to know more about him and his dishes.
Sorry for the bad cuality of my pictures. I took them with my BB, again. 

Wine tourism: your winery follows these simple rules?

I find it unbelievable that many wineries offer visits in English (or another language) on only one day per week and how many other wineries offer tours only in Spanish. I've been to a winery (I will not say the name out of respect, as I do not take any of my foreign clients there) where they had a visiting group of three Spanish and eight French people and did their tour in Spanish. How would you have acted? If I were in charge of wine tourism in a winery I would do the following:

1. Organize visits to the winery in other languages ​​on any day of the week.
2. Divide people into groups according to the language in which they want to receive the visit.
3. Wine tasting of the principal wines and special discount prices for the visitors.
4. Make the visit enjoyable.
5. Staff is pleasant and polite.

These five simple suggestions do not involve an investment of money from the winery and help to promote more visits and increase the sale of wine.

I have other proposals that do represent an investment but would significantly improve the effectiveness of wine tourism:

1. Having a website that is simple to use. A wineries website should be a place where a customer can easily look at wines and their characteristics as well as visiting schedules without facing an ordeal. The site should be available in several languages.
2. Do not close for holidays. Sound silly? You are about to close for holidays when tourists are on vacation? Believe it or not there are many wineries that do!
3. Offering full use of the wineries facilities for customers. To organize a wine tasting with friends, a wedding or an exhibition of paintings.
4. Audio guides should be made available so you can enjoy a tour of a winery at your own pace.
5. Transport services for the client. Ideally, mini-buses. How is it possible that most of the wineries on the outskirts of Logroño don’t provide any transport for a large number of potential customers.

You never know who could be among the people visiting a winery. That's why a customer must always come first and be treated like a king. Always.

These ten suggestions seem simple but even you do not believe there are LOTS of wineries ignoring them.

I can think of many other things, but if you want to know them please get in touch.

La Rioja

Los Parajes

Last Saturday I went to Laguardia (Alava). If I say It is one of the most beautiful places I am not lying. But I dont want to talk about Laguardia in this post but a hotel.

Los Parajes is such a lovely place with a spa, vinoteca and a fantastic restaurant. The decoration is classic and very elegant. Every single detail of the hotel made me fell like if I was in another era.

Downstairs, there are the spa and the vinoteca, where you can anjoy a glass of wine where its unique vibe remembers you that you are in the middle of the wine culture.

If you love wine, good food and you need some time to relax, I recommend you Hospedería Los Parajes.

I found these images on internet. I could not take any picture because my BB was off. Sorry!