Castelnel

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Townhouse |4 bedrooms |Sleeps 10

Castalla in Costa Blanca/Valencia

from £43 / night

£300–£400 / weekBookable online

This property can be booked securely online within a few minutes. Just click on the ‘Check availability and book’ button.

1 night minimum stay

Changeover flexible

5 out of 5

4 reviews | Write a review

Key info  Air conditioning, balcony/terrace, car advised, may take pets - please enquire

Check availability and book

About the home

This is a beautiful old house dating from a very elegant period and it retains many original features. It was built by a Moorish architect shortly after the fall of Granada, and predates the Carrer Major, the church and the town hall. Carrer Mig is known as the most traditional street in Castalla and is consequently a focal point in many of the fiestas and processions. The street balconies of Castlenel give a privileged and unforgettable view of processions while the roof balcony affords a tranquil Sunday morning view of the mountains.

Facilities

Further details indoors:
Wi-Fi availible but there is no Computer.
There is a 42" flat screen TV available (surround sound), there is also a large range of DVDs and Videos and a Wii to use with several games.
Cooking is on a gas cooker.
Three of the bedrooms have A/C in, there are several portable electric heaters around the house if required.
And a large log burning fire on the ground floor - the chimney to which heats much of the house if used correctly.

Further details

While smoking is absolutely not permitted indoors, you can smoke on the top floor roof terrace.

Castelnel is a traditional Spanish town house on three floors. As the kitchen/dining room is on the top floor, visitors need to feel comfortable tackling our traditional Spanish steps several times a day.

The builders of the house understood how to design a house for the Castalla climate, and it largely remains cool on the hottest of days. However, we have supplemented their ingenuity by adding air conditioning units to two of the bedrooms.

Photos

 

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A view of the front of house

 

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The living room

 

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Ground floor bedroom

 

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The kitchen

The Costa Blanca / Valencia / Alicante Province region

The Costa Blanca is a well known coastal resort stretching unbroken from Valencia to Cartagena. It is rightly famed for its warm climate, fine beaches and vibrant nightlife.

What is less well known about the Costa Blanca is that a few miles inland from the sea there is an area of high valley and of noble mountains. This highland area extends throughout the province of Valencia, and is not unlike the Alpes Maritimes of Southern France. It contains "Some of the finest walking and climbing country I have ever seen" wrote an English visitor in our visitor's book recently.

The mountains are impressive. Mount Maigmo behind Alicante at over 4,000 feet rivals Ben Nevis. The valley at its foot where Castalla is situated is at 1,800 ft. The climate of these high valleys is sunny and warm, sometimes very warm in midsummer but it is seldom oppressive or humid. The reason for this is that the fall of evening brings a cooler air in from the mountains and with it the delicate scent of woodsmoke as neighbours prepare supper and, like us, light the wood stove.

Carefully tended vineyards and olive groves, pink and white almond blossom and green mountain herbs give visible evidence that the highlands of Valencia possess a thriving local agriculture producing fine wine in abundance, olive oil, wild honey and almonds.

Castles abound for this is borderland, the border between Aragon and Castille. But this is also modern Spain. Although Castalla preserves its traditional culture and independence, it is nevertheless highly accessible due to the recently completed links to the motorway network.

The beaches of Alicante are half an hour's drive away. The airports of Alicante and Murcia are 30 minutes and just over an hour away respectively. Granada, with its magnificent "Alhambra", can be reached in a morning's drive (approx. 3 hours), as can Madrid.

The nearest railway station, Villena, is a stop on the Mare Nostrum line. This famously scenic train runs daily from Cartagena to Montpellier, via Alicante, Valencia and Barcelona. High-speed trains are about to start running to Barcelona and Madrid.

The Castalla area

Castalla is, depending on the time of year, either a sleepy town or a hive of activity and partying...
It is the County town so there are two markets every week to which the local growers bring fruit and vegetables in abundance. There are seasonal specialities: cherries in springtime, fresh figs and mandarines in summer, mostly picked that morning and still trailing their green leaves. There are grapes in Autumn and the wild woodland mushrooms for which this region is justly famous. Winter brings almonds and the new season's walnuts. Autumn brings the "vendange" with the grape harvest being processed in the town centre where the farmers' co-operative makes and sells the wine for the entire valley. The little town also produces ten thousand litres of olive oil every Autumn, a spicy dark first and only pressing which is almost addictive.

But the town is quiet every afternoon with only the street cleaners active. Evening brings the time of the Paseo where everyone goes out walking in the park, children play and chatter like starlings, older people sit in the shade and greet their neighbours including you with a smile and a 'Buenas Tardes'. But most of us sit out at the plentiful cafe tables for tapas while we await the time of the evening meal.

Fiestas abound and bring dance and music and colourful carnival costumes to the streets. Special times are at Christmas especially the children's feast of the Three Kings in early January; Easter with its solemn processions; San Isidro in May; and above all the Moors and Christians of September. "Nobody sleeps in September" as the locals say.

We are near the ancient towns of Biar, Villena and Alcoi. Their festivals provide a rolling calendar of festivities which the owners will provide upon request .

There is a fine swimming pool in town and a well equipped gymnasium. There is excellent walking and climbing on well maintained routes including a branch of the world famous Camino del Santiago. A red Michelin Restaurant at 3,000 feet beckons for Sunday Afternoon family lunch. Buen Provecchio.

Did I mention that the Castle does Guided tours and is Roman restored by the Moors restored by the Christians? Oh, and we had two famous battles in our street during the Peninsular War. But you have to be there. Hasta Proxima.

How to get there

Castelnel What's nearby: Attractions Restaurants Click map icons for more information

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The quickest way to find us is to fly to Alicante, Spain. Alicante is a major airport, the destination of choice for many budget airlines (Easyjet, Ryanair etc) but Alicante also has scheduled connections with Africa and many European Capitals. The town of Castalla can be most easily reached by taxi from the airport: fare about 50 Euro. An alternative to Alicante is Murcia Airport, but as this is 120km away, you would need to hire a car. Despite this, Murcia is a realistic option, and is popular with our Irish guests.

Directions for the taxi driver: "Castalla centro ciudad Por favor. Carrer Mig". (Castalla pronounced Castaya because of the double L. Carrer Mig is pronounced Carrer Meach( to rhyme with Peach). The taxi will bring you to number 58 - our front door - even though the streets are very narrow. Say a firm "No" if the driver assumes you want Castalla International as some do if you are English. Your destination is in the old town centre.

Car hire from Alicante is also a popular option. Solmar and several other companies are at the airport and Holiday Autos.co.uk are convenient for booking online.

Directions for finding us by car: Exit (Salida) from the car park and follow signs to Murcia – Valencia (Motorway A7). Ignore signs to Alicante as you don't want to get drawn in to the city. After a short while the main road splits with one leg towards Murcia and the other towards Valencia. Take the road to Valencia and be careful not to go to Murcia at this point.

This is the A7 autoroute which runs from Murcia in the South to Valencia in the North. It bypasses Alicante which is exactly what you want to do. Follow the A7 in the Valencia direction. In a few minutes take exit marked Alcoi, Universidad and St Vicente.

This leaves you on a large roundabout. Keep in the left lane and go almost right round anticlockwise(!) to the take the exit marked Alcoi (exit 13). You are now on the right road and can now see and follow signs to Castalla about 30 km into the mountains on the A77.

Take exit marked Castalla. Do not go to Castalla International but follow signs to Castalla. Turn left at Town Centre (Ciudad Centro). You will find the town hall (Ajuntiamento in Placa Major) or the Tourist Office.
Both are just round the corner from us. Carrer Mig is the street behind the Town Hall and No. 58 is to your right. There is plentiful safe free parking in town and the owners will give further detailed information at the time of booking, including how to drive to our front door if you expect to have a lot of luggage...

Activities near Castalla

Reviews

Review: 1 to 3 of 4

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08 Oct 2012

“A Flavour of Old Spain” We booked to stay in Castalla for a week during our recent trip to Spain. We wanted to see an authentic Spanish town and we chose Castalla because it was only 30 minutes drive from Alicante Airport.... more

14 Aug 2012

“A step back in time” A most enjoyable holiday experience from start to finish. The booking procedure was efficient and friendly and the website gave as much detail as we needed. The house itself was quirky and full of... more

06 Nov 2011

“Home from home in authentic Spain” My wife and I and our 5 year old daughter had a great 10 day stay at Castelnel in early August and can safely say we will be back. We have often steered clear of Spanish rentals fearing bland rows of... more

Review: 1 to 3 of 4

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Review: 4 to 4 of 4

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19 Feb 2011

“Not to be missed or confused!!” What a place!!! Relaxing, Peaceful, Beautiful, Friendly and then throw in the vibrancy of local markets and festivals and you have an experience not to be missed. Not to be confused with the... more

Review: 4 to 4 of 4

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Rental prices

Prices for group size 8
Period	From	To	Weekly	Nightly rate		Minimum  stay
				Weekday	Weekend
Standard	10 Jan 12	5 Apr 12	300£ 300	-	-	1 Week
Easter	5 Apr 12	21 Apr 12	400£ 400	-	-	1 Week
Standard	21 Apr 12	2 Jul 12	300£ 300	-	-	1 Week
High	2 Jul 12	1 Sep 12	400£ 400	-	-	1 Week
Standard	1 Sep 12	31 Oct 12	300£ 300	-	-	1 Week
High	1 Jul 13	1 Sep 13	400£ 400	70£ 70	70£ 70	3 Nights
Standard	1 Sep 13	1 Dec 13	300£ 300	60£ 60	60£ 60	1 Night

The property's weekend rates apply to: Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights

NB: Prices may be subject to change at the advertiser's discretion.

Availability

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