Parador de Plasencia

One of Extremadura's finest, Plasencia's parador (luxury state-owned hotel) is a classic – oozing the atmosphere and austerity of its 15th-century convent roots, with massive stone columns, soaring ceilings and a traditional Renaissance cloister. The 66 rooms are far from monastic, luxuriously furnished with rugs, rich fabrics, woodcarved bedheads, red-velvet curtains and varnished terracotta floors. The on-site bar occupies an old bodega.