The Pope’s visit to Santiago is around the corner, but if you have not booked your hotel yet, you are on time, as establishemts in the area still have rooms available, in fact, there are still 20% free rooms.

Such is the situation, that the president of the Association of Hospitality in Santiago, José Antonio Linares has commented that they do not even have great occupancy expectations. This situation shoot down the expectations of the hoteliers from last August, so they are offering great deals and last minute rush down prices for the last few days to improve the occupancy.

If you have not book your hotel in Santiago de Compostela, visit our web site www.hoteles.es for the latest offers and book a room at the best price for the night of November 5, which is the day before the visit of Pope to Santiago de Compostela. You will find a wide variety of hotels available, from two-star establishments, such as the Hotel Santa Lucia, to five star hotels, such as the National Parador Hostal de los Reyes Católicos.

Mountains of Aragon (Aramón), held 50% by the regional government and Ibercaja, has launched a plan to build hotels in the ski resorts of Cerler, Formigal and Panticosa, located in the Pyrenees, and in the ski stations of Valdelinares and Javalambre which are located in the Iberian System. The first hotel is expected to be built in 2011 in Formigal.

For its part, Aramón assume the construction of hotels and want to participate in management, but does not exclude hotel chains. Thus, the intention of Aramón is to become the head of the ski resorts of Europe, as the Aramón president, Francisco Bono, has commented.

On the other hand, the 2010/2011 season Aramón offer has already been presented. In addition, the trategic plan which began in 2004 ends this year and it has involved an investment of 160 million euros. It should be noted that the ski resorts of Aramón include 270 km, which is 20% of the ski area in our country.

On Sunday October 31 will be held the XV Quixote International Marathon in Ciudad Real, an event that coincides with the Veteran Championship in Spain, thanks to which the hotels in Ciudad Real and in the rest of the region have risen significantly the occupancy; also it should be noted that it will be bank holiday. So, major hotels are almost full for the nights of 30 and 31 October, according to information provided by the organization in a public notice.

Hoteliers in Ciudad Real are quite happy with the occupation level they expect to record in the coming days, which will be higher than usual, and all because the Popular Marathon along with the National Veterans  and the half regional marathon, added to that will be bank holiday, attracts many people with their families and coaches. In fact, athletes from around the country and abroad flock to the area for the XV Quixote International Marathon Castilla-La Mancha.

On the other hand, some of the participants in the VI photography contest will stay in hotels in Ciudad Real; these participants will take photos of the marathon and will upload them to the web www.maratonclm.net. Participants will be eligible for cash prizes and selected photos will be published in the journal of the Marathon 2011.

The elegance in the Andalusian coast does not end when the winter ends, as five luxury establishments will remain open on the coast of Cadiz during the winter. These establishments are: the Hotel Meliá Sancti Petri, Barrosa Park Hotel, Hotel Iberostar Royal Andalus, Hotel Vincci Costa Golf and Hotel Tartessus Sancti Petri.

These establishments are supposed to remain open, having 3,600 beds available for tourists who want to visit the coast of Andalusia during the winter months.

For its part, the Hotel Meliá Sancti Petri is a five star luxury establishment which has double rooms, suites, presidential suites and double rooms with royal service; it also has spa facilities, gym, great restaurants and two bars. As for the Hotel La Barrosa Park, it takes part of the Complejo La Barrosa and offers double rooms, junior suites, apartments, family rooms and senior suites, among its facilities are restaurants, disco and playground.

As for the Hotel Iberostar Royal Andalus, is a four star hotel in the resort of Novo Sancti Petri, which offers double rooms, family rooms, junior suites, family suites, triple and family suites; and among its facilities there are restaurants, bars, spa and kids club. The Hotel Vincci Costa Golf is also a four star hotel which offers junior suites, in addition to various facilities including indoor pool, bar and gym.

The Tartessus Sancti Petri Hotel is a four star hotel with spacious green areas for children, plenty of dining, parking and a paddle court, among other things.

These luxury hotels will remain open as well as others in the area, such as Hospedería Santiago, Cortijo Los Gallos, Noli Hostal, Hostal La Campa, Hostel Villa and Hostel El Jardín.

Hotel occupancy during the last long weekend (puente del Pilar) in Jerez hotels was a 10.7 points lower than the one recorded during the same period in 2009.The main factor that has produced such a situation has been the bad weather.

Thus, the occupancy during the long weekend has been 69.49%, while last year reached 80.28%. Of course it should be noted that the provincial occupancy level was 77%, of course it was also lower than in 2009, when it was 84.96%.

But we need to look on the bright side of these results, as the employer’s sector, grouped within Horeca, expected even worse results than those recorded as they expected the occupancy in the hotels in the province to be1% lower than it really has been; and in the city, the occupancy was 8.44 higher than the one expected.

Hotels in Sanlúcar had the highest number of beds occupied, along with the hotels in Conil and hotels in Chipiona (94.98%, 87.33% and 84.49% respectively). At the other side there are the hotels in Algeciras and the hotels in Zahara de los Atunes (54.11% and 53.13% respectively).

Among the most rated hotels in Spain by TripAdvisor users, taking into account the hotels with less than four stars and with a price below 90 euros per night, there are four hotels from Andalusia.

Of these four hotels in Andalusia, the Hotel Macia Real La Alhambra (Granada) has the highest position, occupying the first one; this one is followed by the Room Mate Lola Hotel (Malaga). In fifth place there is the Hotel Cordoba Center and in ninth place is the Hotel AC Córdoba Palacio.

Outside of Andalusia, the hotels that are part of the ranking are: Albir Playa Hotel and Spa (Valencia), the Hotel Hesperia Fira Suites (Barcelona), Hotel Barcelo Montserrat in Barcelona, the Hotel Beatriz Atlantis Spa (Puerto de la Cruz-Tenerife), the Salles Hotel Aeropuerto (Gerona) and Hotel Sorolla Palace (Valencia).

The ranking is based on the opinions of travelers who have booked in the last four weeks in a hotel with at least 20 reviews, according to TripAdvisor.

Hotels in Cáceres are having a good occupation for this long weekend (puente del Pilar), in fact, the establishments are almost complete. And the influx of people is not only noticed in hotels, but also in the streets of the city, as the terraces of the Plaza Mayor and the shopping streets are crowded. With such a scene, the Department of Tourism expect a visit of 8,250 people.

Of course this is not surprising, as the puente del Pilar usually is, along with the Constitution and Easter days, the best date for the hotel industry, so believes the council of Tourism, Francisco Torres, some tour guides and some hotel receptionists.

During these days there are hotels that have come to the full, such as the Hotel NH Palacio de Oquendo, the two Iberia establishments and the Hotel Casa Don Fernando. Other hotels, such as the Hotel Agora, have reached 90% occupancy.

Cáceres has 3,500 hotel rooms, which are usually occupied by national tourists from the region, Madrid, Andalusia and Castilla y León; and European tourists, mainly from Portugal and France. As for the visitor profile, the average age is 40 years,  visitors often are accompanied by their family and friends (only 8.7% come in organized group travel) and they sleep an average of 1,8 nights in a hotel in the city, according to the municipal Tourism Service.

Hotels in Jerez ended September with good figures, in fact, the data were better than during the same month last year. So, hotels in Jerez ended with an average occupancy of 63.20%, which is a 7% occupancy more compared to the same month in 2009, when the occupancy was 56.29%.

Given these data, it is noteworthy to state that except Jerez, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Tarifa, occupancy decreased in all locations in Cádiz during the month of September compared to the same month in 2009. In fact, only the cities of Jerez and the El Puerto de Santa María close during the summer months with better results than the previous year. And, from July to September, the average occupancy at hotels in Jerez was 67.72%.

With respect to the average occupancy in the province of Cadiz during the month of September, it was 76.69%, while last year was 78.87%, so this year has been 2.18 points below.

September is still a good month for Benidorm hotels as occupancy improved compared to the same month in 2009. During the last two weeks of September  the 85.3% of available beds were sold, which is 1.1% more than during the same period last year.

Analyzing these figures, we can see that the foreign market overcomes the national one, with 52.8%, compared to 47.2%. The British have been the main market, with 39.7% of the total clients; then, there are the Belgians, with 5.7%; the Dutch, with 3.1%; the Portuguese, with 1.2%; and the French, with 1%.

In terms of occupation regarding categories, the two-star hotels in Benidorm were the ones with the highest occupancy recorded, with 89.9%. They are followed by the four-star hotels in Benidorm, with an occupancy rate of 81%.

Leaving aside September, Hosbec forecasts for the first two weeks of October are good, and Hosbec expect 86.5% of the places covered, in fact, the Councilor of Tourism, Belén Juste, predicted yesterday that next weekend will be “very good” for the sector, with more than 60% occupancy in hotels in Benidorm.

The  Duque de Najera Hotel and the Playa de la Luz Hotel, both located in Rota (Cádiz), have been awarded by the international  tour operator TUI, as they have obtained the TUI Umwelt Champion  2010 award, reaching positions 13 and 53 respectively and climbing in the ranking over the previous edition.

These two hotels, which belong to the Hoteles Andaluces con Encanto chain (HACE) (Charming Andalusian Hotels), are in the selection of 100 hotels and apartments which TUI sells worldwide. The award is special and it is intended for establishments that have guided his business philosophy toward a sustainable hotel management and it is actively committed to protecting the environment. In this way, it rewards the “social conscience.”

But not only TUI has awarded the “social conscience”, TUI has awarded the Duque de Najera Hotel and the Playa de la Luz Hotel because of the responsibility for these hotels to its employees on various topics, such as monitoring health and prevention of occupational hazards, among other things.