We hadn't planned out our road trips at all. So when we got to Madrid we planned the southern swing through Seville, Granada, etc. And when we got to Barcelona we got Cadaques/Figueres sorted out but we really weren't sure how we were going to spend the last 7 days.
After we left Bilbao we headed for Llanes, a beach town that was said to be the best along the Costa Verde in northern Spain. Unfortunately we didn't have any recommendations for good hotels so I picked one that seemed okay, had a pool and availability. The hotel, Arcea Las Brisas, was a disaster: the pool was closed for "leaking", the room was horrible and seemed unsanitary (rug, beds, bathroom, vents, etc.), the location was farther outside town than it seemed, there was no/poor air conditioning, the advertised free wifi was only in the bar, the service was erratic (particularly at the bar/restaurant), and on the way out they gave me a hard time about bringing back a water bottle that we had purchased the night before at the bar. "But I bought it.... No, you bought the water inside it. The bottle is ours.... But that doesn't make any sense. Why would you give it to me then... I don't know but you must give it back...Can you give me my money back then?... No. " This was so unbelievably irritating after everything else disappointing about the hotel.
Additionally, the town was filthy (trash in the estuaries), difficult to navigate, and filled with bugs. Yet there were tons of people overrunning the town, camping on/near its beaches and filling up its hotels. We just didn't get Llanes. It does have a cool sculpture of painted blocks on the beach though the port's odor is disgusting. And we saw a beautiful sunset. Plus, it's where I learned to love mussels so I suppose I should be more thankful we went to Llanes. But all four of us were so eager to leave town that we decided not to even eat breakfast there. Plus we have not a single photo. That kind of disappointing. Fortunately, we were headed to Leon...
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