PENSIÓ LA CREU, ESTERRI D’ÀNEU
January/February 2025
Price: weekdays - 55€ per night, weekends 66€ per night (breakfast included). Can be as cheap as 40€ in the low season.
Slow Pyrenees rating: 10/10
Allow me to press the rewind button and return to Tuesday 2 April 2019. A fateful day on which, having made a bad step in deep snow, I was plucked from the mountainside by helicopter just above the Port de la Bon Aigua and deposited in the waiting room in Vielha's small hospital. After been diagnosed with a fractured kneecap a taxi took me back over the pass to my hotel in Esterri d'Àneu, Pensió de la Creu. Whilst trying (succesfully) to persuade my travel insurance provider that I wasn´t really hiking at over 2000 metres with an ice axe and crampons and arranging a flight to the UK I was looked after with consumate care and attention by the hotel's owner and his staff. But you don't have to fall arse over elbow to benefit from Pensió de la Creu's excellent service, I'm pleased to say that it comes as standard.
Since that fateful day, which I'll recount in greater detail in a later post, I've returned to the Pensió de la Creu on several occasions and the welcome has always been warm. On my first visit since the accident, the owner insisted I leave a route plan at reception desk, just in case. I'm pleased to report that there have been no further incidents and that he now trusts me.
If I were to describe the Pensió de la Creu as 'simple' and 'basic', I'd be doing the hotel and its owner a girt, humungeous disservice. 'Functional' might be a more accurate adjective, and to be honest, as a hiker that's all I'm asking for, but the comfort, the personal attention and quality of the accommodation take it to a higher level.
Rooms are bright and sufficiently spacious and, even in the depths of winter, always warm. For those who need it, thee good-sized desk and the wifi is strong and conistent enough for me to deliver online lessons. A couple of years ago, driven out of my Lleida flat by noisy renovations, I spent a week in the Pensió de la Creu, working every day. For those digital nomads who fancy a change of scene, it's a perfect, retreat, some of the office views are quite charming!
All rooms are ensuite with showers. Some come with a curtain rather than a cubicle which can make for a messy morning ablution but there are towels aplenty and daily cleaning. The price includes a buffet breakfast, nothing fancy but plenty of it. The owner is always on hand to supervise, don't be afraid to ask for more. The photo below was breakfast for one on a morning when I was the sole guest, all the food was for me!
Esterri d'Àneu (population 756) is one of my favourite Pyrenean mountain towns, a couple of years ago I even enquired about renting a flat here. As a base for exploring the Vall d'Àneu and adjacent valleys it lacks nothing, a range of hotels and restuarant that cater for every need and budget as well as several well-stocked supermarkets and an outdoor gear store. In addition, it's also easily accessible by public transport, with regular train/bus services from Lleida (approximately 2.5 hours) which, in turn, is just an hour from Barcelona on the AVE. During the summer holiday the bus parc connects the Vall d'Àneu with the Val d'Aran and the Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, during the ski season a bus runs to and from the Port de la Bonaigua on Saturdays and Sundays. As is always the case in the Catalan Pyrenees, the tourist office is most helpful.
