La casona de Alútiz, Samaniego’s rural house.

Book your stay at the Alútiz manor house, a rural house located in the heart of the Rioja Alavesa.

La casona de Alútiz is presented to us as a rural house located in Samaniego, which fuses the best of the concepts of hotel and rural house to offer us a captivating stay among vineyards. Edu, our host, a young man we met a few years ago in one of our adventures through the most beautiful villages of the Rioja Alavesa, once again offered us a great experience in the south of Araba. And if the first time we met him he was between bottles, in the winery that his family owns in Samaniego, in the Alútiz winery, this time, we met him in his new and cozy hotel establishment, in the historic center of this same municipality. The family is growing. La Rioja Alavesa is a perfect destination for a family getaway, as a couple or with friends, a land that offers endless plans to disconnect from the daily routine.

Although currently the Casona de Alútiz has 5 rooms, they plan to increase this number to 8, a tourist service, which, complemented by the gastrobar that we find at the entrance and the family winery, create a nice and complete experience for everyone who visits them. Although in our case we opted for the suite of the Casona de Alútiz, better known as “Santa Lucia”, Edu was kind enough to show us practically all the rooms of his rural house. A tour around the whole house, which, accompanied by his explanations, became a nice contact with the village of Samaniego in Alava. All the rooms of the Casona de Alútiz are designed with great care, but without a doubt, the suite gets the best part. Luckily, our stay coincided with the festivities in honor of the Virgen del Valle, the patron saint of Samaniego (from September 7 to 11). A festivity, in which they have the custom of raising a life-size cardboard donkey to the church tower and leave it hanging until the festivities are over, a very curious tradition.

Based at the Casona de Alútiz, in Samaniego, we have toured the most beautiful villages of the Rioja Alavesa, eaten in some of the best restaurants in the area, visited some of the most peculiar wineries and visited some of the most remarkable museums. A very intense getaway. A perfect accommodation. 100% recommended.

La casona de Alútiz, an establishment that opened its doors to the public in 2016, is defined by its owners as a rural house, however, we had the impression that it is a different concept, more like a small rural and family hotel with lots of charm. And, in addition to the services offered by any rural house in the area, in La casona de Alútiz, they also offer other typical hotel services such as breakfast option or room cleaning service. 2 services, for which we are determined to discard the casona de Alútiz of the segment of rural houses of the Rioja Alavesa. Opinions for all tastes.

The rural house: The rural house Alútiz is located in a house of the urban center of Samaniego, a building of all the life, that, maintaining its original structure has been rehabilitated to welcome a rural hotel with a lot of enchantment. The rural house currently houses 5 rooms, a gastrobar and a dining room, spaces, which this year will be joined by 3 more rooms and a common space with views of the vineyards located in the attic. In case you want to rent the whole house, all the rooms have private bathrooms, a very practical and comfortable aspect. Around the house of Alútiz there are several public areas where you can park, the closest and most convenient is less than 1 minute walk, a joy.

Rooms: The 5 rooms with which they currently have, respond to the same line of action: cozy, renovated, overlooking the outside, with private bathroom, tv, wifi and very practical. We are not just saying all this for the sake of saying it, because, in addition to the suite, we were lucky enough to visit in person most of the rooms: Murriarte, La Cruz and Raíces de Oro. Here is a brief description of all of them.

At Casona de Alútiz everything has been thought of in detail, down to the smallest detail, even the key ring that accompanies the room keys. And it is that, taking the opportunity to make a small nod to the family winery and the wine culture of the Rioja Alavesa, in this rural house all the keys of the rooms have a cork from their own winery as a key ring. Trend-setting, original. As you can see, this rural house in Samaniego, does not have a large number of rooms, but the existing ones have everything you need to spend unforgettable days in this special land.

Suite: Our choice, our room. Also known as Santa Lucia, this corner of the Casona de Alútiz welcomes us with its huge 2-meter bed, its two large windows and its spacious double bathroom. A room of about 27 square meters, which, overlooking the main street of Samaniego, makes it the most desired room in Alútiz. Many comforts, no problems. Although it is located in one of the most important streets of the town, the tranquility of this Basque village makes noise no problem at all.

Location: Located in the historic center of Samaniego, in the main street, the rural house Alútiz, also known as the wine mansion or the mansion of Alútiz, offers us a luxury location. From Samaniego, we can move to most of the villages of the Rioja Alavesa without losing much time in displacements. The village is surrounded by huge fields of vineyards, among them, in a high, highlights the Puerto de Herrera, a space where we find the balcony of the Rioja – Alavesa, a place from where you can see perfectly the land bounded by the Sierra de Cantabria, the Sierra de Toloño and the river Ebro. The beauty of this land will silence anyone from this point of view. On the other hand, towns like Laguardia (10km), Elciego (9km) or Labastida (11km) make that we have at hand everything we need to enjoy our stay in style.

Attention: Perfect. Staff. With small details that make us want to extend our stay at Casona de Alútiz. Edu, our host, showed us all the amenities offered by this tourist accommodation in Samaniego. In addition, his company can be perfectly interpreted as that of a local guide, as he does not hesitate for a second to recommend the most beautiful villages in the area, where to eat or what to see in the Rioja Alavesa. As if that were not enough, staying in this rural house in Euskadi has a special incentive, and that is that we have a “plug” to visit one of the many wineries in the village, the Alútiz winery. In addition to Edu’s advice, the possibility of having the room cleaned or the option of having breakfast in the rural house itself, are two other points to highlight. On the other hand, so that there are no surprises or misunderstandings, we would like to point out that the Alútiz farmhouse does not have a 24-hour reception service. Therefore, we recommend to call 15 minutes before our arrival so that we are properly received in the house and we do not have to wait at the door.

Prices and availability: If you want to check prices and availability of the Casona de Alutiz you can do it on our website, here. Thanks to the alliance between TurismoVasco.com and Alutiz, from now on it is possible to book online any of the rooms of this beautiful rural house in Samaniego. We hope you like it.

Winery: The Alútiz winery is a family winery that produces more than 250,000 liters of wine per year, a very high volume for a family business. According to Edu tells us, it has more than 70 hectares of vineyard plots in the Rioja Alavesa. In our humble opinion, the success of the guided tours of Bodega Alútiz lies in the fact that it preserves the 3 types of wineries that can be found throughout the length and breadth of the Rioja Alavesa: subway cellars from the 17th century, concrete cellars from 1980 and the typical stainless steel tanks that are so fashionable nowadays.

Experiences: La Rioja Alavesa, the land of vineyards and wine, also offers us a nice list of experiences among which to enjoy. Among all of them, we would like to highlight the visit to the “trujales”, the routes among vineyards, enjoy our gastronomy, visit museums such as the Poblado de la Hoya or Villa Lucia, visit dolmens such as the Chabola de la Hechicera and enjoy the views offered by the balconies of the Rioja Alavesa and Ebro.

Videos: As in our last articles, in our experience at Casona de Alútiz we also wanted to accompany the words and photographs with a short video. We hope it will help you to get a more realistic idea of what awaits you in this beautiful stay in the Rioja Alavesa.

La Casona de Alútiz has made us feel at home, a perfect place to visit and enjoy all the charms of the Rioja Alavesa. What do you think? We look forward to your comments.