A Castle among the Hills

Rehearsing in a music room, staging a play, learning to swim, to play chess, to dance or preparing lunch under the directions of a professional chef are some of the activities families may enjoy at El Castillo, the first Argentinian hotel that offers training experiences in charge of professionals of each discipline.

During the summer and winter vacations and in Holy Week, the hotel opens up the charm of its suites ornamented in the style typical of the Middle Ages. It becomes adapted to the needs of every family. At times, it turns into a tango academy, into a joint drum session, into a photograph studio or a tennis championship.

The rest of the year, the facilities of El Castillo house Fábrega Organizational Center, a prestigious training center for professionals and CEOs of various areas. As they stay in the rooms with period decoration in a castle with inner yards and viewpoints featuring sights of the mountain range, the CEOs learn to enhance their personal capacities and their roles in team work.

These training courses for corporate officers and tourists are imparted with the comfort and the services of an exclusive hotel in Valle Hermoso (beautiful valley), an hour away from the City of Córdoba.

El Castillo is like nothing in this world. It is neither a resort and nor is it Disneyland: “While staying in a resort, you can pretend you are learning to dance or to paint. We work with prestigious professionals in each discipline, literature teachers, plastic artists, real dancers and chefs. It is true that guests cannot develop a skill in a few days but they can certainly discover a passion”, explained Fabián Fábrega, one of the directors.

El Castillo is a unique case of corporate analysis worldwide and in the middle of 2008, professors of the University of Rensselaer (New York) and of the prestigious French business school called Insead traveled to visit it and write an academic paper aimed at explaining several curiosities: how a family -the Fábregas- managed to successfully lead an avant garde international project, how they could start their project in the worst Argentinian crisis (in 2001), how they took advantage of the intellectual capacities of each member of the team to complete the job and how they refurbished the ruins of a castle that had been abandoned several times.

El Castillo is a magnificent construction inspired in the Middle Ages style. The building occupies 7,000 square meters and it is surrounded by a four-hectare lawn. The entire venue has very particular esthetic qualities reminiscent of the ancient fortresses and it looks very attractive in the mountain range scenery.

Service is all inclusive and the open bar of non-alcoholic beverages may be enjoyed during the entire stay. The castle chefs prepare delicious menus of regional inspiration but with gourmet touches. Some of the exclusive labels treasured by the hotel wine cellar may be chosen to accompany these dishes.

There is a day-care area for children, a spa to relax, a heated swimming-pool and another semi Olympic pool outdoors, bowling, gym, music room, art room and yoga room, tennis court, football field, playground in the open air, reading room, meeting room, computers with Internet access available for guests, home theatre and all the amenities to spend vacations worthy of the nobility.