On the fourth night of our road trip through Spain, we discovered the Parador de Mérida hotel. To say this hotel is special is an understatement. It was a monastery in the early 1700s, and despite religious affiliation or beliefs, anyone would be able to feel the calm and tranquility within the walls. The hotel itself is unique and a marvel. We loved it so much we stayed an extra night! It is surprisingly affordable.
Inside the Parador de Mérida — calm within the old monastery walls
Even if you do not stay at the hotel, a lunch or a drink will gain you access to a novel property that shouldn't be missed if you are in Mérida to visit the ancient Roman ruins for which the city is famous — and which we cover in detail on ReviewTrip.
The Restaurante Parador de Mérida did not live up to the standard of the hotel in my opinion. We were the first ones waiting to go into the dining room because we were very hungry after being out all day seeing the ruins and had only a couple of tapas so we could enjoy dinner at the hotel. Despite being the only ones in the dining room, we had to wait for the waiter to take our drink orders after he initially sat us. Then we waited several minutes for the drinks and again for him to take our dinner order. I found this odd, but not a show stopper. I wanted a steak!
A lovely starter salad set expectations
The Parador Chain website states the restaurants focus on local cuisine and regional specialties. The salad was decent and the veggies welcome after many days of meat and bread tapas. The photos below look beautiful, but looks are deceiving in this case.
Solomillo de ternera — the photo looks beautiful, but looks are deceiving
Mauricio ordered the sirloin, or solomillo de ternera and I ordered the lomo ternera, similar to a ribeye. Mauricio's was paired with carrot puree and mine had a potato side. Both came with what I believed were sautéed jalapeños but now know were Pimientos de Padrón. This was one of those times that we were underwhelmed. The temperature of the meat was correct but they lacked flavor and were extremely over-salted. I only finished my meal because I felt sorry for the cow.
Lomo de ternera retinta — correct temperature, over-salted, lacking flavor
The Pimientos de Padrón actually gave an interesting flavor when eaten with the meat. While most Pimientos de Padrón are sweet, occasionally you will be shocked by a hot one. This has happened to me since eating them regularly after moving to Spain. Mauricio cannot handle peppers with any heat over bell so it was good that we assumed they were hot when we first encountered them. I tried to make this meal spectacular in any way I could, but it just didn't live up to the expectation — or the price.
The meal was paired with a Spanish wine — Matarromera. Again, there was no sparkle or anything special about the wine. It didn't even make the cut for my Vivino app and that says a lot. At 25.45 euro a bottle, it was definitely a let-down. The house wine at the restaurante bar was much better.
My take on this restaurante is until they hire a chef that can cook, it's not worth the price tag. Typically, outside a hotel, two entrees with salads and a bottle of wine would cost no more than 50 euro. Our walk away price was over 90 euro. To give a reference, the next night four of us dined and drank like kings in Portugal for 70 euro total.
Final word: stay at the hotel! Or visit for lunch or drinks and have a look around — but don't splurge on dinner.
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Originally published 2020 · Redesigned 2026