Aire de Bardenas: A Night in a Cube on the Edge of a Spanish Desert

You are not allowed to spend the night in Bardenas Reales. Tent, camper van, sleeping bag under the stars: all banned. The park closes an hour before dark and then you have to GET OUT. Which is a bit sad, because the sky over this desert at night is something very, very special.

I found the answer on the edge of Tudela, by the side of the road, where stacks of wooden fruit crates stand in a field with grey cubes behind them. From a distance it looks fairly suspicious. It is Aire de Bardenas. We stayed one night there in early June, in a cube with its own courtyard and its own hot tub. The word in my head after the first five minutes: mega cool. The second one came later: humble. This is luxury that does not shout.

If you are one of those people who has stayed in a lot of good hotels, you know the feeling where at some point you just want something new and genuinely cool. Not that there is anything wrong with the other hotels, it is just that something seems to be missing. Aire de Bardenas is where you find the missing thing. At least I did.

For the desert itself, the routes and Castildetierra, read my Bardenas Reales guide. This story answers the other question: where to sleep.

Aire de Bardenas in short

• What: a four-star design hotel in Navarre with 32 rooms: cubes, suites and see-through bubbles
• Where: NA-125 road, km 1.5, Tudela. Five minutes to the town centre, about half an hour to the Bardenas visitor centre
• Price: roughly €250 to €460 a night for two, depending on room and season
• For whom: couples who want to see the stars over the desert
• When: spring and autumn. In high summer the desert is too hot
• Without a car: no

Crates, wind and two sisters

From Pamplona you drive south for about an hour and a half. Green Navarre falls away behind you, the land turns yellow and flat, and wind turbines turn on the ridges. Then come the crates.

They are not decoration. The architects Emiliano López and Mónica Rivera found a pile of old fruit crates at a local farmers’ cooperative that nobody needed any more, and the owner bought them for almost nothing. Now they are windbreaks. Wind is serious business here. Locals call it the Cierzo: a dry north-westerly that comes across the plain nearly every day and does not ask anyone’s permission. It also gave the hotel its name, because aire means air in Spanish.

In the room a letter was waiting for us on the bed, typed on brown paper and signed Natalia. She writes about how she, her sister Diana and their husbands watched the sunset in the Bardenas desert and dreamed up a place where people could stop, look at the stars and share that same sunset. Then came two young architects. The permits took four years, the building only one, because the condition of the government grant was that the doors had to open within 12 months. The hotel opened at the end of 2007 and has since collected dozens of architecture and design awards, from London to Tokyo. Not a bad result for a pile of old crates.

Bandits, sheep and fighter jets

To understand why this hotel is here, you need to know where you are.

Bardenas Reales is about 42,000 hectares of clay, gypsum and sandstone in the south-east of Navarre, and a UNESCO biosphere reserve. In the Middle Ages it was no man’s land between the kingdoms of Navarre, Aragon and Castile. Natalia’s letter has a nice line about it: this is where shepherds built their shelters and where bandits and smugglers found refuge. The most famous of them was the 15th-century outlaw Sanchicorrota, who still has a castle ruin in the desert named after him.

The shepherds are still here. Every autumn shepherds from the Roncal valley in the Pyrenees drive their sheep down an old drove road to the winter pastures of Bardenas, as they have for centuries.

And in the middle of the desert there is a Spanish Air Force range. Since 1951, 2,244 hectares, where fighter jets practise bombing. If you hear a distant rumble in the desert, it may not be thunder. The sixth season of Game of Thrones filmed Dothraki scenes here.

So: bandits, sheep, fighter jets and Game of Thrones. And on the edge of all that, a hotel where they roast sausages over a fire in the evening.

Our room: a cube with an outdoor hot tub

Our cube was a free-standing grey box. Inside: a white bed, thin white curtains, a chair and a big wood-framed window with a deep sill you can pile cushions on and sit in. The window looks onto your own courtyard: a tree, two blue chairs, a small table and a round hot tub. The courtyard is enclosed by the same wooden crates, so nobody can see in.

I slept very well. The hot tub outside was wonderful. When it got dark we sat in the hot tub and looked at the stars. The desert is right next door, there is little light around and the sky is full. That is exactly why you sleep here and not in the centre of Tudela.

If you want more hot water and views, have a look at my list of the best spa hotels in the Basque Country.

Room types at Aire de Bardenas

The hotel has eight room types: room with private patio, room with outdoor bathtub, cube with views, cube with outdoor bathtub, Cube 22, suite with views, suite with outdoor bathtub and bubble suite with outdoor bathtub. All are doubles, and most can take an extra bed. Pets are allowed in every room.

Bubble or cube?

We did not stay in a bubble, so I will only tell you what the hotel itself promises: the bubble is 20 m², has a bathroom with a shower, air conditioning and heating, and instead of a TV you get the sky. You get an eye mask and earplugs, because the morning light comes in from everywhere. According to some guest reviews, the bubble’s heater makes noise at night.

The cube is my pick. You are on your own, the courtyard is yours, the hot tub is still under the open sky and the stars are the same.

Aire de Bardenas prices

Prices vary by room and season. The cheapest room with a patio is roughly €220 to €250 a night for two, cubes with an outdoor tub and the bubbles roughly €380 to €440, and the most expensive suite gets close to €460. An extra bed costs about €44 a night. Our breakfast was included, but with some rates it is extra (€24.20 per person on the hotel’s restaurant page). You can see the exact price for your dates on Booking.

Campfire, sausages and a pool with wind turbines

Before dinner it is worth just wandering around the hotel. In the inner courtyard there is a fire pit surrounded by benches made of pallets. So simple, and such a tasteful idea. And the sausages come from the hotel. A simple idea, but exactly special enough, and really tasty.

There were hardly any other guests at the time, maybe two or three other couples. That made the trip even more special.

Behind the pool, wind turbines stand on the ridge. In the garden there are vegetable beds whose harvest goes to the hotel restaurant. The pool is solar-heated, it is at its best from May to October and it is only open to hotel guests.

Breakfast: everything comes to the table

There is no buffet. You sit down and every option is brought to your table: fruit, orange juice, ham and cheese, scrambled eggs, tomato for your bread. Everything was really good. If the weather allows, eat outside.

We did not eat dinner at the hotel restaurant that evening, because it was closed, so we went to Tudela instead. If you want to have dinner at the hotel, check ahead whether the restaurant is open and book a table. The restaurant is also open to people who are not staying at the hotel. The kitchen is built around the vegetables of the Ribera Navarra, and the seven-course vegetable tasting menu costs €69. You can also order a picnic basket for the desert (€90 for two).

Tudela: what to do five minutes from the hotel

Tudela is the second largest town in Navarre and most people simply drive past it on their way to the desert. Don’t. It is five minutes from the hotel.

The town was founded by Muslims in 802. For centuries Muslims, Jews and Christians lived here side by side, and you can still see it: the cathedral was built on the site of the great mosque, and the narrow streets around it are the old Jewish quarter.

Plaza de los Fueros

The town’s living room. This is where people stroll, sit on terraces and meet. The square was built between 1687 and 1691 for bullfights, and the walls still carry ceramic tiles with bullfighting scenes. There is a bandstand in the middle and the Casa del Reloj with its clock tower on one side. The Santa Ana festivities take place here at the end of July, and the Bajada del Ángel at Easter.

Santa María Cathedral

The cathedral was built in the 12th and 13th centuries. The main door, the Puerta del Juicio, is the entire Last Judgement in stone: the saved on one side, the damned on the other. Stand there a little longer and look at the details, dozens of scenes are carved into it. Next to the cathedral, in the Palacio Decanal, is the Tudela museum.

The Jewish quarter and the old town

Tudela is part of Spain’s network of Jewish quarters. The narrow streets around the cathedral are the old Jewish and Moorish town, and the best thing to do here is get lost.

Dinner: small plates from bar to bar

Spain eats late and Tudela is no exception. Our dinner was a mix of small plates. I do not remember the name of the place, but the food was good, and that is exactly how you should eat here: one bite, one glass of wine, next bar. Most of the bars are in the triangle between the cathedral, Calle Herrerías and Plaza de los Fueros.

Tudela is the vegetable capital of Spain and they take it completely seriously. On the Ribera Navarra plain along the Ebro grows an artichoke (alcachofa) with its own protected geographical indication. Try the Tudela lettuce hearts (cogollos), asparagus and the vegetable stew menestra too. In spring, usually from mid April to early May, the town holds the Fiestas de la Verdura, the vegetable festival. Two weeks in honour of vegetables. If that sounds funny, taste the artichoke first.

Bardenas the next day

After breakfast and the pool we drove into the desert. From the hotel it is about half an hour to the main park entrance near Arguedas. We drove around the park in our own car for about three hours, and there are all kinds of great roads. White dusty gravel tracks, clay hills that wind and rain have been carving for thousands of years, and nothing in between. Pool in the morning, desert at noon. Half an hour’s drive apart.

Before you drive into the park:

• The park is open from 8 am until an hour before sunset, and entry is free
• The visitor centre is near Arguedas, at Finca de los Aguilares
• You may only drive on marked roads and at up to 40 km/h
• Camping, sleeping outside and flying drones are banned
• After rain the tracks turn to mud. On military exercise days part of the loop is closed, so check the official site bardenasreales.es before you go

How to get to Aire de Bardenas

A car is a must. Public transport does not go into the park. From Pamplona it is about an hour and a half to the hotel. According to the hotel, Zaragoza airport is 40 minutes away, Pamplona 50 minutes, and Bilbao and Biarritz about two hours. By train you can get from Madrid to Tudela in about two hours, but for the desert you still need a car.

If Bardenas is part of a longer road trip, have a look at my Basque Country road trip in 7 days.

When to go

Spring and autumn. In high summer the desert is too hot, and from June to September there are also fire restrictions in the park. During bird nesting season some areas are closed. If you want to watch the stars from the hot tub at night, pick a date close to the new moon.

What the hotel offers besides the room

The hotel runs tours into the desert: a buggy ride (about 4 hours), Segway (about 3.5 hours) and a guided hike. There is also olive oil tasting, massage and bike hire. Ask reception for prices. We did not do any of them this time, and that is the only reason I would stay longer next time.

Cheaper alternatives near Bardenas Reales

I did not see these places myself, so here are just the facts.

Camino de las Bardenas, Arguedas. A simple country hotel in the village by the main park entrance, 14 rooms, a restaurant and bike hire. Prices start at around €75. A good choice if you want to be as close to the desert as possible and save money.

Cuevas de las Bardenas, Valtierra. Cave houses carved into the rock, with kitchens, for 4 to 10 people. Good for a group of friends who want to cook for themselves and sleep inside a hill.

Is Aire de Bardenas worth it?

Yes. Especially for a couple.

Aire de Bardenas is a different kind of hotel. Luxurious, but humble. A hot tub under the stars in the middle of the desert is the reason to come, and it works. Do not go in high summer, because the desert is too hot. And do not stay just one night like we did. With a second night you can also do the hotel’s tours in the desert, and we did not get to those. Next time.

FAQ

Disclosure: this article may contain affiliate links. If you book or buy through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend what we believe in.