Facilities

Equestrian

Epona's excellent bespoke training facilities include irrigated indoor and outdoor schools and exercise track, which help make your lessons dust free and more enjoyable, especially through the heat of a Seville summer.

The indoor arena is 20m x 60m and boasts a top level competition standard sand and fibre surface to further enhance the quality of your riding experience.

The stabled horses are housed in a purpose built American barn, with generously sized stables, complemented by wash down and farrier areas, tie up stalls, tack and feed rooms etc. The barn is surrounded by the paddocks accommodating the trail ride and retired horses as well as stallion turnout pens and staff accommodation. Everything is to hand which helps to create a professional and yet very positive environment for both the horses and staff.

Guests enjoy a welcoming and spacious guest lounge and dining area. The adjoining terraces are centrally located meaning it is possible to watch lessons in both the indoor and outdoor arenas, whilst sitting on the terrace, if you so wish. There are guest lockers and shower rooms which are especially welcome during the warmer months. There is also an outdoor unheated swimming pool and patio area, where you are welcome to spend time relaxing between lessons if you wish.

As the famous saying goes “Mi casa es su casa” (“My home is your home”), and that is how Epona hope you will view Hacienda Blanca Paloma during your stay with them.

Food

All Breakfasts and lunches are included in the price of your Epona programme. We also offer a welcome dinner on the first evening (Sunday), so the only meals not included are dinners from Monday to Friday (and Saturday if you are participating in the Rafael Soto clinic).

Lunches are served at Epona, and consist of freshly prepared home cooked recipes, combining mainly traditional Spanish dishes, which give you a taste of the renowned Mediterranean diet, with some International dishes and a selection of delicious home-made desserts. In addition a variety of fresh salads and fruit is always available.

We can cater to most diets including vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free, etc. Please advise on any special dietary requirements at time of booking. The evening meals from Monday to Friday are not included in the price.

On Monday to Thursday you will find innumerable dining options in the immediate vicinity of the hotel. Carmona has more than fifty dining options to choose from. A wide selection of elegant restaurants for special occasions and multiple tapas bars with al fresco seating to watch the world go by.

In the hotel alone there are five dining options, including room service, if you just feel like a quiet night resting. About two blocks walk away from the hotel, you can find the city’s hub of socialising, where, families meet in the evening for coffee, tapas or an ice cream. This is the Plaza San Fernando, popularly known as the Plaza de Arriba (the Upper Square) or la Plaza Redonda (the Round Square)

Accommodation

The accommodation for all the Epona programmes, and full buffet breakfast will be included at the Alcazar de la Reina, a beautiful four-star Superior category hotel in the heart of the historic and monumental centre of the old part of the city of Carmona, just a few minutes drive away from the Hacienda.

The hotel is full of history, charm, and elegance while at the same time comfortable and modern. The hotel is located only twenty minutes drive from Seville International airport. You will enjoy breathtaking views over the fertile valley, the Vega de Carmona, all the way to the great river Guadalquivir, thirty kilometers away, with the Sierra Morena mountain Range on the horizon.

The name of the hotel comes from the Moorish term Alcazar, meaning a fortified Palace, and the Spanish, Reina, or queen. Therefore it is the Queen’s Palace.

The building was originally erected by the Moors in the 13th century as a fortress adjunct to the Puerta de Cordoba, in an era when the town was one of the most important caliphates of Andalucia.

After the Moors were pushed back to their last strongholds in Granada and Málaga, in Medieval times, the Christian Kings of Castille also favoured Carmona to fix their royal residence in the region. Specifically, King Alfonso XI showed a fondness for the town, and while the royal residence in Andalusia was the Royal Alcazar in Sevilla, he housed his favourite concubine, Leonor de Guzman, in the comfortable and impregnable Alcazar de de la Puerta de Cordoba.

When he died of the Black Plague in Gibraltar, his only legitimate child, Pedro I inherited the throne, but due to the constant disputes for the crown that he had to suffer from his nine illegitimate half-brothers, he maintained Leonor prisoner in the palace until her death. He also favoured Carmona and built the Alcazar del Rey Don Pedro (now the Parador) as his royal residence.

However, as legend has it, during the fifteenth century, another King of Castile, Juan II, embarking on another war with the Sultans of Malaga and Granada, sought the safest town in the province to house his beloved Queen and his heir, and keep them nearby. He chose Carmona as the most impregnable town and the Alcazar de la Puerta de Cordoba as the safest and most comfortable residence for his family. From that time on, it became known as the Alcazar de la Reina.

The Palace, totally restored in the 1990s in the original Mudejar style, and refurbished in 2018 boasts spacious, elegant lounge areas and patios, an outdoor solarium with a salt-water swimming pool, and a total of four different options for wining and dining: The Tabanco Restaurant, the Terrace Bar, the Tabanco Tapas Bar and the official Guinness Irish Pub.

The rooms are ample, airy, comfortable and tastefully furnished. Features include:

Full en-suite bathroom (tub and shower).
Air-conditioning and central heating.
Satellite T.V.
Safe.
Minibar (consumption not included in the price).
Hair-dryer.

It is possible to upgrade the room status to a Superior or Deluxe double room, Junior Suite or Suite. Please contact Epona for details if this is of interest to you.

**Please note that a credit card number will be requested by the hotel at check-in, to cover additional expenses.

We are sure that our guests will feel at home in the comfortable and elegant, relaxed atmosphere of this warm and welcoming hotel, with its friendly and multi-lingual staff, who are available at all times, ready to make your stay within these ancient walls, a truly unforgettable experience.

Other services available in the hotel, which may be of your interest but not included in the Epona programme:

Room service.
Private Parking.
Laundry and dry cleaning service.
Sauna, massage and beauty treatments (upon request and subject to availability).
Business centre: fax and photocopy service.
Wifi internet in all the public areas.
International magazines and newspapers.
Swimming pool towels.
Florist (upon request and subject to availability).
Outwith the normal Epona transfer times, shuttle service to/from airport and train station.
The Epona programmes include accommodation in standard twin rooms, for two people, sharing. For single occupancy, there is a supplement of €320.