Our Story

La Garrotxa is our hidden gem, our home.

We met whilst working at Edinburgh's most prestigious hotel in 1997 where Roy was just starting out as a chef and Goretti had arrived some months before to learn English.  Our paths diverged and crossed again two years later, and yes two years later we were married.

Over the years we had both accumulated experience working in food and hospitality and together we had a yearning to do something on our own.  During holidays spent both in Scotland and Catalonia we started to consider our options for opening a guest house.  In 2005, just after our son was born we spent a week looking around the Catalan Pre-Pyrenees and on our return to Scotland the decision to move was made.

It was in January 2007, less than two months after our arrival in Catalonia that we first set our eyes on La Rectoria de Sant Miquel de Pineda.  The house and the area 'ticked all of the boxes'.  La Rectoria offered everything required to establish our Bed & Breakfast, situated within a national park in the beauty of La Garrotxa with excellent access to both Barcelona and Girona.

With our magnificent building team we were able to give new life to the old rectoria that has stood here for over 800 years and in October 2011 we opened our doors to welcome our first guests.

There have been more than one or two heart stopping moments along the way, but with the passing of each year we have become more and more attached to the sense of place which La Rectoria and its chapel have and to the beauty of the space around us.  Each day the canvas of the landscape changes and each day we try to capture an image in mind and memory.  La Garrotxa is our hidden gem, our home.

Welcome to La Rectoria de Sant Miquel de Pineda.

Roy, Goretti and Silvestre.

 

  • The family
  • They rebuild the house
  • Our hands
  • Old lady in 2007