We are rarely disapponted in Paradors. This was no exception. The rooms are usually large, well equipped and the staff helpfull and courteous. The self serve breakfast is outstanding and much superior to French equivalents.
The restaurants do vary, but in this one we thought the food (regional Spanish) was first class and our evening meal was a treat and quite reasonable. The nearby city of Burgos is worth a visit. The cathedral is where part of 'El Cid' was filmed.
An underground car park is part of the hotel and a large comfortable lounge bar makes for a pleasant place to take a pre-dinner drink.

We stayed for one night only at the Parador de Lerma, and although we enjoyed ourselves, I think that this was about the right length of time to stay, certainly I would not have wanted to stay any more than two nights.
The first impression of the parador was spectacular, it stands in an elevated position arising out of the relatively flat agricultural landscape. It is built around a huge courtyard where there is ample room to park your vehicle, whatever it's size. The reception staff were efficient and helpful. We were shown to our room which overlooked the courtyard and the plains beyond. A balcony would have been nice or even a decent sized window, but we were up in what was probably the palace equivelent of an atic room. That being said the room was spacious enough with a good sized bathroom, although the small window meant it was a little gloomy.
We did not have dinner in the hotel opting instead for a local establishment, which on reflection was a mistake. The hotel menu looked interesting, if expensive, with an extensive wine list. Our nightcap was taken in the parador, where we were served by buxom wenches in medieval costume. The poor girls looked very uncomfortable and embarrassed to be weraing such outfits.
There was an excellent spread for breakfast, to which we did full justice.
All in all I would recomend this parador. Although it is slightly isolated and off the beaten track it is worth the detour if you have the time.

I usually quite like Spanish paradors. And I'm tolerant of all types of accommodation, as long as the service is friendly, the rooms are clean and I feel safe. I just spent 19 days in Spain, some in two star pensions and some in five star deluxe hotels. Some lovely experiences in both but the parador in Lerma, alas, did not rank up there. At all.

A bit of backstory -- we booked the parador on Lerma on the fly. We were driving down from Bilbao and it was about 4 p.m. and we didn't have a place to stay. Because we trusted the quality of paradors, we gave them a call. Yep, they had a room for the three of us.

We got there and noticed our rate. 260 Euros. Huh? They explained they only had superior rooms left because they were busy. Fine ... we could swallow that.

The room was on the top floor and was so dark you could call it a bat cave. Sure, it was spacious, but the beds were stiff and uncomfortable.

The lounge resembles a vast but oppulent train station. An empty one. So much for the hotel being full.

The service in the bar was slow and surly. We watched a young waiter drop a piece of bread from the tray he was carrying. He bent down and put it back on the plate. I guess he believed in the seven second food drop rule, but in front of the clientele?

Our drinks were slopped down with barely a civil nod. The staff acted like they wanted to be anywhere but where they were.

The vaunted restaurant was an expensive disappointment. The food was so-so, not worth the money we were paying (we had the garlic soup and the roast suckling pig). The wine glasses were dirty and the water glasses chipped. To our horror, the bread-dropper was our waiter. He wasn't any better in the dining room and you could tell the maitre d' wasn't too happy with him either.

We walked out of there 400-plus Euros poorer. Did we feel like suckers? Oh yeah.

This Parador is large and opulant with some very nice features. The central courtyard /patio area is relaxing - the breakfast room excellent - the parking easy - the welcome warm and the town is very condensed but pretty.

As this Parador is close to Burgos and the wine growing regon of river Duero, it makes sense to stop over and explore. Very relaxing.
The history of the building and town revolves around the Duke of Lerma who was apparently a confidant and advisor to Philip III and - some say- introduced corruption on a major scale to the Royal court and who was responsible for amassing great wealth. He even had the distinction of organising the expulsion of the 'moriscos' from Spain -all 300k of them. So it's worth stayting at this Parador if only to imagine what went on in 1600 +- !