It all seems so quintessentially French: Michelin-starred cooking in the
restaurant, a bedroom full of 18th-century antiques, lounges lined with
Renaissance art. Welcome to your luxury retreat...in Spain.
The nation that used to cater mainly for tangerine-tanned holidaymakers in
tangerine-painted tower blocks has well and truly grown up — and we are
catching on fast. Among Brits, Spain overtook France in popularity last
year, and many of those travellers were heading for smart hotels in
out-of-the-way regions beyond the concrete costas, avoiding the chips and
lager in favour of fino sherry and fine tapas.
Whether you’d like to stay in the precincts of a 15th-century cathedral, among
the turrets of an 18th-century castle, in the height of urban modernity or
in the grand halls of an ambassadorial “chateau”, 21st-century Spain can
oblige. There is heritage to spare here, but in the very best cases, it has
been married to rooftop pools, thalassotherapy spas, world-beating cuisine,
and limo and helicopter transfers.
Here, we select a dozen of the finest upmarket retreats.
All room prices are for a double in September. Unless stated, packages are per
person based on one week in September, and include flights from London and transfers.
Flight prices are for September; for regional and Irish flight options,
contact the operator
1. LOS REYES DE CATOLICOS
Santiago de Compostela
Best for: Architectural pilgrims.
In the Middle Ages, Santiago’s cathedral was in the big league of
Christian pilgrimage — third only to Rome and Jerusalem. The final
resting place of the bones of St James, it remains one of Spain’s
greatest monuments, baroque and golden from the outside, romanesque within.
Its overwhelming granite presence reigns over the architecturally sublime
Plaza Obradoiro.
Next door is a hostelry, founded in 1499 by Ferdinand and Isabella (the Reyes Catolicos)
to house leg-weary and foot-blistered pilgrims. It claims to be the oldest
hotel in the world, but yesterday’s austerity has given way to prosperity.
Now, you can arrive by plane and put your feet up.
Also known as the Parador de Santiago, the hotel is built around four cloistered
courtyards, with rooms that manage to combine period furniture and stripped-down
styling: lots of white linen and polished wood. It’s a flagship of the
state-owned chain of paradors, with a five-star “gran luxe”
official rating, and the restaurant specialises in meat and fish cooked in
the traditional Galician way.
Details: doubles £135, room-only; call 00 34 981 582200
or visit www.parador.es. Santiago airport is 20 minutes away, served by
Iberia (0870 609 0500, www.iberia.com) from Heathrow, from £110; and
Ryanair (0906 270 5656, www.ryanair.com) from Stansted, from £103.
A week’s B&B with Castaways (01737 812255, www.castaways.co.uk) costs
£1,091, including flights and car hire.
2. EL CASTELL DE CIUTAT
La Seu d’Urgell
Best for: Mountain retreaters.
El Castell is no fake: it’s a genuine 18th-century castle, built to
preside over two Pyrenean passes, one to France and the other to Andorra.
And it’s storming. A two-hour drive from Barcelona, it was originally
converted into a cheapie motel, but don’t let that put you off. Slowly
and stylishly, the hotel has been elevated into the highest stratosphere of
Relais & Châteaux, with a Michelin-starred restaurant, two pools
and a spa.
With nature reserves and national parks (including Aigues Tortes) at all points
of the compass, El Castell is a perfect base for walking — though a
car will bring you within striking range of 100 romanesque monuments, plus stone-and-slate
villages unchanged since medieval times. The hotel can also arrange
canoeing, white-water rafting, hot-air ballooning, and mountain-biking.
Details: B&B doubles from £118; call 00 34 973
350000 or contact www.hotelelcastell.com. Barcelona is served by Iberia
(0870 609 0500, www.iberia.com) and BA (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) from
Birmingham, Heathrow and Gatwick, plus Iberia from Dublin; BA from
Manchester; MyTravelLite (0870 156 4564, www.mytravellite.com) from
Birmingham; and EasyJet (0905 821 0905, 65p/min, www.easyjet.com) from
Bristol, Liverpool, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and Newcastle. A week’s B&B
with Mundi Color (020 7828 6021, no website) costs £676, including
flights and car hire.
3. MAS DE TORRENT
Gerona
Best for: Tranquillity seekers.
This is the perfect Catalan combination: within quick-hit range of the resorts on
the Costa Brava, but packed with history and embedded in secret countryside.
At the hotel’s core is a deftly restored 18th-century farmhouse with
some ex-tremely grand rooms, both public and boudoir. Most of the bedrooms,
though, are in a row of one-storey outbuildings, constructed in honey-hued
stone to blend with the original.
There’s a real sense of summer calm and plenty of breathing space here,
with orchards of oranges and olives, a large pool (some suites have a
private one) and tennis courts. The restaurant is reckoned one of the best
in the region.
Nearby villages such as Pals, Begur and Peratallada are Catalonia’s far sleepier
answer to the Tuscan hilltops; and you can visit Dali’s museum in Figueras
and his house near Cadaques. There are some excellent golf courses, too,
including five within a 30-minute radius.
Details: B&B doubles from £156; call 00 34 972
303292 or visit www.mastorrent.com. Gerona airport is 30 minutes away,
served by Ryanair (0906 270 5656, www.ryanair.com) from Blackpool,
Bournemouth, Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool, Stansted, Nottingham and Shannon,
from £74. Barcelona is a 75-minute drive away. A week’s B&B
with Abercrombie & Kent (0845 070 0612, www.abercrombiekent.co.uk),
including flights and car hire, costs £1,093.
4. HOTEL OMM
Barcelona
Best for: Urban hipsters.
Spanish cities have embraced cutting-edge design, and no-where more so than Barcelona.
The Omm — pronounced like a mantra — is the newest on the scene.
Just north of the gothic quarter, it is close to Gaudi’s fantastical
apartment block Casa Mila — it’s hard to decide which is more
radical. The hotel has dark corridors, blindingly bright rooms, and a
rooftop pool with a grandstand view of Gaudi’s chimneys. You can dine
at the Moo restaurant on Catalan cooking by the Roca brothers (who have a
two-Michelin-star restaurant near Gerona), party at Ommsession, a nightspot “with
unexpected performances” on stage, and shop along the nearby Passeig
de Gracia. A spa is due to open soon.
Details: doubles from £152 (00 34 934 454000, www.hotelomm.es).
For flights to Barcelona, see number 2.
A week’s B&B with Original Travel (020 7978 7333, www.originaltravel.co.uk)
costs £900, including flights.
5. SANTO MAURO
Madrid
Best for: City aristocrats.
This is a city-break stay on the grand scale. Santo Mauro was built for a duke,
who hired a French architect and got himself a small chateau. Set in the impeccably
elegant Chamberi residential district, the building has since served as a
series of embassies, and still whispers exclusivity, especially in its
ornate, high-ceilinged lounges, which are full of antiques and modern art.
As well as 37 rooms, styled with contemporary panache, there’s a pretty
pool, a restaurant set in the former library — even a chapel. Madonna,
Richard Gere and other stellar names have checked in here, which won’t
surprise you.
Details: the hotel reopens on September 1 with room-only doubles
from £213 (00 34 913 196900, www.achotelsantomauro.com). Madrid is served
by BA (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) and Iberia (0870 609 0500, www.iberia.com)
from Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh; BA from
Glasgow; Iberia from Dublin; EasyJet (0905 821 0905, 65p/min, www.easyjet.com)
from Luton, Gatwick, Bristol and Liverpool; BMI (0870 607 0555,
www.flybmi.com) from Heathrow; Aer Lingus (353 818 365000, www.aerlingus.com)
from Dublin; and Monarch (0870 040 5040, www.flymonarch.com) from
Manchester; sample fare £75.
A week’s B&B with Exsus (020 7292 5050, www.exsus.com) is £1,080,
including flights.
6. LA RESIDENCIA
Mallorca
Best for: Lazybones.
Mallorca celebrates — if that’s the right word — 100 years
of tourism this year. It has taken its toll, but away from the crab’s
claw of south-coast overdevelopment, this is a gorgeous island whose natural
assets have only been enhanced by a wave of classy new hotels.
The one that first put Mallorca on the discerning traveller’s radar, and
still one of the best, is La Residencia, an old manor house cradled in high
slopes of olive and citrus groves in the could-be Provençal village of
Deia. Its rather glam guests rise to enjoy breakfast on a perfect terrace,
drift towards the pool for a slow morning, slip into the spa for a
late-afternoon massage, dine at the excellent El Olivo and tuck up for the
night in one of 50 well-furnished rooms, six with working fireplaces. The
rest of their time is spent relaxing. Mass tourism? You won’t believe
it.
Details: doubles £325, B&B; call 00 34 971 639011 or visit
www.hotellaresidencia.com. Palma airport is 40 minutes away, served by BMI
Baby (0870 264 2229, www.bmibaby.com) from Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and
Nottingham; EasyJet (0905 821 0905, 65p/min, www.easyjet.com) from Luton, Stansted,
Gatwick, Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle. A week’s B&B with Seasons
in Style (0151 342 0505, www.seasonsinstyle.co.uk) starts from £1,585, including
flights.
7. HYATT REGENCY LA MANGA
Cartagena, Murcia
Best for: Adrenaline addicts.
La Manga has long been the Mediterranean’s table-topping sports resort.
It has the golf (three championship courses, an 80-bay floodlit driving
range, a teaching academy); the tennis (28 courts, mostly floodlit, plus
tuition); a professional-football centre; and a fully equipped gym and spa.
At first glance, you could almost be in Florida: an enormous spread of villas dots
the 1,400-acre, lawned-and- landscaped site. But there’s a slick
hotel, too: the five-star, all-trimmings-present 189-room Hyatt Regency.
Details: doubles from £125; under-12s sharing stay free, children
under five also get free meals (00 34 968 331234, www.lamangahyatt.com).
Thirty minutes away is Murcia airport, served by Flybe (0871 700 0535,
www.flybe.com) from Birmingham and Southampton; MyTravelLite (0870 156 4564,
www.mytravellite.com) from Birmingham; and Ryanair (0906 270 5656,
www.ryanair.com) from Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool, Stansted and Luton.
A week’s B&B with Barwell Leisure (020 8786 3000, www.barwell.co.uk) starts
from £740, including flights.
8. CASA DE CARMONA
Carmona, near Seville
Best for: Art lovers.
Tucked up in the web of blossomy squares and alleyways that comprise the dazzling-white
village of Carmona, Casa de Carmona is beautifully insulated from the crowds
that swarm through Granada, Cordoba and Seville, Spain’s Moorish
golden triangle. That makes it one of the best bases for taking in the artistic
splendour of Andalusia.
It is a 16th-century nobleman’s palace, converted into a 30-bedroom
hotel by its owner, Doña Marta Medina, an art historian-cum-architect.
Unsurprisingly, it demonstrates vast passion for the period. The building, a
triumph in terracotta and ochre, arranges itself around a series of
courtyards, one with a pool. The hotel overflows with antiques, paintings,
mosaics and gardens, and the attention to decorative detail never lets up
for a second. When you’re ready for the crowd scene, Seville is just
20 miles from here, Cordoba an hour’s drive away.
Details: doubles from £132, B&B (00 34 954 191000, www.casadecarmona.com).
Casa de Carmona is 30 minutes from Seville, served by Iberia (0870 609 0500,
www.iberia.com) and BA (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) from Heathrow and
Gatwick; or Ryanair (0906 270 5656, www.ryanair.com) from Stansted.
A week’s B&B with Magic of Spain (0870 888 0222, www.magictravelgroup.co.uk)
costs £720, including flights.
9. HACIENDA BENAZUZA
Sanlucar la Mayor, Seville
Best for: Gastronauts.
Ferran Adria’s El Bulli restaurant, north of Barcelona, is consistently
rated at the summit of global gastronomy. But unless you booked last
January, you’ve zero chance of getting a table this autumn. There is,
however, an alternative: the Alqueria restaurant, near Seville, is overseen
by Adria and run by his number two, Rafa Morales.
It has two Michelin stars and offers the same extragalactic recipes across a marathon
32 courses. Adria’s twirly signature dishes include chicken skin with orange
blossom, scallops with redcurrant, and parmesan-cheese ice cream, and there’s
wine by the glass to complement each course.
The restaurant, part of an old Moorish farmhouse with 10th-century roots, is attached
to the hotel, which has 43 rooms with old-fashioned decor, and delightful
gardens.
Details: B&B doubles from £222; the restaurant’s
tasting menu costs £70pp (00 34 955 703344, www.hbenazuza.com). Seville
airport is 20 minutes away: see number 8.
A week’s B&B with Kirker Holidays (0870 112 3333, www.kirkerholidays.co.uk)
costs £1,565, including flights.
10. LA POSADA DEL TORCAL
Antequera
Best for: Honeymooners.
This white-walled, red-roofed, traditional cortijo (farmhouse) commands the Andalusian
high ground. No matter where you choose to settle, from the terrace to your
bathtub, you are treated to eye-popping views across the almond groves of
the estate and away to the rocky ridge-line of the Antequera.
With just 10 romantic rooms, all with fireplaces and huge beds, Torcal makes a perfect
trysting-place — especially if you shell out for its special honeymoon package.
This in- cludes a helicopter transfer from Malaga airport (and a limo back),
champagne and roses, a scatter of petals on the bed, meals served on your
private terrace, a convertible for outings, two massages, and two hours’
riding astride the estate mares, Vodka and Tonic.
There is also tennis, a pool (heated in winter) and typical Spanish dishes prepared
with local organic produce by an ex-Savoy chef.
Details: B&B doubles £111; or £4,985 for the
one-week honeymoon special. Call 00 34 952 031177, or visit www.
eltorcal.com. The nearest airport is at Malaga (60 minutes away), served by
charter or scheduled flight from almost every UK international airport. Try
Teletext (www.teletextholidays.co.uk) or Dial a Flight (0870 333 5555, www.dialaflight.com)
for deals.
A week’s B&B in a superior room with Spain at Heart (01373 814222, www.spainatheart.co.uk)
costs £713, including flights and car hire.
11. THE SAN ROQUE CLUB
San Roque
Best for: Active families.
Yes, this is a resort; yes, it’s on the Costa del Sol; but it is
up-market and low-rise, set in the lushly landscaped ancestral estate of the
Domecq sherry dynasty. The 100 rooms are surrounded by 340 acres of privacy.
San Roque’s well-organised children’s club is a godsend for
parents who want to play golf (on the resort’s course), ride horses
(at its equestrian centre), play tennis or sail.
The club is run on British lines by Scott Dunn’s NNEB-qualified nannies,
and lays on snacks, lunch and tea, drinks and most activities, from
face-painting for the tinies to tennis competitions for the teens. Childcare
is also available for babies from four months; there’s baby-sitting,
too.
Details: room-only doubles from £166; children free when sharing
(00 34 956 613030, www.sanroqueclub.com). The nearest airport is Gibraltar,
20 minutes away, served by BA (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) from Gatwick and
Heathrow; and Monarch (0870 040 5040, www.flymonarch.com) from Manchester
and Luton; sample fare from Luton, £85.
A week’s B&B with Scott Dunn (020 8682 5040, www.scottdunn.com) for two
adults and two children costs a total of £3,215. That price includes accommodation
in a “hacienda” (a double suite, a twin room and two bathrooms, connected
by an internal courtyard) and family flights to Gibraltar.
12. THE MARBELLA CLUB
Marbella
Best for: Sybarites.
There’s hot competition among hot tubs on the Costa del Sol, the
stiffest being between the spas at Las Dunas, the Kempinski and the Marbella
Club. We recommend the last, with its elaborate menu of thalassotherapy
treatments (rejuvenation, detox, antistress, post-pregnancy reshapings and
more), served up in a dozen treatment rooms. You can also look forward to
shi tao massages, Osmanic hammams (Turkish baths) and a large indoor
seawater pool.
The hotel, once the number-one residence of Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe, is cocooned
from the costa by subtropical gardens. It offers a choice of rooms (121) or
villas (16), the latter with up to five bedrooms. For watersports and tennis,
guests have visitors’ rights at its sister hotel, Puente Romano, a five-minute
stroll away, while excellent golf and riding facilities are 20 minutes down
the road.
Details: doubles from £172, room-only (00 34 952 822211, www.marbellaclub.com).
Mal-aga airport is 35 minutes away (see number 10 for options). A week’s
B&B with ITC Classics (01244 355527, www.itcclassics.co.uk) costs £1,738,
including flights
