The rustic one

MAS DE CANICATTI

A modernist wolf in rustic sheep’s clothing, the superb Mas de Canicatti is not quite what you expect. It’s hidden away, a 20-minute cab ride out of town, in a 130-acre estate of orange groves, and the main finca-style farmhouse is twee enough. But check out the rooms here and you’ll find minimalist studies in grey and red — then take the zinc-lined underpass, go through the beaten-copper doors and you’ll come to the uncompromisingly modern main block, where architect Angel Garcia Puertas has really let rip. It sounds terrible — lots of concrete, gloss-painted floors, bright yellow sinks — but wit, panache and sensitive landscaping make it work like a dream.

There’s a great pool, and a unique spa specialising in orange treatments. The restaurant, overseen by Michelin-starred Joachim Koerper, isn’t bad either.

Doubles from £131, B&B; 00 34 961 650534, www.masdecanicatti.com

The designer one

PETIT PALACE BRISTOL

The chicest hotel in town is the Hospes Palau de la Mar — it’s where Becks hangs his boots when he’s here to play, and local wunderkind architect Santiago Calatrava is a fan — but, while it’s very impressive, the location could be better and it’s a mite pretentious. If minimalism’s your bag, opt instead for the cheaper, more straightforward Bristol. Behind the original 19th-century facade it’s a brand-new building, with all the designer standards you’d expect — white walls, wood floors, hydromassage showers — but in a terrific spot, seconds from the Plaza de la Reina. There’s a cool glass-topped bar downstairs too. Best of all, though, it has a couple of the city’s top-value rooms: for the standard rate, 501 and 502 have great little sit-out terraces with terrific views.

Doubles from £69, room-only; 00 34 96 394 5100, www.hthoteles.com

The budget one

HOSTAL ANTIGUA MORELLANA

Cheap is all too often nasty in Spain, so a thoroughly civilised, family-run hostal like this is a bit of a find. The four Martinez sisters keep the place spotless (they live on the 4th floor), while their dad sits gossiping in the homely lobby. The pretty little rooms have all you need — ensuite, hairdryer and so on. True, the beds could be softer, and it’s a traditional bolster instead of a pillow, but if you can handle that, the location makes this place a bargain. Get a room at the back. Valencians are a noisy lot, especially at 2am.

You’re bang in the middle of the old town, a few steps from cute little Plaza Doctor Collado. The family also owns the Horno Fundado bakery around the corner: don’t miss their empanada pisto, with tomatoes, peppers and tuna.

Doubles from £33, room-only; 00 34 963 915773, www.hostalam.com

The trad one

AD HOC

A sensitively restored bourgeois house from 1881, Ad Hoc is all beams, brick, damask and a few more beams. The building had fallen on hard times before it was renovated 12 years ago, but they’ve done a fine job, from retracing the original ceiling decorations down to copying the 19th-century floor tiles.

The rooms are charming too, and a decent size. One caveat: only two of the 28 have double beds. Of these, choose number 52, with its vaulted ceiling right under the roof Ad Hoc isn’t as central as some — it’s in the Jewish quarter, a few minutes from the cathedral, and the clubs and cafes of Barrio del Carmen. It’s a pleasant walk, though, and for a place of this standard, the low-season prices below — which last all through the spring — are a steal.

Doubles from £54, room-only; 00 34 96 391 9140, www.adhochoteles.com

The barking one

LAS ARENAS BALNEARIO RESORT

Take a chunk of Dubai and a marble slab of Sandy Lane, plonk them down on a huge plot in the middle of Valencia’s seafront, and you’ve got Las Arenas. It’s brand new and it’s big, big, big — a 253-room, £25m wedding cake.

Authentic it ain’t, but if you want a seaside experience in the heart of the city, it can’t be beaten. Get a sea-view room, stand on your balcony and you can hear the waves whispering over the rustle of palm trees in the landscaped gardens — but you’re still only a £5 cab ride from the old town.

The rooms are high quality, with vast plasma TVs and big, bouncy beds. They’re still finishing the pool and spa, which should be done by “spring” — check when you book.

Doubles from £90, sea-view doubles from £103, room-only; 00 34 96 312 0600, www.hotel-lasarenas.com

I want to go

Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies from Stansted; EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) from Stansted, Gatwick and Bristol; British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) from Heathrow and Gatwick; and Thomsonfly (0870 190 0737, www.thomsonfly.com) from Coventry. Jet2 (0871 226 1737, www.jet2.com) from Manchester from May.

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