Granada, Spain, December 2003 -- Fragrant with orange trees and blessed with ancient neighborhoods of crooked streets, the Andalusian cities of Seville and Granada are built on centuries of fascinating history. Granada's pedigree as the last stronghold of Muslim Spain literally towers over the city, and Seville's stories stretch back through Christian and Muslim to Roman times. So when we heard about three new hotels in beautiful historic buildings, we put down our copy of Tales of the Alhambra and checked them out.
Checking Into the Convent in Seville
Seville is a notoriously conservative city, so we laughed a little when we found out tourists can now stay in a 14th-century convent. The hallelujahs came, though, when we discovered the Convento La Gloria has mother-superior lodgings at close to vow-of-poverty prices.
Okay, we're overstating the low prices, but the rooms are still a bargain given the building's history. Built in 1363, it was Seville's first post office, then a convent, and finally a pastry factory before being turned into a hotel earlier this year. An underground warren of tunnels, not open to guests, connects the building to the river, the Alcazar and the cathedral.
Befitting a building with such a pedigree, walls are tiled with beautiful mosaics and studded with random pieces of art from the past seven centuries. Sizeable doubles feel a little cell-like, with nearly bare walls, tile floors and comfortable beds. You don't get much light in many of these rooms, but if you take rooms 103, 105, 201, 203, 301 or 302 you'll be thrilled by a face-on view of the Giralda tower, floodlit at night. That's what you've come to Seville for, after all. The one suite, reached through a crooked hallway, has three balconies, including one in the bathroom. Pale pink walls and antique furniture, plus an odd habit-like covering over the bed, make it look like the home of a pampered Mother Superior.
Downstairs, the Don Raimundo restaurant gives hotel guests a great deal on its normally expensive Spanish cuisine: a €12.05 ($14.46) set menu, half off the usual price, for lunch and dinner. The hotel is currently building a cheaper cafeteria in the front, which should be done by the new year.
A night in the nunnery will run you €75.50-€87.50 ($90.60-$105) for singles, €109-€120.50 ($130.80-$144.60) for doubles and €150.50 ($180.60) for the suite, with single and double room prices depending on the season. Prices are even higher during Seville's spring festivals. The convent is at 26-28 Calle Argote de Molina. Call +34 954 29 36 70 or e-mail hotelconventolagloria@arrakis.es to make reservations, as the hotel doesn't have a website.
From Ancient to Modern in Granada
There's a surfeit of historic lodgings in Granada's crooked, hilly Albayzin quarter. To the well-known Palacio de Santa Ines and Carmen de Santa Ines we now add two: the Casa de los Migueletes (www.casamigueletes.com) and the Casa del Capitel Nazari.
You pay a little more for the Migueletes than for neighboring hotels, but we think it's still a value. The 25-room hotel was built in the 17th century as a slew of houses around a central courtyard; over the centuries, it became the headquarters for the local police and then a set of slum dwellings, before finally being left in ruins in 1995.
Two and a half years of renovations have equipped the Migueletes with modern conveniences that you won't see in neighboring hotels. For one thing, there's an elevator. The roof over the central patio rolls back to reveal the sun (or rolls down to protect the hotel from rain.) In the winter, the patio's electrically heated floor is kind on guests' tender toes. And a 24-hour, ground-floor wine cellar serves as the world's largest minibar. Feel like some fresh ham and a bottle of vino tinto? Just ask.
The Migueletes' greatest asset, though, is its staff. All front-line staff speak fluent English, a massive relief in a region where English speakers are often reduced to hooting and pointing in attempts to get themselves understood. And staff are tapped-in -- and tremendously helpful -- when it comes to recommending restaurants and attractions, providing the intangible smoothness that creates a luxury experience.
The very varied rooms range from €129 ($154.80) for a cozy double with a view of a wall to €199 ($238.80) for room 25, a spacious double with a terrace that offers breathtaking views of the Alhambra, and €499 ($598.80) for a vast two-room suite larger than many apartments, with a four-poster bed, two couches, and the potential to sleep seven or eight. (They'll charge you more if you try to pack seven people in, but they'll probably cut you a deal.) Room 26 is an adorable attic aerie with a teak-beam ceiling and an Alhambra view, perfect for honeymooners. All rooms come bedecked with certifiably antique furniture and brand-new bathrooms; some have bathtubs, and the others have crazy high-tech showers with six nozzles that shoot out water at various levels.
The Casa del Capitel Nazari (www.hotelcasacapitel.com), a block away from the Migueletes, is the cheapest of the quartet of historic hotels in the Albayzin, with singles running for €68 ($81.60) and doubles for €85 ($102). Seventeen rooms on three floors cluster around an open-air patio -- yes, that means it rains inside the hotel sometimes! Fortunately, the patio has great drainage. The 1503 building was originally a palace for a rich family, and converted into a hotel in 2001.
On the Capitel's three floors, you'll find rooms decorated with tapestries and old rugs, with tiny but sparkling bathrooms (showers only, no tubs.) Top-floor rooms have gorgeous wood-beam ceilings, and a few rooms have views of the Alhambra. Televisions, phones and air conditioning are standard in every room. Especially during decent weather, we think this hotel is a great deal if you can't afford to shell out for the Migueletes.
Have you stayed at these properties, or do you have your own favorite place to stay in the area? We'd love to read your suggestions on our Spain Message Boards.