The Alhambra Palace Hotel

Character and identity

Perched on a hilltop directly beside the UNESCO-listed Alhambra, this 108-room property has been welcoming guests for nearly 120 years, and the grand lobby still reads like a film set: warm ochres, carved horseshoe archways, intricate mosaic work and a generous use of marble. The Moorish design language carries through to the rooms, where hardwood floors and terracotta tones sit alongside latticework ceilings and tiled bathrooms drawn from the Alhambra itself. A panoramic terrace looks out over Granada towards the Sierra Nevada, and the lounge and formal restaurant anchor the evenings. A guestbook signed by visiting royals, Dalai Lama and Orson Welles hints at the register.

Who's it for

Bottom line

The setting is the whole proposition: nowhere else in Granada puts you this close to the Alhambra with views this complete. Book one of the two-bedroom suites for the private terrace and breakfast over the forest if budget allows; otherwise request a room facing the city or Sierra Nevada, and plan an evening on the panoramic terrace.