Las Casas de El Arenal ★★★★

“The air soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant that it was delicious to breathe it.” Christopher Columbus

Located in the heart of the old town, in the charming Flamenco Quarter is where you’ll find your accommodation, housed in two traditional 18th century houses. Very much in keeping with the rest of the surrounding architecture, it feels right at home in one of Europe’s most elegant and beautiful-looking cities. Painted in Seville’s classic ochre yellow colour, the façade is both impressive and graceful in its style, warmly welcoming you to the city.

Inside you’ll be greeted in an elegant yellow reception hall, complete with a glittering chandelier. All floors are built around a traditional Sevillan courtyard in the centre of the hotel, giving the whole place a light and airy feel.

Luminous and calming, and dressed in cream colours, the rooms have regal and elegant touches in the rich red fabrics, imperial looking drapes around the bed, high wood-beamed ceilings and bathrooms. It’s a space not only feel at home in, but also to be pampered in.

Wake up each morning to a newspaper outside your room, a traditional spread in the breakfast room and you’ll be ready to start your day. Walk a few minutes one way and you’ll discover you’re just a short walk from the city’s famous white and yellow bullring, which also houses the fascinating bullfighting museum – the Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Sevilla, where you can learn all the rules of the sport, its strong history and about some of Seville’s most famous matadors (bullfighters).

Walk the other way from your hotel and you’ll find yourself at one of Seville’s most important squares, home to the Giralda – an ancient Islamic style minaret and its attached gothic cathedral. Next-door lies Seville’s other Moorish connection – the Real Alcazar Palace, filled with intricate Arabic style arches, delicately carved walls, and magnificent interior patios filled with fountains and orange trees.

From here, take a romantic horse and carriage ride (you’ll find many carts hanging out in front of the cathedral) to see the grand Plaza España. Built for the Ibero-American Exhibition of 1929, it’s one of the most impressive buildings in the city, known for its Renaissance Revival style in Spanish architecture. Forming a giant crescent around a series of water channels and giant fountain, it’s covered in brightly coloured traditional tiles, arches and quaint bridges.

End the day with a tapas selection to refuel. Your hotel has no restaurant, but that hardly matters as you’re in one of the new tapas capital of Spain. Over the last few years Seville has began to establish itself as the place to go for new age gourmet style tapas. Gone are the simple plates of ham or olives and in are mini gourmet meals served in creative and innovative ways.

Seville is the type of city that draws you back here time and time again and when you’re here you’ll know that you always have an elegant home at Las Casas del Arenal.