Boutique hotels in Spain

Few countries have turned old buildings into hotels as gracefully as Spain. Courtyard houses in Seville and Córdoba, merchant palaces in Valencia and Málaga, and stone farmhouses in the mountains of Mallorca now hold some of Europe's most characterful small hotels. Most have fewer than thirty rooms, and many are run by the families or designers who restored them.

The cities

Barcelona and Madrid lead our ranking. Barcelona's boutique hotels cluster in the Gothic Quarter and along the modernist avenues of the Eixample, while Madrid's best small hotels sit in the old streets around the Prado and in the lively quarters of Chueca and Las Letras. Seville, Valencia and Bilbao follow close behind, each with a historic center small enough to explore on foot.

Andalusia's heritage towns

The south is where Spain's past is most visible. Granada's hotels look across at the Alhambra from the hillside Albaicín, Córdoba's hide behind the white walls of the old Jewish quarter, and Ronda's sit on the edge of a dramatic gorge. Many occupy former palaces, convents and Moorish houses built around shaded patios.

Islands and coast

Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca, Formentera and Lanzarote each have their own character, from the artists' village of Deià to Formentera's turquoise beaches and Lanzarote's volcanic landscapes. On the mainland, San Sebastián pairs a city beach with some of the world's best food, and Cadaqués on the Costa Brava is a whitewashed fishing village once loved by Salvador Dalí.

When to go

Spring and autumn are the best seasons for most of the country: Andalusia's cities can be extremely hot in July and August, while the islands and the north coast are at their best from May to October. The Canary Islands, Lanzarote among them, are warm all year.