Barrio de Santa Cruz

Las Casas de la Judería

★★★★★

Las Casas de la Judería is one of the most atmospheric places to stay in Seville and one of the best value among the city's character hotels. It is not a single building but a whole cluster of historic houses on the eastern edge of the Barrio de Santa Cruz, close to the church of Santa María la Blanca, which was once a synagogue. The complex grew out of the residential quarters and surrounding palaces of the Dukes of Béjar, and its restoration joined around two dozen traditional houses, some dating back to the fifteenth century, into one hotel, linked by a maze of corridors, galleries and underground passages. Walking from reception to your room is a small adventure: you cross one patio after another, roughly thirty large and small courtyards in all, with fountains, tiles, potted geraniums, orange trees and wrought-iron balconies, each slightly different from the last. With some 175 rooms, it is larger than it feels, and the rooms reflect the buildings they occupy: they vary in size and shape, with rough-hewn beams, antique furniture, wooden or tiled floors and traditional fabrics, and some have sitting areas or whirlpool baths, which suit couples on a special trip. On the roof, a fairly large swimming pool and a solarium look out over the rooftops and church towers of the old town, a real luxury in the Seville summer, and the cellars hold a spa with baths and treatments. The location is excellent for sightseeing on foot: the Cathedral and the Real Alcázar are about ten minutes away through the lanes of Santa Cruz, the Casa de Pilatos is close, and the gardens of the Jardines de Murillo are just around the corner.

Who it suits: couples and families who want to feel they are staying in old Seville rather than in a modern hotel, and who enjoy the slight eccentricity of a building made from many houses. It works well for families thanks to the pool and the range of room sizes, though the long corridors and steps can be tiring with a pushchair. Travellers who want a contemporary, uniform room or a minimalist design hotel will prefer elsewhere.

Living in it: ask for a room on a quiet patio and, if you are sensitive to noise, away from the reception courtyard. Allow time to get lost in the hotel itself, and spend a late afternoon at the rooftop pool before going out for tapas in Santa Cruz or along the Calle Santa María la Blanca, which has several good bars. Because the complex is large, take note of your route on the first evening. Cars cannot reach the door easily in the narrow lanes, so arrange your taxi drop-off point in advance.

Value: rates sit in the middle to upper range for Seville and rise during Holy Week and the April Fair, as everywhere in the city. Seville does not currently charge a tourist tax. The value case is strong: historic atmosphere, a rooftop pool and a central yet quieter corner of Santa Cruz, at a price well below the grand hotels.