- Seville
- (105)
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Spain
This is a new five-star hotel just in front of the cathedral and the Giralda. It's super-modern and it has some great stuff inside it, such as a Japanese restaurant, Spanish modern food, a cocktail bar, rooftop terrace with insane views, spa massage facilities, and great service.
Plaza del Triunfo is a great square sandwiched between the Giralda and Alcazar Gardens to sit on a warm sunny day with a good book watching the world go by. If you follow the Cathedral wall you come to Plaza Nueva where Seville's elite gather in the evening. The square is surrounded by boutiques and nice eateries and bars and is a good place to get a taxi.
Beware of the restaurants surrounding the Cathederal and Giralda as they are over-priced and will produce a different menu for the tourists!
Try and visit the cobbled winding streets of the Santa Cruz quarter where you will find traditional tapas bars, senors playing the guitar and flamenco dancing.
Seville is all in all a beautiful place to visit.
If you are visiting Seville I would strongly recommend the Murillo Hotel situated in the winding back streets of the Santa Cruz quarter. This hotel is a two-star that deserves to be upgraded, has friendly helpful staff, is clean and is five minutes away from Seville's main attractions. To top it off it has an amazing roof terrace with stunning views of the Cathedral and beyond. Opposite there is a traditional friendly tapas bar that serves reasonably priced food.
These are lovely holiday apartments in the Barrio Santa Cruz, which is in the centre of Seville. A very comfortable option to hotels, especially if you are staying for more than a couple of days.
www.homefromhomeconcept.com/principal.php?pagina=apartamentos
This is a personal collection of some of my favourite restaurants and tapa bars in Seville.
I cannot recommend Seville. The chances of being mugged and your vehicle being broken into are very high. Pickpockets and purse snatchers are abundant.
When one travels to Madrid and sees a vehicle with a broken window, the locals joke that this is a gift from Seville.
Bars and restaurants will, more often than not, overcharge you if you are not careful. Be especially aware of taxi fares. They will give you a tour of the city when one is not familiar with the best route to your destination.
If you are travelling to Sevilla by train from the Granada direction, do not go all the way to the Santa Justa station at the end of the line. It's a 30 minute walk or a nine Euro taxi to the city centre. Instead get off at the station before Santa Justa, San Bernardo, and it's just a ten-minute walk to all the sights of the city.
See www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/oct/27/saturday.seville for details.
Open only on weekdays, between 1pm and 5pm.
c/Pedro del Toro, 12 (+954 214 115)
Hidden away on a narrow street Behind the Museo de Bellas Arte
picasaweb.google.com/yaniyoplin/CasaSalva
Hacienda Los Gorriones are two 'cortijos' (typical Andalusian cottages) tucked away in olive-dotted mountains in the Sierra Norte (about 1.5 hours north from either Sevilla or Cordoba).
The cottages are located in an area of dramatic landscapes, and within an area renowned throughout Spain for its Iberian cured and fresh meats. The owners of the cottages also run a ham drying facility, and for a very reasonable price you can enjoy excellent Iberian fare in the barbecue.
The cottages make an excellent detour for people visiting Sevilla and Cordoba, and are ideal for people wanting to go walking in the hills. There are very few tourists, but the cottages are often booked by locals for the weekend.
They are both family and pet friendly.
Just returned from a lovely week in Seville. The highlights were a very informative and enjoyable walking tour of the city by a company called 'Really Discover'. Both Luis (the guide) and David (via email) were incredibly helpful and are definitely recommended.
Also visited a restaurant called 'Naranja'. A bit out of town up near the Almeda de Hercules but worth the effort. Delicious Andalusian food in a very contemporary setting.
Tour - www.reallydiscover.com/
Restaurant - www.cocinanaranja.com/mozilla.html
A wonderful little neighbourhood with two churches and the same number of bars - of course.
Hidden away on the edge of Macarena, it is a delight and I defy you to find a better or friendlier bar in all of Seville.
There is nothing here but real Sevilla, peaceful at times, happy at all times, and clean!
Macarena, off Calle Castellar.
There is a very interesting and innovative tour in Seville. It is a GPS audio/visual tour guide system.
You carry a handheld GPS with you as you walk anywhere. It shows you where you are and what is exciting and interesting near your location.
It is tailored to individual visitors. You are free to create your own GPS tour without the aid of an escorted guide.
Most squares in Seville have got nice old fashioned bars, where eating and drinking is cheap. Santa Maria La Blanca is not an exception, and it is close to the gardens (Jardines del Murillo) and the beautiful building of Universidad de Sevilla.
I recommend trying as many varieties of tapas as possible, always keeping in mind, or at hand, a nice beer to chill out.
The city centre.
The bus goes to the edge of the old city for just over two euros. The taxi system has a fixed price (only for the airport, mind!) that will see no change from a twenty euro note, regardless of distance travelled. Outrageous!
Seville. Airport. Stop immediately outside departures hall.
This restored Arabian bathhouse down a tiny alley in the Santa Cruz district is the perfect escape from the baking afternoon heat. It's mixed, and you can bring your own bathers. After cold mint tea in the relaxation room you are invited to dip into each of the three pools (warm, hot and then cold), steam yourself in the hammam, relax in the whirpool and then float gently in the salt pool.
A soothing, indulgent atmosphere is created by the glistening white of the marble, and the illuminated blue water that plays patterns across the dark red plaster walls, faded wooden ceilings and archways. Your journey through the baths is guided by shimmering scented candles and Arabic lamps. Visits last for 90 minutes but you must book ahead, as they limit numbers due to its popularity. It is open until midnight, if you fancy a late dip.
Aire de Sevilla, Calle Aire 15
www.airedesevilla.com/
A quiet and friendly hotel despite its central location (it literally is about 50m from the cathedral and main street). There are only 12 rooms in this old building, which have been renovated in a modern style with dark wood and white furnishing, and very sleek bathrooms. If you get a superior room you may be lucky to get one of the two rooms on the top floor, which have outdoor patios giving stunning views of the cathedral. The staff here are genuinely friendly and helpful, and it's a great place to stay.
Hotel Alminar
www.hotelalminar.com
Ãlvarez Quintero, 52
T 954 293 913
reservas@hotelalminar.com
I recommend this website as it deals in great tours around Seville. I went to Seville during the Christmas period and although the weather wasn't great, the trip was fantastic due to the tour. For anyone thinking of visiting Seville i strongly suggest using this website.
Excellent modern Spanish restaurant near Santa Catalina. The menu is interesting (and there's a helpful English translation behind the bar if you ask). The food is very tasty and well prepared. The special house red is amazing and I'm gutted to have forgetten the name already. Child-friendly. Excellent and non-prententious service. Very reasonably priced. I would go back!
Dona Maria Coronel, 17
Seville: 954 215 804
A fantastic tapas bar on (surprise-surprise) Alfalfa. Great Italian-style tapas, great wine, great service, laid-back and good music. Amazingly good value for money.
Also appears to have a slightly unusual resident transvestite.
Don't go for pudding at Tuereg over the road - it's dreadful!
Calle Alfalfa, 6
I recently stayed at the Oasis Hostel in Seville.
While I was there, my boyfriend was woken up at 3am by someone who said the bed he was in (and paid for) was hers. Obviously, there had been a double booking (in fact there were double bookings every night we were
there). However, during this mix up, the manager had gone into his 'safe' (which is allocated to the bed) and taken out a number of his personal items (which we did not notice until the following day). My boyfriend went to ask for them back and the manager said he had
lost them - but hoped they would turn up. Unfortunately, they did not and to be honest the staff did not really take the matter very seriously; they did not seem to understand why we might be offended that the manager had gone into our ‘safe’. Also, instead of replacing or refunding the cost of his UK electric shaver for example, they suggested they buy him a significantly cheaper Spanish (i.e. incompatible) version. Finally, the manager said he
would return the cost of the items once we could
'prove' how much they cost - after we had left to go home, which left me slightly nervous. This happened over a month ago, and we have just received payment for the items ‘lost’. Not entirely satisfactory to be honest. Thought it was worth sharing…
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