Alavera De Los Baños by Jenny Pidgeon

The hotel and restaurant Alavera de los Baños is perhaps the most charming and elegant place to stay in Ronda. Hidden out of the way, down at the bottom of the old Jewish quarter by the river, the hotel is located next door to the famous 13th century Moorish baths which are considered to be one of the finest examples of this architecture still in existence. A large, lofty dining room is open to the public and receives rave reviews for its Moroccan-influenced cuisine and service. An overhead walkway leads to eight guestrooms, four on either side of the house, and another two bedrooms are located on the ground floor beyond the dining room – these are the ones to go for as they each have a private terrace. The rooms are small but light and very cosy, with warm natural colours on the walls, cast iron beds with crisp white covers, fresh flowers and small windows giving onto the green fields and hills. Moorish touches are everywhere – in the bathroom tiles, carved metal lights, and stained glass features.

There is a small library/sitting room on the ground floor which is quiet and inviting, but the better are the outside areas of the hotel – a small landscaped garden which gives onto open countryside, with an outdoor eating terrace and small raised pool from where you can make the best of the wonderful views out to the hills. This hotel offers you the best of both worlds; a calm countryside retreat just a short walk (up a steep hill) to the centre of Ronda.