Cuevas El Abanico by Brendan Sainsbury

Located a mere mile or so away from the main cluster of Granada’s popular downtown hotels, Cuevas el Abanico presents a distinctly different feel to the facilities offered elsewhere. Built originally into caves on crags overlooking the steep terraced slopes of the Generalife, a quintet of simple whitewashed apartments occupy a swath of hillside that was once the prized preserve of Granada’s famous Flamenco-playing gypsies.

Approaching the Cuevas via the winding, contoured valley of precipitous Sacromonte, new arrivals are afforded an exuberant welcome by a floral montage of climbing roses. Enjoying the cool morning shade on an unpretentious front patio (which along with a narrow roof terrace acts as one of just two communal areas) I get chatting to the apartment’s friendly and engaging owner about gypsy culture, quaint country furnishings and good old fashioned Spanish hospitality.

A hotel this is not. In contrast to other more celebrated Granadian lodgings, the Cuevas offers prospective guests an appealing mix of freedom, independence and bold rustic self-sufficiency. Come prepared to get in touch with your primitive roots and see what happens...

Rooms
It’s perhaps not everyday that one is given the opportunity to live in a cave; still less in the kind of cavernous hillside dwelling that countless generations of Granadian gypsies once called home. The good news is that the apartments - in their modern day incarnation - come equipped with fitted bathrooms, fresh linen, hot water, fully functioning kitchenettes and the kind of low-maintenance, hassle-free environment that Spanish city dwellers could probably only dream about. Come and be a gypsy for a bargain price.

There’s ventilation, of course, and central heating for the winter, whilst the hot summer months are countered by a cool and largely constant interior temperature of approximately 17 degrees. Furnishings inside are simple, but practical and families are actively welcomed.

Come for:
- Self-contained family friendly environment
- No-thrills, down-to-earth Spanish lifestyle

Not suitable for:
- Luxury-seekers