Villa Oniria

How perfectly Granada: the Villa Oniria is one part classically Andalusian, one part historically Moorish, and one part architecturally modern. It’s right in the heart of this chaotic city, but you’d be hard pressed to feel the chaos — the Villa is designed a bit like a Moroccan riad, the whole thing turned inside-out around a central courtyard, and so from within it’s an oasis of absolute calm.

Rooms are attractively contemporary, in sedate earth tones, all the furnishings modern but somehow adding up to an impression that evokes a romantic past — no small feat, and if we knew how they did it, we’d go into interior design ourselves. The better rooms have deep soaking tubs, but for everyone else there’s always the option of the spa downstairs, which is accompanied by a small fitness room and even a little swimming pool, a much-needed refuge from Granada’s daytime heat.

The restaurant lives up to Spain’s reputation as a country that’s mad for gastronomy. For this kind of quiet, intimate atmosphere you’d be prepared to stay somewhere a bit more secluded — the fact that it’s right in the heart of the old town makes Villa Oniria all the more impressive.

Please note: The hotel’s restaurant is closed during the entire month of August, and closed on Sundays and Mondays the rest of the year.