Where to Stay

As a result of the 1992 Universal Exhibition, Seville underwent great urban and communications changes that turned it into a modern city, while keeping intact the charming Andalusian idiosyncrasy.

Seville offers a wide choice of hotels. You have luxury, comfort, the basic, the historical centre and suburban tranquility. Historical, functional or charming, Seville's hotels have excellent service.

Within the last few years, the city has managed to carve a name for itself in the area of fairs and conferences. If you come here for such an event, the nearest hotel is the Hotel Sevilla Congresos, situated just opposite the exhibition center and one of the nearest hotels to the airport.

If you prefer more central areas, there are hotels belonging to the big national chains, with facilities to make all types of meeting, convention, symposiums, and such a resounding success. For example, the Hotel Occidental Sevilla is highly recommended for executives arriving from Madrid at Santa Justa station, as it is directly opposite.

Right in the heart of the city, the Hotel Meliá Sevilla is the largest conference centre, situated opposite the Plaza de España, though the conference hotel par excellence is the Hotel Alcora, which has a natural vantage point over the city in the Aljarafe district, some five minutes from the centre. This hotel has lots of famous guests from the world of television and entertainment, as it is near the Canal Sur Television Studios.

If you want to experience all the emotion of the Isla Mágica amusement park, (on the Isla de la Cartuja) with your family, one of the best choices is the Gran Hotel Barceló Ranacimiento.

Seville is a city to be enjoyed on foot. If you're looking for the marks of history and the charm of art, walk through the narrow streets of the Santa Cruz neighbourhood and its nearby Catedral. When the plan is to enjoy the relics of the past, why not stay at Las Casas de la Judería, a hotel built in a 17th-century palace. Nearby are Casas del Rey de Baeza and the Hotel Los Seises, built on a section of Palacio Arzobispal, at the foot of the Giralda. If you're looking for economical but charming lodgings, Seville offers boarding houses and one-star and two-star hotels built in typical Sevillian houses, with their courtyards and flowers, such as the Hotel Londres or the Hotel Simón, a short walk from the cathedral. Also, in the Alameda de Hercules, a busy nightlife area and Sunday market, the Apartamentos Patios de Sevilla are highly recommended for families with children, as all rooms have a fully equipped kitchen and the prices are very reasonable.

Seville's most emblematic hotel is the luxurious Hotel Alfonso XIII, built for the Iberoamerican Exhibition of 1929 and opened by the king after whom it is named. Monarchs and famous actors such as Brad Pitt have stayed here, along with other famous people who have visited the city. The alternative to this hotel might easily be the Hotel Casa Imperial, next to the Casa de Pilatos.

If you want to leave the metropolis to visit the countryside and take in a natural surrounding, without compromising your comfort, consider the Hacienda Benazuza, en Sanlúcar la Mayor, some 20km from Seville, and the Hotel Casa Carmona, in the historical city of Carmona, as well as the typical Sevillian estates, 20 or 25 kms from town, where you'll discover how well-off families live in the Andalusian countryside, in places like Torre de la Reina, the Águila Real, in the municipality of Guillena, and El Esparragal, in Gerena.

If bulls are your thing, a hotel with plenty of bull-fighting tradition is the Meliá Colón Hotel, where during the bull-fighting season there is a great sense of anticipation, because it is here that most of the matadors stay. It is also very central and has a kitchen worthy of eulogy. Don't omit a visit to Seville's refurbished commercial centre, which begins at the Plaza Nueva, with luxury shops, continues through Calle Sierpes, which is crammed full of shops of all sorts, and runs into La Campana, where you'll find Spain's most famous department store, El Corte Ingles. For this kind of buying and window shopping, the hotels Inglaterra and Derby are recommended.

Another very commercial street, in the Los Remedios neighbourhood now, is Calle Asunción, and close by is the Hotel Monte Carmelo. At the end of this street is the site of the famous Feria de Abril.