Which Rooftop Pool Should You Go For in Seville?

November 19, 2009 at 2:19 PM | by juliab | 0 Comments

The pool at the Hotel Do�a Maria

As we told you yesterday, we noticed last weekend that the hotel pool scene is really taking off in Seville.

The poor old Alfonso XIII may not have a particularly sexy offering, but some of the rooftop ones are good enough for you to book a room on the basis of the pool.

Perhaps the best known is the pool at the Hotel Do�a Maria, just off the cathedral square, which makes for stonking views of the Giralda. The terrace is split into two levels, with the bar and some tables down below, and the pool and a few more tables up some stairs.

Obviously, the views are pretty gorge. But the place seemed a bit tired. The chairs were tatty plastic faux-rattan affairs, the tables were a bit smeary, and the pool, with its lion-head fountain, was a bit too 80s. The staff were nice, though. Rooms start at �83 - the corridors looked dowdy to us, and the lobby was a bit overspun, but a friend has stayed here and says her room was whitewashed and nice.

Over in the heart of the Santa Cruz neighbourhood is Las Casas de la Juderia. We stayed here last year and liked the atmosphere of the hotel, and the beautiful public areas, though we landed a pretty grim, dark room. What we didn�t realise last year, is that they have a pretty nifty rooftop pool, which we could have escaped to from the penombra of our boudoir. Rooms here start at �135.

There are two tubs in the up-and-coming (read: gritty but trendy) Alameda district. The Espacio Azahar hotel on Jesus de la Gran Poder has a rooftop bar called Etnia Espacio Universal, with ethnic-style sofas and cushions, plus, up a little spiral staircase, an extra terrace built for two and, up on a second terrace-over-terrace, a hot tub � although hygiene freaks might not want to give it a whirl.

The terrace did seem fairly cool in an unkempt hippy, this-is-where-I-spent-my-year-off-travelling kind of way, but the hotel bedrooms here are mega-grotty (we weren�t allowed to take pictures for a reason), and although the guy at reception was a delight, the staff at the bar were muy, muy hostile. If you want to chance it, rooms start at �60.

A block away is the place we liked the look of the most: the Casa Romana. Despite the name (there are a few fake classical statues dotted round the staircases), this was far and away more modern than most of the other hotels we saw in Seville. In fact, we only saw one place that was groovier � and that�s coming up tomorrow.

There are no dark carpets or dodgy old paintings on the walls � just clean colours, lots of beige and creams, and a beautiful sundeck on the roof, with a big tub/small pool in the corner.

Obviously the view isn�t anything like as good as at the Do�a Maria, but it had a nice relaxed atmosphere, charming staff, and was way more of a slick operation than the traditional hotels. And rooms start from a highly reasonable �85.

But there was one place that combines awesome views with a killer vibe and modern decor. We�ll let you in on that one tomorrow.

[Las Casas de la Juderia photo: sayciaociao]

HotelChatter

Select a Destination:

Tags: Hotel Pool Scenes / Hotel Pools / Seville Hotels / Hotel Bars / → All Tags