Magical Luxury Hotels in Andalusia Spain

I had the pleasure of visiting an absolutely lovely pair of luxury boutique properties in Spain’s southern Andalusia region that are owned and managed by a family with a long tradition in the Seville region.  I must preface this post by noting that it will be impossible through photography here, or elaborate prose, to capture just how wonderful each of these properties is–they must be visited to be fully appreciated!

First I visited the Hacienda de San Rafael, , a (still operating as a sunflower) family farm that has been converted into a gem of a off-the-beaten-path yet still-near-everything luxurious retreat with a mixture of uniquely decorated rooms, casitas, and (soon to open) ultra-plush private villas.  I was particularly impressed with the unique decor and vibe in each of the “stable rooms” that surround a central courtyard, originally a horse stable.  The common living room and dinning rooms are lovely and filled with unique art pieces and cultural accents from the farming community and Andalusian environs.  In addition to the luxurious rooms there are private casita style rooms that surround a private pool (as if the principal pool courtyard was not already exclusive-icious enough), and i had the chance to do a construction walk-through of some amazing full blown private villas (eg: square footage of most homes) which are coming online later this summer and will offer the next tier of space/comfort/privacy with expansive views out all windows of the countryside and dashing contrast with the blue sky that abounds.

After an extensive walk-through and sucking in of the energy/good-vibes (along with chatting up some of the guests that were chilling by the pool and reading their novels in the living room) we had a A-Z chat about various local hospitality market dynamics, European luxury travel trends, and the fascinating history of the Hacienda with the owner operators Anthony and Patrick.  They have been running the property for nearly 20 years and have taken the project from a rustic raw product into an ever manicured and elegantly appointed gem.  The surrounding landscape and gardens are absolutely impeccable, as is the service and personalized attention that they offer guests (i got to overhear several “aha” moments as various guests-staff interactions took place around spa, tour, dinning, and gin-tonic moments.

After our tapas and beers we took the 45 minute drive into Seville and made our way to the sister property Corral del Rey, which is hidden (charmingly) along one of the many narrow winding streets of the Santa Cruz (historical city center) neighborhood.  The Corral offers the “ultra plush” yet understated charms of fine art decor, craftsman tile/brick and carpentry details throughout, and the “this is why i came to Seville/Spain” unique interior architecture replete with interior narrow sky-wells, rooftop terraces, and my favorite–a “cave” basement that is outfitted for private parties and entertains weekly Flamenco showings in the most intimate/close-quarter setting imaginable.

We are thrilled to be supporting these two properties with our Cloud DMS solution for online marketing, and based on their particular charms and some of the unique needs and opportunities in the european luxury market, we are planning to add quite a few new bells and whistles to our platform to push things up a notch (we need to keep up with such amazing on-property and in-room service!)  Thank you Patrick and Anthony for hosting me, i returned from my visit completely energized (“psyched” as we say in the USA) and i now have a new high-mark in my mind when I think “luxury boutique” or “magical Seville”!  Gracias.