Hotel Alfonso XIII

Commissioned for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and named for the reigning king, the Alfonso XIII was conceived as the grandest hotel in Spain, and Seville has never seriously disputed the claim. The building is a Mudéjar-revival set piece of carved brick, glazed azulejo tiles and horseshoe arcades around a central courtyard fountain, standing between the Alcázar gardens and the university's old tobacco factory of Carmen fame.

Inside, the craft is the luxury: hand-painted ceramics, coffered ceilings and marble floors that photograph like a film set — appropriately, since the hotel has hosted royalty, film stars and Feria society for nearly a century. Rooms vary between Moorish, Castilian and Andalusian schemes, the best opening onto the courtyard or the gardens.

Sevillian life runs through the ground floor: tapas and sherry in the Bar Americano, courtyard dining under the orange trees, and a garden pool that becomes essential in the ferocious summer months. The cathedral, Giralda and Santa Cruz quarter are minutes on foot. During Semana Santa and the Feria de Abril the hotel is the centre of the city's universe; book accordingly.