Hotel Los Castanos

Rooms

Extremely comfortable rooms come with the best beds (kingsize or twin, just let them team know what you need when booking), the crispest linen and simple white-washed walls. There are comfy rocking armchairs, terracotta-tiled floors and excellent lighting. Decor is fairly simple, but attractively so, with cast-iron mirror frames from Morocco and beautiful art throughout. Sylvia, who lives in the village and helps in the house, brings roses from her garden to add a touch of colour.

All rooms have balconies. One at the back of the house looks over the courtyard and up at the next-door church. The rooms at the front of the house have views that pour over village rooftops and out onto the valley; crack open a bottle of wine and sit out on your little balcony, mesmerised by it. There are no TVs - you won't want them here - but all the essentials and treats are on hand: bathrobes, fluffy towels, apples by the bed and minibars. Books are left in bookshelves and there’s tea and coffee making facilities. A couple of rooms have bathtubs, as well as the showers that are present in every ensuite, and the soaps, gels and shampoos are made from olive oil.

Responding to guests' demands, there are also sketching materials in every room so you can try your hand at capturing the inspirational views from your balcony.

Features include:

• Air conditioning
• Minibar/fridge
• WiFi

Eating

The dining area opens onto a small whitewashed courtyard, where you can eat in summer, with pots of colour all over the place and the church bell tower gazing down on you. Breakfast is a real feast. You get homemade bread, freshly-squeezed orange juice, exciting jams, good strong coffee and local cheeses, plus eggs on request.

Dinner is the main event though. Di does slow food, whatever’s in season, much from the fields around you. There’s a daily set menu, but she'll talk you through her plans and make sure you get something you like. When we first stayed, we had grilled chicory with a Roquefort sauce and Serrano ham, duck in a Seville orange sauce with garlic mash, followed by frozen lemon cake. When we revisited, we had an amazing Chorizo Inferno (individual flambeed skewers of chorizo, served with a delicious Mexican salad), followed by melt-in-the-mouth magret of duck with pomegranate molasses and roasted root vegetables. Local strawberries with a divine honey mousse finished things off perfectly. House wines are extremely good - red, white and rosé; if you want something a little fancier, you can have it. We heartily recommend you eat here a couple of nights - see Rates.

Cartajima is tiny - church, shop, and a couple of bars. El Horno Frasquita is a charming back street bar, where you can get simple yet excellent Andalucian food. Visit the surrounding villages, such as Parauta for great Spanish country fare - wild boar, rabbit, and local lamb or Alpandeire for restaurant La Casa Grande which serves simple but sophisticated dishes. Or if you want something more refined, drive into Ronda (about a 15-minute drive) for a night on the town. It has loads of choice - Italian, Chinese and of course some fabulous tapas bars. Di and John can recommend.

Features include:

• Minibar/fridge

Activities

• The countryside here is fabulous. There’s lots of it, not many people in it, and it's beautiful. Walking tracks connect 7 white villages, so pack a picnic and head on out. Bring your binoculars. Migrating birds pass through twice a year, loads of eagles, vultures, too. You can also head over the ridge and find the source of Rio Genal, the local river
  
  
• You can do a tour of the village in under 10 minutes. The church is next door to the house. It was destroyed during the civil war and rebuilt after. The other white villages in the region are also worth a visit, including Juzcar, which was famously painted blue to act as a Disney smurf village
  
  
• Ronda is a 15-minute drive up the road. You get the famous gorge, great bars, big churches and the oldest bull ring in Spain. Don't miss its Arab Baths, either
  
  
• Day trip to Andalucia's romantic cities - Seville, Jerez, Cadiz, even Cordoba and Granada. Visit the Giralda, archaelogical museums, tapas and fish restaurants and the magnificent Alhambra. And don't miss the chance to go sherry tasting
  
  
• Several civilisations have made this land their home. The Roman’s were in the area, the Moors settled here in AD711. Caves up on Riscos (the mountain) are visible from the road
  
  
• The village swimming pool opens at 4pm every day in summer. You can go up and take a dip. There are padel tennis courts and a basketball court, too

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Hiking

Kids

Frank and Antje welcome families - they have two young children of their own who you may meet in the hotel.

Best for:

Children (4-12 years), Teens (over 12)

Family friendly accommodation:

All rooms except Moorish Courtyard can fit a comfy rollaway bed. If you have two children, it's best to take two adjacent rooms.

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

The hotel is set in the small village of Cartajima, which is up in the mountains of Andalucia in southern Spain. It's 18km south of Ronda.

By Air:
Malaga Pablo Ruiz Picasso (104km) and Gibraltar (104km) are the nearest airports. Seville and Jerez airports are a little further still. Click on the links below for a list of airlines serving them.

From the Airport
Due to the remote location of Cartajima you'll need to hire a car (see below), or the owners can arrange a transfer.

By Car:
For car hire see our car rental recommendations. Two roads lead up; both are very windy! It'll take longer to get up than you may think. Leave 2 hours from either airport, and come with a full tank of petrol.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.com.

More on getting to Andalucia and getting around