Vonse

My husband and I will be in Seville for 5 nights this spring. I'd like to stay in a charming, upscale, lively - but not jammed with tourists - area with interesting shops, cafes, tapas bars. Barrio Santa Cruz has been recommended but it seems to span quite a large area and I'm having trouble determining its boundaries. Is there a particular area within the barrio that I should be looking at?

I thought this apartment on Plaza Santa Cruz looked nice; I love the terrace overlooking the orange trees on the plaza: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/761721
Has anyone stayed here? Is it a nice area or should I be looking further north?

I'm also considering Hotel Casa No. 7, which I understand is in a very good part of town http://www.casanumero7.com

Any hotel and apartment recommendations will be greatly appreciated. We'd like to keep it below $300 per night.

Robert2533

There are several excellent choices in and near the Santa Cruz neighborhood, including the La Casa del Maestro (www.lacasadelmaestro.com), Hotel Amadeus (www.hotelamadeussevilla.com), Casa 1800 (www.hotelcasa1800sevilla.com/) and Casa Del Poeta (casadelpoeta.es).

And there are dozens more to choose from.

alvamo

Santa Cruz is the most touristy area in Sevilla.

kimhe

A little info about the districts you should look into.

Santa Cruz is touristy, but people come back here again and again for a reason: http://www.andalucia.com/cities/sevi...osantacruz.htm

San Vicente/San Lorenzo, we use to stay up here close to what the locals call centre of town: http://www.veoapartment.com/rent-sev...n-vicente.html
http://www.aboutsevilla.com/sevilla/itinerary5.asp

Arenal, just west of Santa Cruz: http://www.spainthisway.com/places/s...-el-arenal.php

Egbert

The reason Santa Cruz is so touristy is because it is the oldest and most romantic. If you don't need to spend the night in that kind of neighborhood, Arenal and San Vicente are a stonesthrow away.

kimhe

Santa Cruz in Sevilla is beautiful and old but also perhaps the most touristy neighbourhood in all of Andalucia's major cities. It went through a heavy make-over under the dictator Primo de Rivera to fit the stereotype image of Andalusian romanticism before the great Ibero-American expo in Sevilla in 1929, and it seems to have worked quite well ;-)
http://www.sevilla.org/ciudad/histor...rio-santa-cruz

Vonse

I appreciate all the responses and information. I think we'll stay in Santa Cruz; it sounds lovely. Are there any particularly pretty streets or plazas you can recommend?

Bedar

Try the Hosteria del Laural, right in the heart of Sta. Cruz but quiet because street is pedestrianized.

alvamo

Santa Cruz is a pastiche, because the old neighborhood was deeply dismantled and rebuilt again (with all its romantic cliche about what must be southern Spain that circulated in the late nineteenth)

It´s a pity that people travel and think they are in an authentic place, and of course Santa Cruz is beautiful but by far is not the oldest part of Sevilla.


http://seordelbiombo.blogspot.com.es...as-que-el.html

kimhe

And some fine tapas bars also in Santa Cruz. I very much like laid-back Bodega Santa Cruz (aka Las Columnas): http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap...ga-santa-cruz/

Have had some fabulous warm tapas in close by Cerveceria Giralda, can still taste the solomillo al whisky:
http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap...ceria-giralda/

And excellent tapas in Las Teresas. Great jamon and they do the flavoursome Sevilla speciality Espinacas con garbanzos (Spinach with chickpeas) very well here: http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap...y/las-teresas/

Christina

I've stayed in Santa Cruz twice because I just find it very convenient, you can walk to most things from there, and where I stay isn't too far from the major street (Menendez Peloya) taht buses run along if I want to do that, say to go to the train station down there. And lots of small places to eat, I just find it a pleasant area. I think lots of tourists stay in the Arenal area, actually, which I don't find that attractive myself, at least I'm not as comfortable in it and it's restaurants (it would be fine, though), or around the cathedral and plaza del Duque de la Victoria.

I wouldn't stay in that apt on plaza Santa Cruz (you can't go south from there, only north, south is a park/gardens). The Flamenco tablao Gallo is on the square, which is fairly small, and I would think it might be noisy, lots of people around there, in any case (tourists) right on the plaza and I think it has shows until fairly late (just after midnight). I think that orange tree is right in front of it (at least one is). here's a photo, although you can't see the whole plaza on http://www.tablaolosgallos.com/en/

One might say anywhere can be noisy in Santa Cruz, but the area around where I stay isn't particularly noisy, even though lots of small restaurants (around Iglesia Santa Maria la Blanca, Hotel Amadeus is in that general area).

That Hotel Casa no. 7 is in an okay area, a bit farther from the river, cathedral, etc. that's a bit north of where I like to stay. The Amadeus was an okay B&B, nothing deluxe. Some rooms a lot better than others, it was a bit noisy for my tastes due to think doors and that they play music throughout the day in a center area that echoes throughout the hotel. If you don't want it, too bad for you. Luckily I was out most of the day. A lot of Spanish houses have an atrium like center area like that (or Mexican). last time I stayed in the HOtel Rey Alfonso X which I really liked. I had a room that didn't look onto the outer area (an inner courtyard where no one was) so it was very quiet, and the rooms were modern and comfortable. But some people don't want that modern look.

The Amadeus isn't as luxurious as the Casa 7, which looks very nice. This part is a bit much for me <<Each morning the butler wearing impeccable livery and faultlessly white gloves greets guests for breakfast>>. I don't think I'm upscale enough for a butler with gloves at breakfast (nor do I want one). Of course that hotel is a lot more expensive than Amadeus or the Alfonso X. http://www.hotelreyalfonsox.es

The Alfonso X has superior doubles for about 125 euro and the Casa 7 is around 180 euro, but is more homey.

This place is also in the general neighborhood and is a notch up from Amadeus http://www.lascasasdelajuderiasevilla.com/en/

I think it looks a little old-fashioned, it's rates are around 140 euro for a superior double, which is a little higher than Amadeus, where I'd just as soon stay by comparison, if you get a better room. http://www.hotelamadeussevilla.com/en/

Vonse

Thank you Christina! I think we'll take the Plaza Santa Cruz apartment off the list. I've just added this one: http://sevilla.spain-select.com/en_U...-de-santa-cruz. I'm checking out the hotels you recommended. Casa No. 7 sounds a little stuffy, but it's still in contention. Also thinking about Las Casas del Rey Baeza http://www.hospes.com/sevilla-casas_...efault-en.html which is recommended in Maribel's guide, but may be too expensive. I think the constant music at Amadeus would drive me crazy.

maitaitom

We loved this place in barrio Santa Cruz offered by Spain Select...

http://sevilla.spain-select.com/en_U.../sales-y-ferre

Vonse

Maitaitom: This prompted my question! Barrio Santa Cruz seems to span such a large area and I'm finding it difficult to get a feel for a neighborhood from Google street view. I like your apartment - did you like the immediate neighborhood?

maitaitom

Immediate neighborhood was quiet (quiet street). Good restaurant around the corner (small and always packed...finally had lunch there the final day). We were a couple of blocks from Plaza Alfalfa. Alcazar about a 15 minute walk. Cathedral about a 10 minute walk. Check out Chapters Ten through Twelve of my current trip report. It has photos (photos of apartment are from Spain Select website) of where we went and what we did. Spain Select was great to work with, and I do recommend them. We also rented an apartment in Madrid through them.

</B> http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/spain-2015/</B>

kimhe

Maitaitom's apt in Sevilla is in an excellent location, outside the most glossy parts of Santa Cruz and close to what the locals will consider centre of town. You're close to recently revived Plaza de la Encarnacion with the new and somewhat controversial Metropol Parasol (great views from the top of the "mushroom"), emblematic Confiteria La Campana on the corner of the most famous street in town Calle Sierpes, Plaza Duque de la Victoria with El Corte Ingles, top flamenco in Casa de la Memoria, and El Rinconcillo from 1670, the oldest existing tapas bar in the country etc. etc.

http://www.setasdesevilla.com/?r=1&A=1600
http://www.yelp.com/biz/confiter%C3%...pana-sevilla-2
http://www.casadelamemoria.es/
http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap...l-rinconcillo/

And Plaza de Cristo de Burgos, Plaza Alfalfa and Casa de Pilatos is right on your doorstep.
https://www.sevilla5.com/hotels/aban...roundings.html

EYWandBTV

Hi Vonse,

We just back from Spain, and I noticed that you commented on my TR which I am just beginning to write (have not gotten to Seville yet).

We stayed at Hotel Amadeus, very conveniently located in barrio Santa Cruz but on a little side street so no (or very little) street noise. Excellent accommodation, professional and friendly staff.

Vonse

Thank you for responding EYWandBTV. We've decided on an apartment since we'll be in Seville for 5 nights.

Looking forward to the next installment of your trip report and taking notes!