Andalucia Lodging
 

We will be in Adalucia over Christmas- Cordoba, Granada, and Sevilla. Any recommendations for places to stay?

I do! My husband and I stayed in a fabulous place in the town of Carmona, 12 miles east of Sevilla. It is called Hotel Casa Palacio Casa de Carmona (www.casadecarmona.com). It is a small luxurious hotel but a fraction of what it would cost you to stay in central Sevilla. And you get all the charm of the small white andalucian town.

Am curious when the previous poster stayed at Casa de Carmona! My husband and I spent a month in Spain in October of '97, and in that entire time the Casa de Carmona was our only disappointment! For too many reasons to go into here (e-mail me if you wish), we left after one night of a supposed three night stay. At that point we didn't even care if we got a refund for the remaining nights....we just wanted "out"! (fortunately, we did get the refund as we detailed our experiences!). The "silver lining" to this black cloud in our experience of Spain was the discovery of Hacienda la Benazuza, just 14 k. or so to the east of Seville. What a romantic, completely magical place it is! They only had one night available at the last minute, but the memory of it continues to be a highlight of our trip. We'll definitely go back there!!

Correction! Sorry, Hacienda la Benazuza is to the WEST of Seville in the tiny town of Sanlucar la Mayor. The other point I forgot to make about Casa de Carmona is that one of the most frustrating things about our experience there was that it had amazing POTENTIAL! If only basic issues had been addressed like cleanliness.......it truly seemed like the main fault was that of management (or, better yet, lack thereof!)

We stayed in Casa de Carmona this past June, and I repeat it was wonderful. As a matter of fact, the place was immaculate and the management was very responsive. My husband and I like to explore on our own, and they were extremely helpful with directions and what to see, etc. We actually had dinner @ Hacienda Benazuza one night at the Restaurante Alqueria. I have to say it was the best meal we had in Spain. And without a doubt Hacienda Benazuza is absolute perfection but maybe double if not more than Casa de Carmona's prices. One of the best thing of Casa de Carmona, as i mentioned before, was the extraordinary help we got from management. As a matter of fact, one of their top employees had just come from Hacienda de Benazuza, so maybe things are improving! I have to say that our stay of 5 nights was very enjoyable.

In Sevilla try Hotel Dona Maria. Good location. In Granada try the hotel America (or American), great little patio area for dinner!

It's nice to hear that the Casa de Carmona has apparently gotten its act together! A far cry from the dirty rooms and surly attitude in the staff WE encountered there!! Actually, there wasn't that much difference in the price of the two in that we paid $250 at Carmona and $333 at Benazuza, but the latter room was MUCH larger--large sitting area, very spacious bath, plus it had a large private balcony where we enjoyed breakfast. It's scary to think how quickly guidebooks must become obsolete in their recommendations!