Spain, one stay type at a time
Historic paradores, rural fincas, beachfront hotels and city breaks, rated picks from Galicia to Andalusia.
Destinations worth the trip
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Adults Only
The adults-only hotels on this page sit in five places: Palma de Mallorca (five), Benidorm (four), Alicante (three), Barcelona (two) and Arrecife on Lanzarote (two). Together they average 9.1 out of 10 across 13,908 guest reviews, and ten of the sixteen have a spa or wellness area. I would use this list for a couples' city break or a quiet week by the sea. I would not use it for an all-inclusive holiday: only one of the sixteen, the RH Royal in Benidorm, works that way. Read the label before you book, because adults only has no single age in Spain. Hotel Calatrava in Palma accepts guests from 14, according to Hotels.com, El Llorenç Parc de la Mar puts +16 in its own name, the RH Royal sets its minimum at 17 or 18 depending on the booking site, and Villa VIK on Lanzarote and Hotel Fetiche in Benidorm take only over-18s. Adults recommended, the wording at Barceló Benidorm Beach, is weaker still: Barceló's own booking form has child and teen categories, so children are not banned. Benidorm is where an adults-only stay works best as a beach holiday. Barceló Benidorm Beach stands on Levante Beach with a pool on its top floor looking over the skyline, the RH Royal is 400 metres from Levante and the old town, and Hotel Fetiche is in the Old Quarter about 100 metres from both Levante and Poniente. H10 Porto Poniente, on Poniente Beach, is a different case: Hotels.com shows cribs and a children's pool there, and only its Despacio spa is kept for adults, so I would not book it expecting a child-free hotel. Palma is the choice for a walking break rather than a week on a sunbed. Convent de la Missió occupies a 17th-century monastery in the old town, and El Llorenç Parc de la Mar has a 40 m² rooftop pool looking over the bay. Hotel Calatrava has a spa included in the stay. Casa Delmonte is an 18th-century town palace in the old town with eight rooms and suites, and Palma Riad a five-star house set around a terrace and a garden. Alicante and Barcelona are city stays. In Alicante, the Hotel Boutique Palacete occupies a 17th-century palace close to the MACA contemporary art museum, Casa Alberola belongs to Hilton's Curio Collection, and Abacoa Life is the plainer choice, with a fridge and a tea and coffee maker in each room. In Barcelona, Musik Boutique Hotel is 400 metres from the Palau de la Música Catalana and five minutes on foot from Urquinaona metro, while Boutique Apartments 23 in the Eixample has kitchenettes, which I would want for anything longer than a weekend. Lanzarote is the only Canary Island on this page, and the only one of the five places where an adults-only stay works as a winter sun break. AEMET's 1981-2010 averages give Lanzarote airport a January daily high of 20.7 °C, against 15.2 °C at Palma airport. From November to March I would book Lanzarote for a week by the sea, and keep Palma, Alicante and Barcelona for walking rather than swimming. The two Lanzarote addresses suit a slower trip. Villa VIK is a five-star boutique hotel in a quiet residential part of Playa del Cable, 200 metres from the beach, with every guest over 18. El Charco Suites are apart-suites with a living room, 150 metres from the Charco de San Ginés, the seawater lagoon in Arrecife's old quarter. Neither is a large pool resort, so I would pick them for couples who want calm and a town to walk in, not for a lively poolside scene.
All Inclusive
Meals and drinks covered, so the days stay simple.
Beachfront
Stays right on the sand, with the sea at your door.
Boutique Hotel
Small hotels with a strong personality.
Camino de Santiago
Places to rest between stages of the Way of St James.
Cave Hotel
Rooms dug into the rock, cool in summer.