Spain is the country that attracts the most British tourists, as well as a huge number who have decided to make the country their permanent residence.
It is a country with fantastic contrasts, and maybe a few contradictions, which make it even more interesting. Openly hedonistic in some areas, proudly conservative in others. Wonderful culture and lifestyle.
We focus our attention primarily on a few resort hotels in the southern resorts of Alicante and Malaga, as well as the Andalusian cities of Seville and Malaga. In addition we offer some super little boutique hotels on the island of Mallorca (Majorca), and a good selection of popular options on the Canary Islands of Lanzarote, Tenerife and Fuerteventura. See separate feature on the Canary Islands.
We feature three super hotels in mainland Spain, The Asia Gardens in Alicante, The Kempinski Estepona and the superb Finca Cortesin (see lead image), both located just south of Malaga. Both areas are known for their combination of developed tourism and authentic white-washed villages, good beaches and challenging golf courses.
In addition, we also feature the beautiful city of Seville, where we offer a really attractive boutique hotel, plus the option of staying in a super hacienda-style resort just an hour drive outside the city. And Malaga, is a real delight to discover, with authentic Andalucian warmth and character and some surprisingly good museums.
The hotels tend to open at least 11 months of the year. The beaches become popular May to September, with June to late August the most in demand. During the Autumn and winter months, the focus tends to be golf, or maybe cuisine & spa.
Travel Time
From the UK to mainland Spain and Mallorca is just over 2 hours and to the Canary Islands about 4 hours.
Why Southern Spain?
Excellent flight access from the UK. Good beaches, lively resorts and cultural cities. Travel just a few miles inland from the commercialised resorts and you have fantastic authentic white-washed villages. Golf of course, plus several of our selected hotels have highly acclaimed spas.
Why Mallorca?
Our selection here is far from conventional. Two atmospheric boutique hotels in the old quarter of the capital, Palma, and a really upscale hacienda-style retreat located in the rural farmland. Yet just a few minutes drive from the beach. In our view, Mallorca is one of the most underrated islands in the Mediterranean, with incredible charm and fantastic scenic contrasts. Yes, it has pockets of tourism excess – but that is just a fraction of what the island has to offer.
The most popular time in June to early September, but we rather like Spring and autumn when there are less crowds, the days usually bright and sunny.
Weatherwise
The south of Spain and Mallorca tend to be hottest in the mid summer months, when the beaches are crowded. Late Spring and early Autumn are good months as you tend to have very pleasant weather without the crowds. The months November to April are good for golf, spa and cuisine. A good retreat from the harsh Northern European winters, but not ideal if sea and sand are important.
From April onward the temperatures gradually move up, with mid-May to October being the most popular months.
The Canary Islands, being much further south and located just off the coast of North Africa, have generally good weather and sunshine year-round, although the sea might be surprisingly cool on entry in the months December to March.
The Cities – We feature hotels in both Seville and Malaga
Seville is a fantastic, exciting city, dramatically beautiful, with so many wonderful contrasts. It is mainly popular as a 3/4 day short break, but can easily be combined with our beach resorts. Malaga is seen as a gateway to the resorts just an hour’s drive south, such as Estepona, but it is also a really interesting city in its own right. It has some very good museums, excellent shopping and a wonderfully relaxing Andalusian vibe.
We would also take this opportunity to mention again the capital city of Mallorca, Palma. We think it is one of the most underrated cities in the Mediterranean, full of charm and character. It is increasingly popular as a city break – as well as being the gateway point to the well-established beach resorts.
More Choice
Although not featured, we have surprisingly good knowledge of many areas of Spain.
Marie-Helene (MH) spent many of her formative years in Madrid and Malaga and still returns several times annually. DK has also visited Spain many, many times. He knows Barcelona well enough to get lost and still end up in the right place and has a particular affection for the Basque region. Both would be more than happy to discuss holiday options with you.
If We Were To Be Critical…
Both Southern Spain and Mallorca have their own areas of highly developed tourism. We might be critical, but the reality is that this pays for the good infrastructure and frequent air access. We find most of our clients have a fun night out in one of the busy resort areas, but then enjoy retreating back to the relative calm of their quieter hotels.
Hotels & Resorts in Southern Spain & Boutique Mallorca
"There's no such thing as the best hotel, just the right one..."
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CHIC Locations Terms and Booking Conditions PDF
All price guides are Per Person Sharing Double Room (Entry level), based on travel between May and/or June when prices are generally at their lowest and include promotional offers. Supplements will probably apply at other times, particularly mid-summer in the Med, and for rooms and/or transfers arranged for single travellers.
For example, the Caribbean and Indian Ocean prices for winter can be approximately double the May - June level and about 50% more in Asia. For the Mediterranean & Canary Islands, Caribbean, Arabia and the Indian Ocean (except Sri Lanka) price guides generally include airfare and transfers.
*For Sri Lanka and Far East we show a per-person, per-night hotel guide, excluding air fare, as arrangements tend to be individually tailored multi-centre itineraries.
Please refer to Travel Advice on our home page or look at www.fco.gov.uk as the Foreign Office may have issued specific destination information on safety and terrorism.
All the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. When you pay you will be supplied with an ATOL Certificate. Please ask for it and check to ensure that everything you booked (flights, hotels and other services) is listed on it. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong.
Please see our booking conditions for further information or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.caa.co.uk.
Some of the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. But ATOL protection does not apply to all holiday and travel services listed on this website. This website will provide you with information on the protection that applies in the case of each holiday and travel service offered before you make your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all the parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected.
