The Best Boutique Hotels in Córdoba, Spain

In a tiny alley, 15 minutes’ walk from the Mezquita, the Patio del Posadero is a small, 15th-century townhouse reinvented as a modern, Moroccan-inspired boutique hotel. A corkscrew staircase leads to a handful of rooms overlooking a cool atrium. Each is individually decorated – one has the blues and whites of Chefchaouen in northwest Morocco, with a lush cerulean bathroom and walk-in shower. Another is decorated in soft golds and creams, and comes with an original raw-stone Moorish wall. Topping them all is a small rooftop patio, with a pocket-sized pool.

Locations don’t get better than this – in the heart of Córdoba’s medieval Jewish Quarter, less than a minute’s walk from the Alcázar (Royal Palace). Rooms are spread across five early-Renaissance houses, tastefully restored, with tinkling fountains and original features alongside modernity. A restored 19th-century carriage sits next to sharply dressed staff in the lobby, and a patio-garden has exposed Roman brickwork. Rooms in whitewash and primary tones are brightened by tall windows, and there’s a rooftop with skyline views, as well as a sky-blue pool.

Built on the ruins of an expansive Roman villa, this large luxury hotel is 15 minutes on foot from the medieval centre. It has been retro-refitted to evoke Córdoba’s rich history. A long, low-lit lounge scattered with velvet sofas unfurls below a painted mudejar ceiling and horseshoe arches. A lush pool is set in a Renaissance patio trilling with birds. Rooms are minimalist-luxe – untreated-brick Romanesque arches overlook wood-panel floors, and plush queen-sized beds lead to polished grey-granite bathrooms. There’s also a decent restaurant, bar and garden-lounge for those post-sightseeing evenings when you’re footsore.

This remarkable place has been a hotel – on and off – since the 1400s, when it served as a pilgrim’s hospital. Moorish-Romanesque arches lead to atrium patios where footsteps echo on cobbled floors. Cloisters are furnished with soft sofas, outbreaks of bright flowers and modern art. Rooms – some with original wooden beams – come in modern, vivid colours, such as blackcurrant, fuchsia and low-lit lemon-yellow. They also boast wood panel floors, bucket chairs and abstract, block-print art. But it’s the rooftop patio with its impressive Córdoba views that sets the hotel apart.

Right in the thick of the narrow, winding alleys in Córdoba’s ancient Jewish Quarter, this is a lavishly restored townhouse that nods to Spain’s Golden Age of 1580-1680. Renaissance patios bloom with flowering plants, and terracotta floor tiles echo with the splash of fountains. Bedrooms and a shared lounge are head-turning, adorned with art inspired by Spanish painter Murillo, and furnished with dark baroque commodes or glittering rococo bed boards, armchairs and side tables. And the upper-floor al fresco patio has over-the-roofs views of the Mezquita.

Diminutive rooms in this townhouse boutique hotel are remarkable for the views from their windows: gaze out and admire the Mezquita’s walls and bell towers or – if you book a room on the upper floor – its orange-tree-filled courtyards. The outlook is even better from the tiny rooftop sun lounge, where you’ll find a buffet breakfast served each morning. The location is hard to beat – on a restaurant-lined street, with the Royal Stables, Alcázar palace and Roman Bridge a stroll away, as well as the Mezquita itself.

This is an agreeable “poshtel”, with tastefully refitted little modern rooms – all whitewashed walls and cubic bathrooms – overlooking an atrium of artfully positioned sofas. Think of it as a super-handy base – the main attraction is the convenient location, in the old town next to the Palacio de la Merced. Staying here puts you mere minutes’ walk from the Mezquita. There’s even parking laid on – in a narrow street – while the palmy green Plaza de Colon gardens are an easy wander away, along with lively affordable restaurants and cantinas.