The Best Hotels in Oviedo, Spain

This fuss-free, friendly base keeps things simple and bright: rooms with floral bedspreads, prints of Marilyn Monroe and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. In the very core of the city, conveniently opposite Oviedo Railway Station, you’re also a five-minute mosey from the bronze homage to Woody Allen on Calle de Pelayo – the statue of the movie director honours his time here, filming the 2008 smash hit Vicky Cristina Barcelona, starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson. On the corner of the main Avenida de Santander, you’ve got a raft of top-notch restaurants and bakeries to explore, from morning pastries to evening tapas.

Tradition and comfort go hand-in-hand at this fine four-star. Beyond the gleaming marble lobby, the bar does a mean sangria; the restaurant (which serves continental breakfast) serves moreish Iberian ham croquettes. And the rooms are welcoming, with dark-wood furnishings and neutral splashes. Ask for a city-view – or reserve the junior suite, and you can enjoy a terrace overlooking the skyline. You’re 10 minutes’ walk from Oviedo’s historic draws, among them the Asturias Fine Arts Museum, Plaza de Alfonso II and San Tirso church with its brick, nascent-Romanesque curves.

Minutes on foot from the Medieval Old Town, with its soaring cathedral and café-lined Plaza del Fontán, this smart cookie certainly has a great location. Its 89 inviting rooms are bathed in light, enhanced by white walls, pale and funky furniture and warm wooden floors. There’s an eyebrow-raising, self-titled “anti-oxidant” buffet breakfast each morning: a delicious and healthy combo of local cheeses, fresh eggs, juicy fruit and heavenly breads. That’ll set you up nicely for some leisurely sightseeing, including the University of Oviedo and Plaza de la Escandalera.

Combine big-city bustle with a relaxing spell in a country house – a long weekend cinch, given El Mirador de Bendones’s proximity to Oviedo, a 10-minute drive from the centre. It’s all about indolence – and indulgence – at this picturesque red-tiled pile: à la carte breakfast on your terrace, or in the restful garden, followed by leisurely hikes in the surrounding hills. You’ll sleep deeply back at the ranch, in tranquil rooms of stony-brick walls and vaulted beamed ceilings, waking to views of pre-Romanesque Santa María de Bendones Church, the Tudela Valley and Mount Aramo.

A fancy wedding-cake facade – rippled with curly white stucco – belies 36 modern rooms of dark wood floors and jazzy curtains at this spick-and-span, business-smart, three-star renovation. The location can’t be beat, bang in Oviedo’s historic centre, a short walk from the Campo de San Francisco park with its resident peacocks and ornate bandstand. And the buffet breakfast is a proper banquet of local cheeses, irresistible pastries and freshly squeezed juices.

Stay here, in Oviedo’s Old Town, and you’re on the cusp of cool sightseeing: first up, Oviedo Cathedral, five minutes’ walk away, with its celebrated 9th-century Holy Chamber, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Contemporary rooms fuse chic white decor with chrome and wood; some have glass-encased fires, others rain-effect showers or whirlpool baths. Soothe knackered feet at the cosy spa, with its plunge pool, hot tub, Turkish bath and trance-inducing massages. And for dinner? Spanish specialities are cooked every evening, and breakfasts are hearty buffets.

A smart 19th-century facade conceals a very on-trend spot in a handy central setting. The 28 rooms are modish enough to have you moving into permanently, all copper-basket-style pendant lights and lightly beamed bed heads. Public spaces keep pace, with art and mod-Mediterranean tiles, while the restaurant is dab hand at Spanish-fusion tapas treats. No relaxation facilities, alas, but you can always nip across to the Princess Munia Spa opposite, and settle in to switch off.

The winning location of this modern apartment will have football fans cheering: it’s that close to the Carlos Tartiere Stadium. Relaxing rooms and studios are dressed in pale Scandi-style woods, shades of light grey, white and taupe, and jazzy herringbone-motif rugs. They’re settle-into-serene, with working areas and sofas, and each comes with a fully equipped kitchen – your cue to get creative with what you’ve bought at the market stalls on Plaza del Fontán, a 20-minute walk away. That’s dinner sorted; continental breakfast is served daily.

There’s nothing missing on the checklist for these studios and family-friendly apartments: neat kitchenettes, shiny wooden floors and views mirroring the walls bearing black-and-white murals of the city. Despite the mod-industrial facade, you’re five minutes’ walk from Cathedral Square, in Oviedo’s ancient centre. Try the all-day restaurant-cum-bar for à la carte dinners in bright surroundings. The Penthouse has a terrace with sun loungers, so you’ll go home with a tan, even from a work trip, And those views across to the hills beyond the city are simply sublime.