The Best Hotels in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

A venerable grande dame of a hotel, set in sprawling grounds, Santa Catalina has been luring travellers into its sophisticated embrace since 1890. The “royal hideaway” brand fits: the grounds are lush and tropical, the public spaces lavish and the rooms regal and refined. Soft upholstery and bathrooms behind wooden screens create a vintage mood, but the facilities are bang up to date, with a huge pool, multiple restaurants and bars, a spa and in-room luxuries such as rainfall showers and free-standing tubs.

At Bull Reina Isabel, all eyes are on the beach – more specifically, the gently shelving sand at Playa de las Canteras. There’s a mid-century California vibe at this sleek, family-friendly resort, with gleaming white public areas, wood-lined rooms and a rooftop pool and terrace poised above the sand. Rooms make the best of the views, with balconies and picture windows, and the hotel spa is something else – if massage jets and chambers infused with salinated air appeal, you’ll be in seventh heaven.

The name says it all at this 24-carat property, a stylish upgrade of a former bank in the old financial quarter. The design of the rooms hints at gold bullion, and the hotel restaurant is literally in the old bank vault – with gold tiles on the walls and its huge door pushed open, as if in the midst of a heist. Plus there’s a rooftop terrace with a plunge pool and it’s in a great location, just minutes from Playa de las Canteras.

It’s the views that seal the deal at Occidental Las Palmas – rooms gaze out over the blue Atlantic Ocean, or the lush green of Parque Doramas and the gardens of Hotel Santa Catalina. Inside, bedrooms are all about subtle tones, clean lines and big, floor-to-ceiling windows that create art photos from the views. Head up to the glass-rimmed rooftop at sunset for panoramic views over all of Las Palmas, perhaps accompanied by a cocktail and a dip in the hot tub.

A stylish modernisation of a 1940s townhouse in the Vegueta district, Hotel Suites 1478 has museums and monuments on the doorstep, and rooms full of modern design flourishes. In contrast, communal spaces reveal the original character of the building, a classic Las Palmas home created by Canarian rationalist architect Miguel Martín-Fernández de la Torre. Come for privacy, expansive living spaces and fine food served in the airy covered atrium or out on the rooftop.

If you like a measured mix of old and new, Hotel Veintiuno will be exactly your glass of ron miel (Canarian honey rum). With a twist of old-town charm and a pool terrace overlooking the Catedral de Santa Ana, the hotel is small and intimate, with tall ceilings and rooms decorated with natural wood and fabrics in pulse-slowing, off-white tones. The shady private courtyard and pot plant-dotted rooftop only add to the sense of privacy and calm.

This characterful, low-rise mansion has seen a stylish rebirth as a small, intimate boutique hotel. The handsome, two-tone exterior is a classic piece of old Las Palmas – but the interior brings the two-tone theme into the modern age, mixing natural wood and undyed fabrics with painted panels the deep blue of a night sky. There’s a languorous rooftop terrace and pool, looking over the old town of Vegueta, and the seawall is just blocks away for sunset walks and sea air.

This imaginative conversion of an 1890s mansion has one foot in the 19th century and the other in modern-day Las Palmas. Exposed-stone walls and appliqued bedspreads hint at the building’s long history, but walk-in bathrooms decked with mismatched tiles show a taste for the contemporary. It’s a couples kind of place, with an enviable location in Vegueta, the historic heart of Las Palmas – placing some of Las Palmas’ best gastronomy right on the doorstep.

Casa Mozart makes a bold statement, with a candy-red exterior edged in brilliant white – but inside, rooms have an understated, 1920s elegance. Vintage wooden furniture and old prints are a step back to an earlier time, but there are modern touches, too – flowing drapes, designer bathrooms and a huge rooftop terrace for catching the evening breeze. The walled garden is another nice touch, with cane chairs under umbrella shades. It’s in the Ciudad Jardin, just blocks from Playa de las Alcaravaneras.