Travel: tranquil luxury havens around Spain

Botanical Haven on Madrid’s Skyline

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Located in the heart of Madrid’s chic Gran Via, Hotel Indigo has drawn a strong design influence from the area’s close links with Spanish culture, fashion and architecture. The boutique-style rooms provide a “spa-inspired bathroom experience”, the gastrobar and restaurant offer locally-created Mediterranean cuisine, and the rooftop terrace is one of the best places in Madrid to view the city skyline – including the nearby Plaza Mayor and Royale Palace. Now the hotel has added a colourful new “pop” touch to its décor. Designed by Madrid-based Italian architect Teresa Sapey, the hotel’s Sky Lounge (on the top two floors), is a verdant and vibrant mini-universe of vegetation and nautical features. “People in Madrid love their terraces and rooftops,” notes hotel manager Rafael Ramírez, “so it was vital to provide this space with a unique personality.” To that end, Sapey created a “vertical Garden of Eden where colour is the main protagonist… a utopian design with a pop soul”. The 11th floor is taken up with a bar lounge and cocktail area, connected to the 12th floor rooftop terrace by a spiral staircase and infinity pool.

www.hotelindigo.com / www.teresasapey.com

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Relaxed Bohemian Spirit in Gran Canaria

Surrounded by the stunning volcanic landscape of Gran Canaria, Bohemia Suites & Spa is an adults-only retreat that combines sensory experiences with a native design concept. Guests have the freedom to “connect” with the setting and enjoy a sophisticated ocean-front lifestyle in 11 “separate worlds”. These include the Siam Spa, Sapphire Bar, gardens and 360-degree restaurant, which offers breathtaking views of the Atlantic and Maspalomas dunes on one side and mountains on the other. The aim of the staff is to give guests the sensation they are staying with friends, “who nurture and cultivate the care-free, bohemian spirit that prevails here”. The hotel’s rooftop restaurant comprises a spacious indoor-outdoor space where guests can mingle with each other while sipping lime-infused cocktails next to huge panoramic windows, and savour diverse Mediterranean and Asian fusion cuisine. The Siam Spa features Mandala-inspired treatment marquees and rooms that provide a tranquil setting for original massages by Thai therapists as well as fragrant aromatherapy baths of jasmine, mint and lemon; while outside the conditions are ideal for kite surfing and other water sports. Bohemia’s 67 rooms and suites are fully integrated living spaces, with the balconies and bedrooms merging seamlessly into one, and mahogany floors, native olive-wood furnishings and shades of yellow, purple and terracotta designed to harmonise with the natural environment.

Bohemia Suites & Spa is a member of Design Hotels.

Bookings through

www.designhotels.com or via the toll-free number 00 800 37 46 83 57.

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Soothing Sensations on the Costa del Sol at DoubleTree Hilton

This issue we stay close to our home base with an inside look at one of the Costa del Sol’s premier new hotel resort projects. Even for those of us living on the Coast, a weekend stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton Resort & Spa Reserva del Higuerón would be the ideal way to enjoy a post-summer break to rejuvenate the mind and body. And if space at home is limited for entertaining visiting guests, noone will be complaining too much if you book them a stay at the resort. The establishment is operating under a new brand name following an agreement reached between the global hotel chain and Reserve del Higuerón at this year’s ITB Berlin tourism fair. The Costa del Sol thus becomes the first location in Europe, and one of only two worldwide, to have a Hilton Worldwide adults-only (recommended for guests 16 years and over) resort and spa. The sedately refined Reserva del Higuerón gated residential development is located in Benalmádena municipality, just 10 minutes from Málaga’s international airport. The hotel has been designed to create a “gallery” ambience, with a wide and diverse range of amenities and services. These include the Nagomi Spa, which was named as the second best spa in Spain by luxury travel club Voyage Privé and offers wellness therapies, waterfalls, an indoor pool, a Turkish bath and a sauna, as well as extensive fitness facilities including tennis and paddle tennis courts, sand sports (volleyball, etc.), a gym with high-performance technology and personal trainers, yoga and pilates, and two outdoor pools. Other amenities include a shopping centre, baby massage courses, flower essences management, feng-shui and chi-kung oriental techniques, and a 250 square metre avant-garde art exhibition area. The hotel resort has a total of 177 rooms, including 24 junior suites, while its flagship restaurants are the Al Rolo (for seafood and Mediterranean cuisine) and the recently opened Sollo Restaurant by Diego Gallegos, who was named “revelation chef” at Madrid Fusión 2015. Another enticing haven for guests is the Infinity terrace bar on the top floor, with a panoramic pool, sky chill-out lounge and stunning views over the Bay of Fuengirola.

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