A CAPTIVATING HIDDEN SECRET OVERLOOKING THE MEDITERRANEAN
By Johnny Gates
Add a good dash of classic English country house charm to individual creative flair and the result is just the ambience architect-interior designer Jaime Parladé was seeking when he transformed his home above San Pedro de Alcántara in the Alcuzcuz hills into a boutique hotel.
The house has been home for the Parladé family since it was built in 1860, and there are plenty of wonderful mementos dotted around the property mixed with fabulous French antiques and artefacts.
The family history dates to a great-great-grandfather who was one of the first industrialists in this part of the world, operating an ironworks in Elvira which was fuelled from forests in El Madroñal and the surrounding areas. In the 1980s Francisco and Jaime sold off large plots in El Madroñal, creating what today is popular as a prime real estate area.
The family’s “baby”, however, was always La Heredia, with most streets named after the family, designed by Jaime and built by Francisco. Sadly, Jaime passed away in 2014, leaving an estate which is now a chic, seductively grand 10-bedroom hotel. The bedrooms all contain a fascinating medley of images, objects and fine old carpets.
The well-established gardens are laid out in distinctive areas highlighted by beautiful shrubbery and flowers, a swimming pool surrounded by vegetation, and terraces filled with wisteria and trumpet vines that weave their way through pergolas to create shady havens for those wanting to admire stunning views over the northern African coastline just beyond Gibraltar.
The hotel can be rented out in its entirety or as individual rooms. It has a B&B set up where people take their breakfast in the kitchen/diner or, during pleasant weather, outside on the patio or in the gardens. Visitors are also welcome to relax in the cosy lounge area.
Ctra. De Ronda, Km. 42, Benahavís
Tel. (+34) 952 780 332 / 678 996 535
info@alcuzcuz.es / www.alcuzcuz.es
