Hotel Cerro de Hijar

Clinging to a mountainside high above the village of Tolox near Ronda, this is a hotel for lovers of high places and excellent cuisine

Tolox is a sleepy mountain white village (set midway between Ronda and Malaga) which had a brief moment of glory when its spa became the place to take the waters. A narrow road cuts past a number of elegent turn-of-the-century buildings, and the springs, before looping steeply up to the white and ochre façade of this cheery small hotel. From here there are soaring views out across terraced groves of olives and almonds to the distant, glittering Mediterranean.

This is a hotel with a light heart. Stepping inside to a bright, colour-washed reception you’ll be greeted by one of the hotel’s young and relaxed staff. This is a place where you instinctively wind down. Bedrooms grab a part of that amazing mountain panorama. Here, and throughout the hotel, contemporary art and fittings are offset by more rustic elements. For the most part it works really well. But it is in the dining room where Cerro de Híjar scores highest. Martín, the resident chef, moved from a Michelin-starred restaurant to take up the reins at Híjar. His creations are both a visual and culinary feast.

Highs

• The location is simply amazing. You're at the heart of the Sierra de las Nieves National Park, a pristine swathe of mountains that has recently been declared a Unesco Biosphere Reserve, yet under an hour from Malaga
• The hotel’s young owners, Guillermo, Eugenio and Martín, are easy, affable hosts and speak excellent English
• The walking, straight out from the hotel, is simply fabulous. Don’t forget your boots and a day pack
• The food here is streets ahead of the kind you would normally expect in a hotel of this category - amongst the very best in the sierra. And the prices mean you can go gourmet on a budget
• This is a VERY quiet hotel. You’ll hear birdsong, the wind, an occasional renegade frog, and little else

Lows

• The staff at Híjar are multi-taskers. You may occasionally have to go in search of a receptionist or a barperson
• You need a car to get the most out of a stay here. If you have a 4x4 you could drive all the way across the Park to Ronda
• Nervous drivers may find the mountain road a little hair-raising
• If you come mid-week, out of season, you may find that you have the hotel to yourself - there's not much passing trade!
• The breakfast buffet is good but the bread - of the spongey, white, sliced variety - is a real disappointment and recent reports suggest supper standards might be slipping