Muralla Ziri Boutique Apartments

Eating

The 12 apartments' kitchenettes couldn't be better equipped. All come with their own fridge, ceramic hob, microwave, toaster, juicer, coffee pot and kettle as well as attractive crockery and cutlery and a full range of instrumentalia: knives, scissors, bottle openers and so on. The Penthouse apartment also has a snazzy Italian expresso machine, ice bucket and extra surface space for your culinary preparations.

You can request a shop to be done for you prior to arrival. You can buy ingredients in Plaza Nueva (200m away) where there is a minimarket, or in Calderería Vieja (150m away) which has a halal minimarket, or in calle Elvira (250m) which has a supermarket. However, the Mates family recommend checking out the fresh food market behind the Cathedral (about 350/400m)

Even if you weren't tempted to prepare full-blown meals the kitchenettes are ideal for getting your breakfast together (a breakfast box can be provided) and really useful for parents with snack-hungry kids or bottles to prepare.

Lovers of fine wines are able to buy bottles from the Mates family's private cellars. You'll find a booklet in your apartment describing each of the wines, the region of its origin and the grapes varieties used in its elaboration. As well as a tempting selection of red and white wines, and cava, you can also choose amongst a small selection of cheeses.

And you couldn't be better placed for eating out: you can drop straight down the hill to the lively bars and restaurants of the Acera del Darro or angle down to the vibrant Plaza Nueva area where there are tapas bars galore as well as more formal restaurants. The Mates family will provide recommendations for eating out and a tailormade tapas tour for booking through i-escape.

Top of their list is Bodegas Castaneda, a bar which is always packed with locals and where you'll get the best gazpacho in Granada as well as warming caldo (chicken broth) during the colder months. Just across the square is the cosy and quirky Trastienda bar which is accessed by edging your way round the counter of a grocer's shop. All of the tapas are good, with the accent on the finest Iberian pork cuts, and there's an extensive choice of wines.

Manuel Mates whisked me off to the buzzy area just behind the town hall and to his favourite Bar Los Diamantes II. It was heaving and the fresh fish, fried in virgin olive oil, was in a league of its own: when it runs out the bar closes! Immediately next door is La Tana which has one of the most extensive selection of wines in town.

No culinary outing to Granada would be complete without elbowing your way to the bar in Marisqueria Cunini. A huge tapas of the restaurant's legendary Russian salad will be pushed across the bar and you then can choose amongst a mouth-watering selection of fish and seafood. I always go for baby red mullet which comes griddled or fried to perfection in the lightest of batters.