Hospes Palacio del Bailio

Eating

The dining room at Hospes Palacio del Bailio is incredible. Set in the centre of the building, with a full-length balcony wrapping round it, it's a lovely space to have a drink on the elegant velvet sofas, or go for a full-on meal. The ceiling is very high, allowing great acoustics; the walls have an ancient fresco painted on them. Best of all though, the glass floor gives a bird's eye view of Roman ruins below you, floodlit at night for full effect. Book in advance as there are only 8 tables.

The menu is typically Spanish, with some seriously full-on meat and fish choices: shellfish gazpacho stew, bone marrow soup with prawns, suckling pig's head. An amuse bouche of red-pepper foam with parmesan straws was an unexpected (and very welcome) start. We followed this with goats' cheese salad, then the adventurous one of us tried stuffed bull's tail and patas bravas, while I had a succulent red steak. Both were excellent, and really got the juices flowing. Talking of which, there's an extensive wine list, though we found the house red more than a match for our meats: full bodied and very drinkable.

Breakfast the next morning was equally hearty: a buffet of salamis and chorizo, manchego and brie, mini pastries, freshly baked bread and a choice of cooked dishes (scrambled eggs, omelettes). But what really set this apart from other hotels was its experimental flair. There was a choice of butters - normal, garlic, thyme; the marmalades were either rose or violet (both delicious); the fruit bowl was filled with fresh kiwis and figs rather than the ubiquitous oranges and pretty-but-tasteless apples.

For lunches and snacks, there was a cool tapas bar on site, serving a mix of Spanish specialities: beef carpaccio with lime vinaigrette, salmorejo with ham and egg, fried anchovies, foie gras with roasted apple, Iberian ham.

If you'd prefer to eat out, there are plenty of great restaurants and tapas bars within easy strolling distance. Just around the corner is a hectic and friendly tapas restaurant with a big menu and great atmosphere.