Rooms

There are 9 rooms at Hotel Palacio Blanco. #1 and 2 look onto the ground-floor courtyard; a marbled flight of stairs leads to #3-6, which are surrounded by a wide glass-and-chrome walkway scattered with sofas and looking over the plant-filled courtyard below. Another narrow flight of stairs brings you to the roof terrace where 7, 8 and 9 sit beside the pool and honesty bar.

Décor is contemporary and tasteful - creams, silvers and golds or reds, blacks and crimsons. There are tall vases of roses, cushioned wrought-iron chairs, textured bedspreads and glittery cushions. All have comfortable kingsize beds, flatscreen TVs, WiFi and spacious shower rooms. Note there are no toiletries, so make sure you bring your own.

So which room to choose? If you have young children or don’t like to climb too many stairs, pick rooms 1 and 2, but if you like to be near the action choose 7, 8 and 9 by the rooftop bar (#9 is the Family Room or Suite). If you enjoy looking out on the hustle and bustle of an authentic Andalucian city you’ll love rooms 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8, which have small balconies overlooking the street, but if peace and quiet is more your thing, plump for 2, 5 and 6, which give onto the quieter side and rear of the hotel.

Features include:

• Air conditioning
• Bathrobes
• Cots available
• Fan
• Hairdryer
• In-room treatments available
• TV
• WiFi

Eating

Local jams from a village women’s co-operative, delicious chorizo, manchego cheese and fresh cakes from the nearby pastelería make breakfast out in the courtyard a delight. And with a juicer and a couple of 24-hour honesty fridges that are liberally stocked with drinks, you'll never go thirsty at Palacio Blanco.

As the largest of the region’s towns, Velez-Malaga has a profusion of good restaurants dotted through its cobbled streets. For excellent-value tapas try the bar at Caserio de las Monjas on calle Doctor Laureano Casquero. When we last revisited, we ate in their restaurant out back: an atmospheric, vaulted room with super-friendly staff. Fish croquettes and veggie tortillas made delicious starters, though the swordfish and tuna mains were disappointingly overcooked and covered with sauce; ask for sauce on the side if you want seafood! For the best local spots, manager Maria will happily share her recommendations.

Night owls can take a bus or taxi to the profusion of pubs, clubs and bars in Torre del Mar, just a 10-minute ride away, or hang out in the numerous bars radiating out from the central Plaza San Francisco in Velez-Malaga.

Features include:

• Breakfast
• Honesty bar
• Restaurants nearby

Activities

• Velez-Malaga is a lovely town - big enough to have good restaurants and interesting sights, but small enough to get around easily on foot. It has all the best elements of an authentic Andalusian town: cobbled streets, beautiful old architecture, hole-in-the-wall tapas bars, locals-only fish restaurants, but also plenty of shops, a great market - and best of all, you hardly see any tourists
  
  
• Stay cool in the Convento de Las Carmelitas as you admire this charming convent’s collection of 18th-century paintings
  
  
• Watch a flamenco show or classical music concert at the Teatro del Carmen
  
  
• Hop on a bus to Torre del Mar and laze on the beaches. Most of these have watersports centres
  
  
• Grab your clubs and head out for a few rounds at nearby Anoreta Golf or Baviera Golf Club
  
  
• If the weather turns, hang out at El Ingenio, the vast 65-store shopping centre on the road to Torre del Mar, with a cinema that shows at least one film a week in English
  
  
• Kids will love Aquavelis, the region's largest water park with 20+ rides and slides, in Torre del Mar
  
  
• Visit the pretty white village of Frigiliana, then head on to Nerja, with its donkey sanctuary on the outskirts of town
  
  
• Catch a bus to Malaga, only 30 minutes away, and visit the fabulous Picasso foundation and museum, wander around the gorgeous 16th-century cathedral, check out Roman - and other - ruins, then tag along on a tapas bar tour
  

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Cycling
• Golf
• Hiking
• Historical sites
• Horse riding
• Museums / galleries
• Nightlife
• Shopping / markets
• Snorkelling
• Swimming

Kids

Though more geared towards couples, Hotel Palacio Blanco welcomes families and has a Family Room plus baby cots and rollaway beds for children that can be added to other rooms.

Best for:

Children (4-12 years)

Family friendly accommodation:

Room 9 is the Family Room on the top floor, with 2 bedrooms (double and single) and a shared bathroom. All other rooms can fit a baby cot or rollaway bed. Parents with younger offspring should ask for a room on the ground floor (1 and 2). Room 8 has a super-kingsize bed and a single bed so is a good choice for older children.

Cots Available, Extra Beds Available

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Hotel Palacio Blanco is in Velez-Malaga, 30 minutes' drive from Malaga Airport and a short bus or taxi ride from the sandy beaches of the Costa del Sol.

By Air
Malaga’s busy airport, which is the main gateway to Andalucia, is served by many international carriers - click on the links below for a list of airlines.

From the Airport
Most guests hire a car, but parking is difficult, so you may prefer to ask for a transfer - see Rates - or take a taxi to Velez-Malaga instead (a 40-50 minute journey). Alternatively, there's a regular train from the airport to Malaga city centre. From there, it's a 40-minute bus journey to Velez-Malaga.

By Car
If you want to hire a car to drive here, see our car rental recommendations. Be warned though, the horrendously busy strip of road leaving the airport has been nicknamed Deathrow because of the number of accidents caused by UK tourists leaving the airport and driving on the left...

By Train
If you'd prefer to travel overland, hop on a train! See Seat 61 for detailed directions of how to get here from London.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.com.

More on getting to Andalucia and getting around