Hotel Alhambra Palace

The Alhambra Palace Hotel was built by the Duke of San Pedro de Galatino, aristocrat, politician, businessman and great visionary. At the beginning of the 20th century, almost 18,000 tourists a year were visiting the Alhambra, and his achievement represented the perfect complement to the emerging tourism of the time. On January 1, 1910, the new luxury hotel was inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII. From 1910, the Duke managed the hotel with great success and transformed it, with its large casino, into a social and cultural center for Granada. The hotel hosted Spanish greats such as Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla, José María Rodríguez-Acosta and Ángel Barrios. Throughout its more than 100-year history, it has hosted royalty, celebrities and actors such as Douglas Fairbanks and Orson Welles.

The hotel opened in the early 20th century, when it was fashionable to construct buildings in a Moorish revivalist style known as neo-Mudejar. A wealthy duke commissioned the hotel a century ago, using engineers from Gustave Eiffel to build the first multi-story steel-framed hotel, essential considering it is built on the hillside below the Alhambra. The hotel's interior is pure embellishment: neo-Arabic style abounds with mirrors, mosaics, muqarnas and arches. Every doorway is an elaborate archway with stucco and suras of intricate Arabic calligraphy; every wall has geometric designs, carved plaster, vintage marble or tile mosaics. The original casino is gone (only an original roulette wheel remains in the lobby) but the extravagant neo-Mudejar Mozarabic decoration remains.

The hotel is located directly in front of its famous namesake, the Alhambra, a World Heritage Site. The views from the terrace bar take in the city of Granada and the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the background. The Albaicín neighborhood, also a World Heritage Site, stretches out at the foot of the hotel. Access to the Alhambra is within walking distance, allowing visits at sunrise or sunset when there are fewer tourists.