Parador de Granada

Parador de Granada occupies a former Franciscan monastery that Isabella and Ferdinand had built after the conquest of Granada, on ground that had been part of the Alhambra's own palace grounds under the Nasrid dynasty. It's the only hotel allowed inside the Alhambra's walls, and the only way to walk its gardens before the day's ticket-holders arrive or after they've gone.

The rooms are plain by comparison with the Alhambra's ornamented halls next door — this was a monastery, not a palace, and it looks it — but the terrace over the Generalife gardens and the Sierra Nevada beyond is the real draw. Booking here means booking the Alhambra's entry ticket separately in advance regardless, since the hotel doesn't grant access to the monuments themselves.

Reserve well ahead — it's the single hardest room to get in Granada, for the obvious reason that no other hotel shares its address.