Casa Vina de Alcantara

Rooms

Gonzalo is a self-confessed Anglophile and his decorative style is all about refined elegance and comfort - with just a hint of chintz. Most memorable, perhaps, are the many oil and water colours painted by his mother, Luisa, that grace both the bedrooms and the drawing room. These and the many antiques combine beautifully with the pastel colours and matching fabrics.

Ground floor rooms are high ceilinged with floors of polished limestone whilst those of the first floor are rather cosier in feel with parquet floors and attic ceilings. Expect first class linen sheets, white cotton bedspreads, top quality thick towels, the very best mattresses, an easy chair, lots of wardrobe space, subtle lighting and muted pastel colour schemes with lovely fabrics (some floral) for curtains and bedspreads. The feel is one of studied elegance.

Bathrooms are as good as they get. Bathtubs have been sculpted round with marble-tops, there are double sinks, repro taps, bathrobes and lots of toiletry goodies. Shower heads are enormous and thanks to the flow and pressure of the water you feel as if you were standing in a tropical downpour. And a host of smaller details like turn-back, delicious chocolates or a thermos of iced water help to make this a hotel which tries hard to spoil you at every turn.

Features include:

• Bathrobes
• WiFi

Eating

Breakfast is either served at highly polished drop leaf tables in the airy dining room or in a cobbled courtyard beneath the lemon trees. You are treated to silver service and will always be offered an English breakfast of lightly scrambled (or poached) eggs with bacon, as well as croissants, homemade cake, fruit juices and yoghurts accompanied by pot-fulls of tea and coffee. The butlers are attentive without being intrusive. Each table has its own buzzer that you can press should you need anything: it all feels like just the right way to kick off the day.

With advance warning both lunches and candlelit dinners are now available, often served alfresco on a citrus-scented patio that leads out to the estate gardens. The culinary accent is on home cooking of the kind that the family would prepare for their own meals. Expect a seasonal vegetable soup, gazpacho or consomé al Jerez followed by fillet of beef or fish fresh from the slab in the Jerez market. After a dessert of homemade ice cream or fresh fruit salad coffee is served in the adjacent drawing room. The included wines might be the family's own Beronia Reserva, Cune Imperial or perhaps Hacienda Monasterio, a prize-winning red from Ribera del Duero. And if you're staying here as part of a larger group more elaborate menus can always be put together.

Just 2 minutes from Alcantara is the superb Venta Esteban, one of the best eateries in Jerez, and La Cueva, a rather brassy 4-star hotel just a few hundred metres away, has an excellent restaurant. In the centre of Jerez you are spoiled for choice: masses of colourful tapas bars and restaurants for all budgets. Gonzalo’s personal favourite is La Mesa Redonda, and Time Out agrees: "Don't be deceived by the plain exterior of La Mesa Redonda - it’s one of the best traditional restaurants in town."

Features include:

• Breakfast
• Dinner by arrangement
• Honesty bar
• Lunch by arrangement

Activities

• Visit any number of sherry bodegas including, of course, that belonging to the Gonzalez-Byass family
  
• Seville, Cadiz, Arcos and the Grazalema park are all an easy drive away
  
• For horse lovers the Royal Equestrian School in Jerez is a must. There are shows twice a week and daily visits to the stables. You can also ride at the stables of the farm adjacent to Alcantara
  
• You are within striking distance of several Atlantic coast beaches and the Donana Park, Europe's largest protected wetland
  
• And this is a great base to explore the White Villages from: Arcos is only 15 minutes away, its whitewashed houses and stone castle walls teetering on the edge of a limestone cliff
  
• Or play golf at the nearby Montecastillo course - a 160-hectare, Nicklaus-designed extravaganza (the carts even have GPS systems) which hosted the Volvo Masters for 5 years. The superb Arcos Gardens course is also very close to Alcantara
  
• You could even head across to Morocco for the day: the motorway linking Jerez and Algeciras makes this journey much faster and easier
  
• Or stay put and chill out by the shady pool, then wander through the vineyards to the lake to feed the ducks, have a picnic or do some sketching

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Birdwatching
• Golf
• Hiking
• Historical sites
• Horse riding
• Shopping / markets
• Traditional cultures

Kids

Casa Vina de Alcantara accepts children of all ages even if the vibe of the house does feel pretty grown-up. Extra beds are available for children up to the age of 15 for a supplementary fee.

Family friendly accommodation:

Standard Rooms #2 and #7 are the best to book if you're thinking of adding extra beds.

Cots Available, Extra Beds Available

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

The hotel is in a small wood among vineyards, 8km east of the town of Jerez de la Frontera, and just 15 minutes from Jerez airport. With the vastly improved coastal and inland motorway system it is also now easy to get from Jerez to Malaga, Seville and Gibraltar.

By Air:
Jerez Airport (27km) is very close. You could also travel through Seville (100km), Gibraltar (128km) or Malaga (237km). Click on the links below for a list of airlines.

From the Airport
To get the most out of a stay here we strongly recommend you hire a car (see below). The hotel is an easy drive from Jerez Airport.

By Car:
With so much to see in the area a car is pretty much essential - see our car rental recommendations.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you confirm your booking through i-escape.

More on getting to Andalucia and getting around