The check-in was a breathe-through. We got a large room (that could fit three twin beds). The walls in the room are covered with silk, the large bed has a baldacchino and the window drapes match the bed coverings. The room also has an antique bureau, a sofa and a chair each covered with bright green velvet, two armchairs with stripes, two bed stands with lamps and nice rugs. The small corridor leading to the room has a wardrobe of good wood with carved doors and there is a safe and a bar inside. The bathroom is covered with bright tiles with octagonal stars in pearl color on white background with marble countertops and sinks, good size bathtub, toilet and bidet. There was a complimentary bottle of olive oil in my room. The whole city of Seville is decorated with porcelain tiles, and the hotel lobby and the magnificent staircases are lined with beautiful hand-painted tiles with the pictures of angels and cupids, fruits and flowers. Each door is framed in exquisite almond color woodwork in Mudejar style. But the best part of the room was chandelier of Murano glass in green and red colors. There are all together 146 rooms, and each room is decorated in one of the three styles: Moorish, Castillian or Baroque.

The hotel has an outdoor swimming pool open in summer which we could see from our window. The pool as everything else is surrounded by beautiful tiles, as well as orange and lemon trees that at the time were full of fruits. There are also two restaurants – San Fernando that serves Spanish cuisine and also has a bar, and Kaede that serves Japanese cuisine. In the lobby there are also several boutiques. The hotel is built so that there is a small El Patio courtyard in the middle. If you come out to the balconies of the second floor, you will see that the railings are connected with each other by blue tiled columns, and if you look down, you will see a gorgeous floor covered with beautiful patterns.

Seville has rather extensive public transportation, the routes of public buses, prices and timetables can be found at www.tussam.es. There are also six night buses which run between midnight and 2am. Several buses stop in front of the hotel. You may want to make sure that you don’t get rooms on the side that is facing the park, since there is construction ongoing and it can be extremely noisy during the day.

If you arrive in Madrid, there is a high–speed train called AVE that will bring you to Seville in two and a half hours but the prices for the tickets are rather high (65-100 euros per person). You can check out the schedules and prices at the www.renfe.com. We flew in from the US via London into Seville San Pablo airport located 12 km North of the city (phone: 954 449 000). Naturally the airline cancelled the flight that was arriving to Seville in the morning, so we had an afternoon flight, and by the time we arrived into Seville, grabbed our luggage and went through customs, it was after 3pm. On the internet I was able to find some information about the company "Los Amarillos" that runs buses from the airport to the city center. Buses leave the airport every 30 minutes. The ticket costs 4.50 euros and phone number inside Spain for the bus company is 902 21 03 17, and the bus terminal in the city is located right in front of Hotel Alfonso XIII. However all the websites forget to mention that there are no buses between 3 pm and 5 pm. We got into a taxi and about 15 minutes later we were at the entrance of the Hotel Alfonso XIII (it costs 25-27 euros).

This hotel is considered one of the most luxurious hotels in Spain and rightfully so. This was the intent of Alfonso XIII, Spanish king, who ruled Spain in the 20th century before the civil war and Franco’s regime (current king of Spain is Alfonso’s grandson). He wanted to build the most luxurious hotel in all of Europe, and in 1928 this became the case. The hotel was built to accommodate heads of state during the Ibero-American expo of 1929 (Plaza de España was also built for the expo). You can still feel all the glamour and regality as soon as you arrive, and obviously the prices let you know that it is truly top of the line. The hotel is located in the very center of the city, literally within walking distance to the Seville Cathedral, Reales Alcazares and Plaza de España. Even if you are not staying at the hotel, you have to walk in and explore the building – without that a visit to Seville would be incomplete. Some people come here to take their wedding pictures.

Continued in Part II

Arrival is a fantastic experience. The lobby is a marble hall trimmed with dark wood. The old-style elevators are original to 1929. I preferred the stairs: I felt as if I were making a grand entrance every time I went down to the ground floor!

My bedroom may not appear as large in my photos as it actually was. Two nearly double-sized beds made up a super king. Linens were linen! The room was cool, dark, and detailed to a fault. What an experience!! The bathroom, up one step (like a cruise ship), was decorated with hundreds of copper tiles. These were the usual fittings for a European hotel, but every detail was to the highest level of comfort and luxury: large bottles of shampoos, huge cakes of soap, towels the size of sheets, marble floors that feel oh-so-good on a hot day.

As you enter the room, you pass a very large double closet for clothing and another very large double closet substantially filled by a mini bar. Also in the room were A/C, a large sofa, a couple of side chairs, a table for room-service trays, and a huge antique desk. No, I couldn't take that desk home! The colors were all planned to give your eyes and mind a rest from the strong Spanish sun.

Modifications to the hotel made for the installation of air-conditioning are not objectionable. Glass walls surround the patio, and windows that used to open onto the courtyard are now sealed. All rooms are outside units; a few have balconies. Rooms on the upper floor facing north have a view of the Alcazar and the Cathedral. Also in the hotel are three very sedate shops. Note that the old carriage entrance on the east side is blocked; the way into the hotel is past a very serious doorman. The horses and carriages are out of the east gate as you head to the fountain.

The way to the swimming pool is a bit hard to find. A side stairway/elevator takes you down to the garden level. The large pool's full-service bar serves snacks. We hit the pool at happy hour: buy one drink, get one free. Didn't expect that! Each bartender has his or her own recipe for sangria--a delight.

This is a surprisingly private space considering that you are in the middle of a large city. I put this very high on my list of hotels, second only to the Cape Grace in Cape Town, South Africa.