Boutique Sleeps, Part III

My shortlist of the most exciting independent hotels opening in Spain this spring

Cristine Bedfor Málaga & Sevilla

A rendering of Cristine Bedfor Málaga

One of my favorite Balearic stays is the Cristine Bedfor guesthouse (from €130/night) in Mahón, Menorca. It’s exactly how a hotel should be: small, welcoming, and full of personal, impossible-to-duplicate details, as though you’re staying in someone’s home. This spring, the property’s owner, Cristina Lozano, will attempt to recreate the magic yet again, only this time in Andalucía. In May she’ll debut a 27-room hotel near Málaga’s Picasso Museum, housed in a 19th-century, heritage-listed building designed by Gerónimo Cuervo (the architect behind the city’s Teatro Cervantes). Reimagined by the antique-loving, AD100-listed Spanish interiors maestra Marta de la Rica, the Málaga guesthouse is poised to be just as much of a maximalist, color-drunk fantasy as its Balearic counterpart. Then for her third act, Lozano will open another jewelbox-like stay in Sevilla’s colorful Triana barrio, just across the river from the historic center. Few details have been revealed, but curiously, the hotel shares the same address as the recently opened—and suitably maximalist—Triana House Hotel, making me suspect a takeover is in the works.

The Rotana Reserve, Mallorca

Images courtesy of The Rotana Reserve

This 17th-century manor was once the home of Swiss-Argentine businessman Juan Ramón Theler and his wife, German princess Loretta Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. Now, years after Theler’s passing, the 200-hectare estate near Manacor is entering a new chapter after a 20-million-euro buyout by a Singaporean family. The 24-room hotel (from €280/night) opens today, March 2, following a renovation that cleared away not just cobwebs but also dozens of taxidermied animal heads (ick) and other paraphernalia left behind by the previous owners. Plenty of glorious original details, such as a magnificent Mudéjar-style coffered wooden ceiling, have been preserved. A larger-scale transformation (the second stage of the project) is planned for 2026, with ambitions to transform the sprawling estate into one of the Mediterranean’s grandest resorts, complete with a winery, tennis courts, and the island’s only private golf course.

Misiana, Tarifa

Posada La Sacristía; Tarifa boasts approximately 40 kilometers of coastline

Tarifa is a mecca for kitesurfing and windsurfing, thanks to its blustery location at the southernmost tip of continental Europe (a ferry ride will get you to Tangier in just half an hour). Beyond the wind and waves, a bohemian spirit pulses through town. The Deus Ex Machina-wearing crowd congregates at hotspots like Número C, Pastelito, and Atlas Gallery, while in-the-know visitors stay at the Andalucían-Moroccan-style Posada La Sacristía (from €120/night) and the beachy new El Escondite (from €100/night) hotel. This year, the all-female team behind those two properties is giving travelers new reason to visit with the opening of the 15-room Misiana, occupying a 1960s-era building in the heart of the Old Town. Marbella Club designer Marie-Caroline Willms is heading up the interiors, merging Tarifa’s laidback surfer vibes with the retro glamour of midcentury Miami. I can’t wait to visit.