Five Best: Andalusian paradores

Parador de Gibralfaro, Malaga

A few nights' stay at Malaga's hilltop parador is as good a reason as any to visit the city. The hotel is perched on Gibralfaro hill, and its rooms have stunning views along the Mediterranean coast and across to north Africa; immediately below lies Malaga itself, with its quaint old streets, medieval cathedral and the ruins of the ancient Moorish Alcazaba, or fortress. Downtown Malaga is an easy walk from the hotel, although the steep, uphill return journey is tougher.

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The hotel is an attractive stone building set among hibiscus shrubs and pine trees. All the rooms are air-conditioned and have a balcony or terrace. At entrance level - which is on the second floor - is the restaurant; on the top floor a swimming pool nestles beneath the walls of the 14th-century Alcazaba.

Parador de Malaga Gibralfaro, Castillo de Gibralfaro, Malaga: 00 34 95 222 19 02; www.parador.es. Double rooms start at €178 (£127), singles at €134 (£96) including breakfast.

Parador Castillo de Santa Catalina, Jaén

This 13th-century Arab fortress is perched high on a hilltop at the end of a steep, winding road that leads out of the city of Jaén. The dramatic location means that all the rooms have panoramic views over the Guadalquivir plain and the mountains beyond. The fortress has undergone a number of changes since it was built in the 13th century. After it was captured from the Moors, it was extended, rebuilt and extended again before being turned into a 45-room hotel. The public areas still feel like a castle, with their high arched ceilings and a feeling of size and space; the decor in the dining room reflects the building's Moorish origins.

All the rooms are luxurious and well-equipped, but they are designed to mirror the style of the building and many are furnished with canopied beds. The hotel's grounds are contained within the castle's fortifications. A former military parade ground has been turned into a grassy area where guests can sit or stroll, and there is a pleasant swimming pool.

Castillo de Jaén, Jaén: 00 34 95 323 0000; www.paradores.es. Double rooms start at €159.43 (£114), singles from €120 (£86) including breakfast.

Parador Cristobal Colon, Mazagon

The Cristobal Colon, named after Christopher Columbus who set off on his journey to the Americas from a port along the coast, is hidden among the pine woods that line this unspoilt part of the Costa de la Luz. The parador sits on a cliff top, and is set in shady gardens. A path leads down to a perfect sandy beach below: no snack bars or amusement arcades, just the peace of the ocean. Mazagon is on the edge of Spain's largest nature reserve, the Coto de Donana National Park, renowned for its varied bird life. The hotel is modern, with comfortably-appointed rooms with terraces overlooking the gardens and the Atlantic Ocean. Set above the beach, is a large swimming pool; indoor facilities include a gym and sauna. The bar, restaurant and lounge are wrapped around the edge of the gardens.

Parador Cristobal Colon, Mazagon: 00 34 959 53 63 00; www.paradores.es. Double rooms start at €167 (£119), singles at €125 (£89) including breakfast.

Parador San Francisco, Granada

A tiled courtyard and rounded arches, carved wooden furniture and intricate wall hangings all reflect the origins and heritage of the most popular Parador in Spain. Once the convent of San Francisco, and before that a mosque built in the 14th century, the hotel forms part of the Alhambra, the massive fortress complex that dominates the beautiful city of Granada. The rooms are all different, but what they have in common is a stunning view of the palaces and gardens that make up the Alhambra. One of the nicest places from which to survey the scene is the terrace bar, a shady spot that overlooks the lovely Generalife gardens.

Accommodation here is highly sought after. At present, the hotel has 34 rooms and two suites, but from July, when renovation work is due to begin, that number will be reduced until the work is scheduled to be completed in spring 2008, so booking well in advance will be even more important than usual.

Parador de San Francisco, Real de la Alhambra, Granada: 00 34 95 822 1440; www.parador.es. Rooms start at €300(£214) including breakfast.

Parador, Ronda

The Parador is hidden behind a facade that was once the Town Hall, although during the modernisation it has lost all the traces of the austerity usually associated with municipal buildings. The emphasis is on comfort and bright, primary colours. The public rooms are filled with plants and inviting sofas, and outside is a good-sized swimming pool which can provide welcome relief from the searing heat of an Andalusian summer. The hotel perches at the end of the Puente Nuevo which spans Ronda's dramatic gorge and leads across to the old Moorish city. The views from the Parador are stunning, down into the gorge below, and across to the old walled city on the other side of the Tagus river.

Parador de Ronda, Plaza de España, Ronda: 00 34 95 287 7500; www.parador.es. Double rooms start at €177 (£127), singles at €134 (£96) including breakfast.

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