The second oldest hotel in a nationwide chain, the Parador de Cadiz

Sunday Business Post-Magazine
Sunday, 1 June 2014
Page:
34,35
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Page 1 of 2
34322
167200mm²
Cadizis a citysteepedinhistory:someofthe exotictreesare reputedto havebeenbroughtbackbyChristopher
Columbus
inWorld
Heritage
cities,
nextto
national
parks,mountains
orthe
Thesecond
oldesthotelina
coast,witha focusonfineregional
food.
nationwide
chain,theParador
de
TheParador
deCadizisdefinitely
thenewkidontheblock.
The
Cadizisanexample
ofSpanish
culturestriking
setting
andfinefoodremain,
but
with
them
come
contemporary
andheritage
at itsmostimpressive,
architecture,
luxurious
but
technologically
quirky
bedrooms
writesCatherineMurphy
andaninfinity
foyerthatstretches
TheParadorde Mazagon.
nearthe Portuguese
border
outtothewaves
oftheAtlantic.
Atfirstglance,
youmightthink
|he people
ofCadiz re-opened
inSeptember
2013and thatthemodem
buildfitspoorly
-Gaditanos
- are
isnowoneofthemostmodem withanancient
Andalucian
port
famedfortheirironic Paradores
inthecountry.
town.OldCadizispacked
with
senseofhumour, Paradores
werea 1920s
initiativenarrow
alleysandlargeplazas
that
morethanlikelynurtured bytheSpanish
government tellstories
ofitsshipping
history,
through
centuries
toboosttourism
andsafeguard invasions
andtradewithLatin
ofattempted
invasion.
thecountry’s
national
andcultural America.
Streets
arelinedwithexotic
TheParadordeCadiz,
however,heritage.
treessaidtohavebeenbrought
isa seriousinstitution.
Thesecond Asa result,
they’re
traditionallybackbyColumbus.
oldestina chainof93stateownedfour-star
hotelssetinoldMoorish ThefirstSpanish
constitution
hotels,it somehow
beat
fortresses,
ancient
monasteries, wassigned
herein1812andasa
Spain’s
direrecession
toundergo palaces,
convents
andmanor
legacy
ofitstradewiththeAmericas,
animpressive
transformation.
It
houses.
They’re
usually
situated
thecityhosted
the22ndLatin
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Page 2 of 2
Sunday Business Post-Magazine
Sunday, 1 June 2014
Page:
34,35
34322
167200mm²
Walkdownthe woodensteps to a privatebeach at the Paradorde Mazagon
Factfile
Oneofthe trickswhenvisiting
Paradoresis to planwellin advance
to availofthe manyspecial
offers,includingdiscountsfor
over50s and unusually,
20s-35s.
RoomsduringJunecost from€55
per personper nightand there
are also a rangeoftwo-nightand
five-night
specials.
Andaluciahas becomea
diversetourismdestinationand
accountsfor24 percent of Irish
The Paradorde Cadizis architecturallycontemporary
visitsto Spain.Overall,
Spanish
tourismincreasedby5.6 percent
lastyear,to 60.6 millionvisits,
the highestnumberever.
Togetto Andalucfa’s
Paradores,
flyto Malagaor Seville.
There
are alsoAVE
highspeedtrain
connectionsto Malaga,Seville
and CordobafromotherSpanish
cities.
Aswellas thoseinAndalucia,
youcan stayin Paradoresalong
the Caminode Santiagoor in
KingCarlos’sfavouriteskiresort,
BaqueiraBeretin Catalunya.
There’salso a seriesof preplanned
routesthat allowyouto
visita numberof hotelsinthe
Asuite at the Paradorde Cidiz
same area,including
the Wine
Route,the CastlesRouteand the
Thishotelfeelslikea little
people
whovisitAndalucia
annually WorldHeritageCitiesroute.
avenues
andinthatsense,the
American
Congress
in2012.
designed
forpire
wanttoexperience
Granada,
Another
legacy
becomes
apparentParador
deCadizisanexcellent sliceofheaven,
MapTravel(maptravel.ie)
are
Eveninlab
Seville
andCordoba.
Hikers
and
through
a simple
plaque
ona fit.Itwould
bea goodchoice
fora restandrelaxation.
the Irishexpertsinand official
it’spossible
towarder cyclists
wanttoheadtothepeaks agentsforSpanishParadores,
houseinthePlazadeCandelaria. business
conference
orcongress. November,
stepstoa prvate oftheAlpuj
arras,whilewanderers offeringa rangeof Paradorholiday
visitors
cometosampledownthewooden
According
tothisplaque,
Bernardo Younger
beachfora cheeky
dipinthe
wanttotakeinthewildAtlantic
O’Higgins,
anIrish-Chilean Cadiz’s
surfing
- theoldcityis
options,includingescorted
coast
of
Cabo
deGataandthe
landowner
whomadehismarkon almost
entirely
surrounded
by
tourswithLornaRoberts,whohas
ocean.
Afterwards,
youwillhappily oldSpaghetti
Western
toursof
Chilean
history,
livedherefora
water- itsfoodanditsannual
an extensiveknowledge
of both
prawns,
squid, Almeria.
Carnival,
inwhich
thatironiclocal gorgeonclams,
period.
Paradoresand Spain.
seafood
broth
and
Iberian
sirloin
in
For
fly-drive
holidaymakers
Theplaceissteeped
inhistory witcomes
totheforeandGaditanos
Paradoresrangefromthree
restaurant.
keentostayawayfromthebustle to fivestars,but mostare four
charm
youwithAlegrias,
their thehotel’s
andthere’s
a goodmixof
Ifther&rbecomes
toomuch, ofthemaincities,oneoption
isto
museums
andchurches
tovisit,as upbeat
flamenco
songs.
stars.Three-and seven-night
basethemselves
intheParador
de
there’s
plentytoseeinthearea.
wellasa landmark
18th-century
toursbasedon self-drive
are from
Portuguese
influences
areobvious Antequera
andvisiteachcityby
watchtower.
€159 perpersonforthree nights’
day.Thehotelismodem,
butthe
inHuelva
and,aswellasa
Thesenseofbeingsomewhere
bed and breakfast.Forfurther
museum
dedicated
toChristopher smalltownofAntequera
isnot.
otherthana typical
Spanish
cityis
info,contactMapTravelon tel
looking
tosample Columbus,
youcantakea guided Itsmuseum
tellsa storyofancient 01-8783111.
marked.
I feltattimesasifI had Holidaymakers
ParadordeMazagon
beentransported
toCartagena
in
Colombia,
andthereason
forthis
issimple;
thecitymodel
wasused
inSpain’s
colonial
citiesinSouth
America,
mostnotably
Havana
and
Puerto
Rico.
However,
themorerecent
personality
ofCadizismarked
bymodem
buildings
andwide
theflavour
ofAndalucia’s
Paradores
LandRover
tourthrough
thebeautiful
times.
typically
flytoMalaga
and
Fromthere,visitParadores
in
Donana
national
park,which
hirea car,spending
a fewnights during
andArcosdelaFrontera.
thelate1800s
wasowned Ronda
eachina selection
ofhotels.
At
mightbefamous
forits
byIrisharistocrat
andsherry
baron, Ronda
theotherendofthespectrum
from
manor
houseambience.
William
Garvey.
bridgeandbullring,
butithasan traditional
CadizistheParador
deMazagon Thetourendsona longgolden Arabic
Botharemoretypical
Parador
history
andculture
thatfar
inHuelva,
anareasocloseto
well-maintained
guardians
beachwithtimeforyetanother outweighs
thoseaesthetics.
The examples,
Portugal
thatit’seasiertoflyhome sneaky
ofSpain’s
ancient
history
and
dip.
Parador
atArcosdelaFrontera
fromFaro.
culture.
Mostofthe300,000
plusIrish charms
withitshilltop
viewsand