Had two very lovely and quite different hotel experiences while I was away in Jerez for Vinoble last week. Four star Hotel Boutique Palacio Corredera is about a ten-minute walk from the train station, so that made it a good first stop on day one. We were able to drop our bags and head directly to Vinoble, finally checking in properly after lunch. And there was a suprise! I had asked for two beds and they ended up giving us a “family suite” (number 18) with a sofa bed for Peter (for the same price as a standard double room). Check out the instagram video below… this suite was SPACIOUS. It even had two bathrooms. There were also several beautiful courtyards used as “common areas” with comfy chairs and sofas, and a small “courtesy” room where you could make yourself a cup of coffee or have a drink. Very well thought out and very friendly and helpful staff too. Breakfast wasn’t included (I never book hotel breakfasts, more on that below) so we went to one of several little nearby bars for our tostadas (the central market is also just around the corner with Manolo’s amazing churros).

I think this has become my new favourite place to stay in Jerez (that is within my budget). It has location and style and comfort going for it, and I really felt at home here.

VIDEO: Hotel Boutique Palacio Corredera

Next day we checked in at grand lux 5 star Casa Palacio María Luisa, winner of the Best Boutique Hotel in Spain 2024 (World Travel Awards). You may wonder what the heck I was doing there. WELL… a couple of months ago I was invited to the opening of the rooftop bar at their sister hotel, 5 star GL Don Ramón in Sevilla. The first part was for press and they held a raffle for a free night at the hotel… and I won! But remembering that I would be going to Jerez for Vinoble I asked if I could swap hotels. Cheeky, but they said sure, that would be fine. We checked in just before lunch and, gotta admit, after all that extra space at the Corredera our beautiful premium room (number 9) felt a bit pokey in comparison, though it did have a lovely view of the garden and, for a freebie, I couldn’t really expect their María Luisa Suite (which is about the size of my apartment). It’s all about luxury here (a couple of days before arriving I was sent an email asking which toiletries I would like between three premium brands) and we had a lovely welcoming gift in the room of cookies, chocolates and a small bottle of cream sherry. Later in the afternoon while we were out they turned down the beds and left a cute fluffy teddy bear with a message (wasn’t sure if this was ours to take home so we left it).

There were also several attractive common rooms we could enjoy and of course their spectacular garden and cocktail bar. We had breakfast included which was served in a charming glass-covered terrace overlooking the garden, and I loved that it wasn’t buffet style (hate buffet breakfasts). The main reason I never ask for a hotel breakfast is simply because I never eat much in the morning and can’t justify the price when all I really want is coffee, maybe a glass of juice and some toast or a croissant. As you can imagine, the toast here was superb, as was the coffee, and so no complaints at all. The María Luisa also has an in-house restaurant, the aforementioned garden cocktail bar and will attend to your every need.

VIDEO: Casa Palacio María Luisa

Both of these hotels will be mentioned in an upcoming travel article in Decanter – stay tuned! Also, sorry about the Insta links for the hotel vids but I’m not allowed to upload videos here anymore. When did WP change that?