Seville has a new address worth planning a trip around. Serras Sevilla opened in September at the foot of the city's Cathedral, turning a storied early-20th-century residence into a 43-room luxury hotel after a three-year restoration backed by £37.7 million — over £755,000 per room, one of Andalusia's biggest recent hotel investments.
The building is the real headliner. Known as Casa Álvaro Dávila, it was commissioned by the Marquis of Villamarta and designed around 1915-1917 by Aníbal González, the architect who shaped Seville's Regionalist look with moulded brick, Triana ceramics and wrought iron. The opening lands neatly on the 150th anniversary of his birth. A domed tower-mirador crowns the corner of Avenida de la Constitución, its hidden staircase spiralling up to a rooftop with near-frontal views of the Cathedral and La Giralda. Later merged with a neighbouring house by José Espiau y Muñoz, the structure has been restored layer by layer: original ceilings kept, brick walls and bronze plaques revealed, plus a central light well topped by star-shaped skylights spanning more than 158 square metres of glass, and a traditional open-air patio.
Designer Eva Martínez handled the interiors, with almost everything custom-made. Fringed curtains move with the light, leather armchairs nod to Seville's equestrian culture, and sofa lines echo the montera, the bullfighter's cap. Even the tableware is local in spirit: hand-painted pieces by Eugenia Martínez de Irujo, daughter of the Duchess of Alba, for her Eugenia & Sushita line.
The 38 rooms and five suites keep original ceiling heights, hand-glazed ceramic headboards and, in many cases, windows that frame the Cathedral so closely it feels like part of the room. Soundproofing keeps the busy historic centre outside. Entry-level Superior Rooms climb to signature suites — El Marqués at 65 sq m, La Giralda and Casa de Dávila at 70 sq m each, and a 100 sq m Grand Suite.
What may sell it hardest is access. The hotel arranges private Cathedral, Real Alcázar and Casa de Pilatos visits with specialist historians, introductions to ceramics studios like Armando Arts & Crafts, the shawl-makers at Juan Foronda, flamenco at Tablao Los Gallos, and meetings with chefs and producers across the city's tapas and fine-dining scene. Wellness runs to in-room Natura Bissé treatments and a Technogym fitness space. A member of Preferred Hotels' Legend Collection, it brings the Serras Collection's personal-stay approach to Andalusia for the first time.
For travellers, this is one for a special-occasion city break: small, deeply local, and with arguably the best hotel location in Seville right now. Book well ahead — 43 keys at this address won't stay quiet for long.
