Review: Apartments Suites Santa Cruz in Seville, Spain

Being the largest and probably most important city of Andalucia Seville has no shortage of accommodation options, ranging from budget hostels to top notch hotels. But with so much to choose from, what is your best bet and, perhaps most important, where in the city should you stay in?

When planning my trip to Seville I checked online to see what options there are and their price ranges, and something that struck my attention very early in the search was the prices; for some reason hotels in Seville are much more affordable than what they are in many other cities despite it being as “touristy” as it is. You can find apartments and four star hotels for under 70 USD per night, something I found quite surprising. So what did we do? We spent one night in an apartment and one in a hotel.

We spent our first night in an apartment, smack in the middle of the Barrio de Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz neighborhood) and just a 5 minute walk from the Giralda. Our apartment was in an old building that had been renovated on the inside and had both traditional and modern furniture, giving it a unique appearance as you can see in the photos. We were there in January when temperatures range between 4-20 C, and the single heater (AC/heater) was more than capable of warming the room in less than ten minutes. There is ample space for two people, sockets for all electrical appliances,  an LCD TV with remote and the bed was big and comfortable.  The bathroom was a bit on the small side, yet large enough to accommodate one person easily/ two somewhat tight. The shower worked perfectly and there is of course all the hot water you need.

Being apartments there is no food or concierge service on site, however the apartments are managed by nearby boutique Hotel Elvira Plaza, and the staff there is more than happy to provide any help or service you might want. In fact checking in at any of the apartments requires you make your way to this hotel first and they will then walk you to your apartment, less than 2 minutes away.

As for location, all the apartments are in the Barrio de Santa Cruz, which means they are less than ten minutes away from Seville’s Cathedral, Giralda and Alcazar, perhaps the city’s most important attractions. There are plenty of tapas bars nearby that close late in the night and souvenir shops where to buy your  loved ones some gifts, as well as the oldest flamenco show in Seville.

Getting there is easy with public transportation, though you will have to walk eventually as the barrio is pedestrian only. Still, this should not be a problem as taxi drivers will be able to get you really close if you don’t want to walk.

Conclusion

Comfortable, spacious, budget friendly, very well located and appointed and with lots of style Apartaments Suites Santa Cruz are an alternative accommodation option to a hotel, which also abound in the area, though at slightly higher rates. An alternative to hotels, the apartments allow you to be completely independent if you like privacy and you also get a chance to see what an old house in Seville looks like.