Luxury Spain

Spain’s Canary Islands guarantee sun and swimming season from May to January making them the ideal go to place for watersports.  But La Gomera is tops, with clear waters that hardly ever drop below 20 degrees Celsius,  in the Atlantic Ocean offers all season, year-round watersports like Stand-Up Paddleboarding & Canoeing, Snorkelling & Diving, Deep Sea Fishing and Boat Excursions.

Stand-up paddleboarding  gives you an all out workout as it’s a high- intensity exercise which derived from ancient Polynesian roots. Its popularity began when surfers started to use oars in training to increase their balance.

There are three companies on La Gomera which provide all you need for  paddleboarding or canoeing and they are in Valle Gran Rey, San Sebastián and in Playa Santiago.

Snorkelling & Diving

La Gomera has  been the location for underwater photography and free diving championships because of its diverse natural resources. The island was named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2012 for its subaquatic flora and fauna.

It’s an ideal location for beginners but also for the more experienced and adventurous divers. There are drift dives, caves and deep reefs to explore, as well as the impressive  huge volcanic structure at the Natural Monument of Los Organos  that continues underwater.

Deep Sea Fishing

La Gomera’s rich marine life make it one of the best destinations for deep sea fishing. It is the home to many species such as blue marlin, white marlin, spearfish, tuna, blue fin, big-eye, yellow fin and albacore as well as hammerhead and mako sharks, dorado and more.

There are many charter boat services in San Sebastian’s marina with world-class boats, equipment and expertise for big game fishing, bottom fishing, jigging and blue marlin fishing.

One of the most important fishing events of the year  ‘Isla de Gomera’ Deep Sea Fishing Championship takes place here.

Boat Excursions

With 90 km of virtually unexplored coastline,  the island’s marine life is rich and abundant. Schools of  fish, barracudas, rays, turtles, dolphins and whales  can be seen near the coast.

La Gomera is one the world’s most important places for whale and dolphin watching with 30 different species inhabiting the waters, almost one-third of the 87 species worldwide.

Several companies provide boat excursions, most of them depart from the port of Vueltas (Valle Gran Rey), but  also from San Sebastián and Playa Santiago.

These are just some of the reasons why  La Gomera is a top spot for watersports but it’s a great place for hiking, star gazing and relaxing too if all that activity sounds too exhausting.

May is the best time to see wild flowers in Andalusia and I find myself coming home from walking every morning with a fistful of wild flowers. Right now living in the Sierra Sur de Jaen, northern Andalusia, luxury is being able to walk in the sunshine, through the olive groves. Breathe in fresh air and see the magnificence of the countryside. A patchwork of colour. A work of art by nature.

The dictionary definition of Luxury is ‘a state of great comfort or elegance, especially when involving great expense.’

Great expense for me is actually tearing myself away from my laptop and going out for a walk while it’s still cool.

I started off counting the different wild flowers I picked. I only go for pink, purple and white ones (I can’t abide yellow and pink or purple together.) But soon lost count and couldn’t have comfortable carried a bigger bouquet. Bouquet because I did actually arrange each one in place as I picked it.

Luxury means different things to different people and right now, this morning my little bit of luxury was free and healthy. That’s not always so!

The Spanish hotel chain Palladium Hotel Group has over forty  years of experience with more than fifty hotels in six countries. One of its brands – Palladium Boutique Hotels opened the luxury Only YOU Boutique Hotel in Madrid which now offers  The Thai Room spa.

The Thai Room spa is a wellness centre which offers exotic and authentic Asian massages and treatments. The creator and director of the Thai Room concept, Vicente Martinez, said:

“The wellness concept is integrated into the Asian way of life. They live in a simple way with what they have and embrace the present as the best way to relieve stress. Our aim is that when the client experiences the treatments, they feel a sense of this philosophy and of this mental state, so genuine of the East.”

A member of the International Spa Association, The Thai Room Spa offers guests the ultimate experience of Asian therapy and the ancestral customs of India, Bali, Hawaii, China and Thailand.

A selection of massages and treatments which include Ayurveda yoga, Chinese medicine,  Jamú massage, an Indonesian tradition, Thai massage and other South East Asian therapies.

All your senses will come alive at the Thai Wellness Room. Natural oils, soulfulTibetan flute music, Thai harps, mantras, steam showers and silk cocoon wraps. Let the highly trained, experienced therapists rejuvenate you, mind, body and soul. By using their fingers, hands, elbows and at times their entire body, they will relieve every muscle and leave you feeling like never before.

As Only YOU’s PR Manager, Marta de Andres said:

“At Only YOU we pride ourselves on offering the best experience to our clients so we are truly delighted to be able to extend this to a unique and quality wellness experience. The new services at Only YOU Boutique Hotel are designed to meet the growing demand of clients seeking unique experiences at the hotel and we believe the Thai Room will offer our guests “the road to a new YOU”.

Doesn’t it sound like somewhere you should visit?

Only YOU Boutique Hotel.

If you’re looking for that perfect small, luxury hotel in inland Malaga that offers personal service, home cooking and a touch of luxury away from the hoards of beach-worshippers you need to head inland from the coast to the mountains or in this case the Serrania de Ronda.

Inland Malaga province has vast and beautiful swathes of nature, from rolling hills and moutain ranges to the stunning karstic limestone landscape of El Torcal.

I’m going to introduce you to two very different yet equally lovely small, rural hotels. The first one in this post is Hotel Castaños in Cartijima in the Serrania de Ronda near the town of  Ronda north-west of Malaga airport.

Cartijima is a charmingly small, unspoilt town in great walking country. Walk from the doorstep and lose yourself in pure nature, or follow waymarked routes for as long and far as you please.

After a day’s walking just relax on the roof terrace or in the hotel lounge  and dine on  Di’s home award-winning  Mediterranean-fushion cooking while sampling local wines or unusual gins.

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Hotel Los Castanos, Cartajima, Malaga

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Each room is individually decorated with views of the town and/or the horizon-reaching mountains. For even more impressive views the pretty plant-filled roof terrace provides a great relaxing, star-gazing, painting or drawing setting. For those who can doodle, you don’t even need to bring your own materials, they are provided in your room.

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Day or night the roof terrace is one place you will certainly spend some time. I did. I couldn’t take my eyes off those views and although I took lots of photos I really wished, up there in the silence and warmth of siesta time in rural Spain, that I could draw well.

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When life is slowed down for you by your surroundings you learn to appreciate the simple things of life. The peace, the lack of rush, hustle and bustle. When you’ve visited Hotel Los Castaños you will want to return. Everybody does.

See Hotel Los Castaños on Only Spain Boutique Hotels my boutique hotel collection.

The second small and luxurious inland hotel will be Cortijo Sabila in Villanueva del Rosario, Malaga – coming soon. Or see it now on Only Spain – Cortijo Sabila.