Where to stay in Granada: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

The Alhambra is the reason you are here, and staying on its hill changes the visit. The crowds arrive by coach mid-morning and leave by dusk. Before and after, the woods around the walls are cool and quiet, the fountains are audible, and the Generalife gardens are a few minutes away on foot. Book your palace tickets well ahead whatever you do: they sell out.

A handful of hotels share this privileged ridge. The most atmospheric sits inside the Alhambra grounds themselves, in a former convent. Just outside the walls, an Arab-palace-style grande dame has terraces made for watching the sun set over the city, a luxury hotel takes its decoration from Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra, and a four-star right in front of the monument has wide views of the Sierra Nevada. The centre is about 15 minutes' walk downhill. Coming back up is the price.

The Albaicín is the old Moorish quarter, a World Heritage hillside that has barely changed its street plan in 500 years. Lanes twist uphill between whitewashed walls and jasmine, opening without warning onto little squares, and at the top the Mirador de San Nicolás delivers the view you came for: the Alhambra at sunset with the mountains behind. Beyond lies Sacromonte, where flamenco is still performed in cave houses.

The hotels here sit at the foot of the hill, which spares your suitcase. A 17th-century palace turned hotel-museum stands at the entrance to the quarter, with a magnificent central patio; the Alhambra is ten minutes' walk and the cathedral five. A boutique hotel a stone's throw from the cathedral and a renovated hotel by the old Elvira arch complete the set. Bring flat shoes. The cobbles show no mercy.

Granada's cathedral is a Renaissance giant wedged into the medieval street plan, so you tend to stumble on it rather than approach it. Beside it, the Royal Chapel holds the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella, and the Alcaicería, once the Moorish silk market, is now a warren of souvenir stalls. Gran Vía de Colón, the city's grand 19th-century avenue, runs past the door.

This is the easiest base for a first visit, and it has some of the smartest hotels in town. A five-star in a 1905 former bank faces the cathedral from across Gran Vía. Another, steps from the cathedral's great doorway, blends a 16th-century manor house with bold modern design. There are roomy suites in a restored 19th-century building, too, which work well for families. Minibuses to the Alhambra and the Albaicín leave from nearby.

South-west of the cathedral, the old town flattens out into a grid of pedestrian streets that exist chiefly for eating and shopping. Plaza Bib-Rambla, with its flower stalls and fountain, is the place for hot chocolate and churros. Calle Mesones and the lanes around it are lined with shops by day and tapas bars by night, and in Granada the tapa still arrives free with your drink.

Hotels here put you in the middle of the evening paseo. One is on Calle Mesones itself; another, close by, is a modern hotel in one of the old quarter's handsome historic buildings; a third, in a classical early 20th-century building, has the Alhambra about 20 minutes away on foot. A recently renovated four-star sits among the city's liveliest bars. It is fun, central and not especially quiet.

Realejo, the former Jewish quarter, wraps around the southern foot of the Alhambra hill. It is a neighbourhood first and a sight second: street art on the shutters, students on the terraces of Campo del Príncipe and some of the best-loved tapas bars in the city. Below it, tree-lined avenues lead down to the River Genil and the main shopping streets.

It is a good pick if you want local colour without the Albaicín's gradients. A design hotel in the heart of Realejo is five minutes' walk from the cathedral. Down by the Genil, a hotel built around a traditional Andalusian patio has a department store 40 metres away, and another has a rooftop terrace with a pool and 360-degree views that take in the Sierra Nevada and the Alhambra's watchtower. Children approve.

Calle Recogidas runs south-west from Puerta Real through the modern part of Granada, towards the congress centre and the Science Park, one of the best hands-on museums in Spain for children. Nobody would call it picturesque, but it is a lived-in district of shops, cafés and offices, and the light-rail line passes through.

The appeal is practical. Hotels are larger and newer than in the old town, roads are wide enough to drive on, and you avoid the centre's restricted streets. A contemporary five-star stands just off Calle Recogidas, a four-star nearby is a ten-minute stroll from the cathedral, and a spa hotel sits close to the congress centre. If you are arriving by car, start your search here.

The railway station is north-west of the centre, in an everyday district of apartment blocks, university buildings and neighbourhood bars where the tapas are generous and the prices local. It is not the Granada of the postcards, but the cathedral is around 20 minutes away on foot and buses run constantly along Gran Vía.

The hotels are modern, well equipped and usually cheaper than anything in the old town. One elegant four-star is a short walk from the platforms; another, 400 metres away, has rooms looking out over the city or towards the Alhambra. A sensible base if you are arriving by train from Madrid, Seville or Málaga, or leaving early.