Where to stay in Málaga: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

Málaga's old town is small, dense and endlessly walkable. Calle Larios, the polished marble shopping street, runs from the Alameda up to Plaza de la Constitución; around it, a web of narrow lanes leads to the cathedral (nicknamed La Manquita, the one-armed lady, for its missing tower), the Picasso Museum, the Roman Theatre and the walls of the Alcazaba climbing the hill behind.

Hotels here put you in the thick of it. Pick from a smart four-star on Calle Larios itself with cathedral-view terraces, a Marriott-run hotel a few steps from the cathedral with a rooftop pool, a restored palace with a covered patio for tapas, or a design five-star whose rooftop pool overlooks the old city and the remains of its ancient walls.

It's lively until late, especially at weekends. Light sleepers should ask for a room away from the street.

Wedged between the Alameda and the port, Soho was a run-down grid of streets until the city rebranded it as the Arts District and invited artists to paint its walls. Today it is a lively quarter of huge murals, indie galleries, specialty coffee and laid-back bars, with the Centre Pompidou's coloured glass cube and the Muelle Uno waterfront a short stroll away.

The hotels have personality to match: a boutique hotel behind restored 18th- and 19th-century façades with garden-inspired interiors, a smart four-star surrounded by street art, and a new-build hotel with its own specialty coffee café. The old town is five minutes away and La Malagueta beach about a quarter of an hour on foot.

La Malagueta is where Málaga goes to the beach. A wide strip of sand runs east from the port, lined with palm trees and chiringuitos grilling sardines on skewers over driftwood fires. Behind it sit the old bullring and the Muelle Uno promenade, and above it all rises the Gibralfaro castle, with the best view in the city.

Stay here for a proper beach-and-city mix. There's a five-star palace a few minutes from the sand with indoor and outdoor pools, a Picasso-themed hotel by the bullring with a rooftop hot tub, a bright modern hotel by the harbour around 500 metres from the beach, and a parador on the Gibralfaro hill itself, where every room has a balcony and the terrace looks over the bay.

Keep walking east along the seafront past La Malagueta and the city grows greener and grander. La Caleta and El Limonar are old-money residential districts of villas, gardens and quiet streets climbing the hillside, with a run of smaller beaches below. Further on, the former fishing quarters of Pedregalejo and El Palo are the place for an evening of grilled fish by the sea.

The star is a magnificent early 20th-century palace hotel facing the Mediterranean, about five minutes from the main museums, and there's also a boutique five-star in El Limonar a few hundred metres from La Caleta beach. The old town is a pleasant half-hour walk along the seafront, or a quick taxi ride.

Across the dry bed of the Guadalmedina river, the streets around María Zambrano station are more workaday than the old town, but they make a practical, often better-value base. The train runs straight to the airport, high-speed services head for Madrid, Córdoba and Seville, and the historic centre is a 15-minute walk away.

Expect a modern hotel plugged directly into the station, a contemporary four-star with big-terraced suites a few steps from the centre, and a refreshed NH looking over the Esperanza church. Good for an early train, a first night, or simply more room for your money.

Málaga airport sits right by the sea on the city's western edge, and the neighbourhoods around it are a handy compromise between beach holiday and city break. Guadalmar is a quiet strip of sand and apartments by the runway; closer to town, a long promenade runs past the newer western beaches.

Choices include an all-inclusive hotel with indoor pool and tennis, a modern hotel near the beach and promenade about 5 km from the airport, a golf parador beside its own course, and a garden hotel in Alhaurín de la Torre about 15 km from the city. Fine for a night or two; for a proper city break, stay in town.

Ronda is the day trip everyone takes from Málaga, and the overnight stay the clever ones choose. The town sits on a plateau sliced in two by El Tajo, a gorge more than a hundred metres deep, and the 18th-century Puente Nuevo spans it in a single breathtaking leap. Spain's oldest bullring is a short walk away.

Once the coach parties leave, the town turns quiet and golden. Stay in an 18th-century palace with an Andalusian patio and a fountain, a historic hotel facing the bullring, a nine-room guesthouse steps from the bridge, or a grand old hotel in gardens near the gorge. The drive from Málaga takes a little over an hour.

Antequera sits at the heart of Andalucía, roughly equidistant from Málaga, Granada, Córdoba and Seville, which makes it a superb touring base. Its old centre is a pile-up of church towers and palaces under a Moorish fortress, the prehistoric dolmens on the edge of town are a World Heritage Site, and the strange limestone formations of El Torcal are a short drive away. Stay in the parador with its pool and gardens, a modern hotel steps from the listed old centre, or a restored 18th-century Andalusian house with an indoor pool.