We haven't been adding so many new hotels as we had to concentrate on the re-design of our website. Here are a couple that have just gone on though.

The Hotel Villa Retiro was built in the late 19th century in the style of the moment, Catalan Modernism. Now in the 21st century, this country house has become a 5 Star hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant. Fabulous architecture, fabulous gardens and fabulous food: what more could anyone ask for? Oh yes, the wine. That's not bad either.

If you thought that Marbella was just full of brash, modern wannabes, think again. There's a lovely, romantic old town (the Casco Antiguo) where you will find La Villa Marbella. The comprehensively refurbished townhouses have been furnished in an Asian style that both contrasts with and blends with the Andalusion origins. Each of the 14 rooms and suites is inspired by and named after an exotic south-east Asian location and is decorated with ornaments and furniture brought back during the owner's travels.

Just too late for this issue, we'll be adding the El Chorro Villas very soon. They are 2, 3 and 4 bedroom villas each with a private pool, in the country near the El Chorro gorge and the Caminito del Rey. Just type "El Chorro" in the search box at the top of our page.

Finca Malvasia is a boutique guesthouse and vineyard on Lanzarote providing luxury self-catering apartments with the option of a gourmet bed and breakfast service. We have a few dates left in April, May and June with 20% or 25% discounts on the usual rates. Although the Canaries is typically seen as a winter destination, the weather gets even better as we move towards summer: warmer, even less rain and an average of 10 hours of sunshine every day.

Hacienda El Santiscal on the Atlantic side of Andalucia has a choice of ways to save money. You could save 5% by paying at the time of booking (far better than the interest you'll earn by leaving the money in the bank). Or you can save 10% with their "long-stay" discount. That applies for stays of three nights or more, so it doesn't really demand a long "long-stay". And finally there's an early-booking discount: a 10% saving if you book your autumn stay before 31 July.

Another hotel with lots of ways to save money is Casa do Sear, a historic manor house on the Ria de Pontevedra. There are discounts right through the year for early-booking (30 days in advance), long-stay (7 nights or more), or just for being over 50! In low season there's a "Four nights for the Price of Three" offer and there are dinner and massage packages throughout the year too. Casa do Sear has the distinction of playing host to HM King Juan-Carlos II not once but twice. We don't know which discounts he got though ☺.

There's lots more too, and offers change frequently. Watch out for the red Special Offer! labels on our pages.

Many hotels use the winter season to build new facilities or create something new for their guests. Here are a few that have come on-stream in 2018.

Cuevas Helena, the holiday cave house in southern Spain, has installed a jacuzzi. Set up in an elevated position, it's an ideal way to enjoy a sundowner as the sun disappears behind the Andalucian hills.
The fame of Cuevas Helena spreads ever further and the programme originally created for Channel 5 has recently been shown on New Zealand television.

Holidaying with children no longer means you have to settle for the basic and purely functional. Cuatre Finques near the Costa Blanca has just added a family suite that retains all the top quality characteristics of their lovely boutique hotel.

Back at Finca Malvasia once again, in addition to the four poolside apartments there is now also a three-bedroom luxury villa with it's own private swimming pool and terrace.

Our friends at Can Planells have put together seven tips of all kinds that may be useful on your visit to Ibiza.

Ibiza is much more than sun, sea and sand and there are countless things to do and see throughout the day. Sunsets, lively terraces and clubs, sports activities, and more. Don’t just get stuck in the hotel hammock!