My partner, Gareth, & I took my mother who was visiting us from NZ to spend a week relaxing in Andalucia with some exploration of the region thrown into the mix. Our week staying in the Cortijo was superb – the service from Gillian and Marylynne was excellent – always going that extra mile to make us welcome and ensure we had the most fabulous experience. The drive to get there is adventurous – and worth making the effort.

The accommodation was beautiful, spacious, clean and well set out for the three of us to balance spending quality time together and having room to take our own time out. We enjoyed cooking in the well-supplied kitchen, eating in our private courtyard, playing in the pool either by ourselves or talking with the small number of other Cortijo guests and playing games together in our private living space. Given the temperatures of a late Spanish summer we were impressed with how cool it was inside our Casita plus having the benefit of fans if required. We were able to completely switch off.

At my request Gillian happily arranged for us to go to a mind-blowing restaurant 20 minutes drive away including a taxi to & from so we could all celebrate together, a local masseuse to come to the Cortijo so we could relax whilst being pampered, and on one evening a local dinner in the nearest village.

We did 3 day trips – the first was to Seville (2.5 hours drive away), the second to Granada to explore the Alhambra (1.5 hours drive away) and the third to Ronda (2 hours drive away). We also went down to Iznajar (10-15 minutes drive along a winding road) to appreciate the beauty of the lake and village.

We were thrilled with our time here and recommend staying here! Go, relax and definitely request to have an evening arranged for a degustation experience as we did!