Hotel Huerto del Cura

Bungalows scattered through a palm orchard

The Hotel Huerto del Cura is a four-star hotel set in the Elche Palm Grove, a World Heritage Site since 2000, at Calle Porta de la Morera, 14, next to the Huerto del Cura garden and its Imperial Palm. For decades it belonged to an Elche family, the Orts, and since 2019 it has been owned by Port Hotels, a family chain with eleven hotels in the Valencian Community. It has been open for more than fifty years.

The rooms are in bungalows scattered through a protected garden, among palm trees, each with its own privacy. The basilica of Santa María and the old town are about ten minutes' walk away.

From the Garden Confort to the Junior Suite with bath

There are Garden Confort, Oasis Deluxe, Junior Suite Superior with a double bed, Family Garden Room, Oasis Deluxe Familiar with extra space for families, and Junior Suite Deluxe, with a bath built into the room and a large separate shower. All have a smart TV, air conditioning, minibar, safe, wifi, hairdryer and toiletries. The website does not publish nightly prices outside the booking engine, nor check-in and check-out times: check them when you book.

Pool, Oasis Zen and massages

The pool is surrounded by sun loungers in the shade of the palm trees. The Oasis Zen, in the same garden, brings together a pergola with heated jacuzzis, a sauna, a gym and a massage centre. The website now warns that the jacuzzis and sauna are closed for improvement works, so ask whether they have reopened before counting on them. Massages and treatments range from €55 to €132.

If you are not staying, the day pass for two people includes, from 9:15 to 20:00, breakfast, a Balinese bed by the pool with towels, €35 per person to spend at the Veranda and a 10% discount on massages.

Pastry chef's breakfast and two restaurants

Breakfast carries the signature of Fran Segura, a pastry chef who won the prize for best dessert in Spain in 2013 and silver at the Pastry World Cup in 2022: slow-fermented pastries and local produce, until 10:30. There is also a buffet breakfast. For lunch or dinner, the restaurant Els Capellans, by chef Jesús Gómez, serves traditional and avant-garde Mediterranean cooking; the Veranda, by the pool, cocktails and a more informal menu; and the Café Leopoldo completes the offer.

Car, dogs and children

The hotel has several parking spaces and fast charging for electric cars; the website does not say whether they are paid. There are family rooms, but it does not publish conditions for children or whether dogs are allowed: ask beforehand. With a free day, the Palm Grove Museum explains how the palm trees around you are cultivated and climbed.