# Guadalest for couples: a night in a suite above the valley, with castle, tasting and spa Castle first thing, a tasting at a valley winery, a grilled menu, a VIVOOD suite with spa and the reservoir by kayak the next morning. 50 minutes from Alicante. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/valencian-community/guadalest-and-the-guadalest-valley/itineraries/one-night-for-couples-from-alicante-guadalest · Revisado: 2026-11-14 Dónde: Guadalest and the Guadalest Valley The Vall de Guadalest can be seen in a morning, which is why almost everyone goes back to the coast before dinner. Staying a night changes the plan: the castle first thing, a long lunch without watching the clock and the afternoon in a glass suite on the Benimantell hillside, with the valley in front of you. Everything is under ten minutes by car, so the car barely moves. ## What does it cost? WhatHow muchNote Castle and Casa Orduña€4Combined ticket Tasting with visit at MASOS€351 h 30, at 12:00 in Spanish Menu at ConTemple€46–104Three menus, drinks not included VIVOODDepending on dateFree spa with the flexible rate on its website Kayak on the reservoir€151 h 30, cash only Lunch at Xortá€20–35Set menu of the day ## Which suite to choose? VIVOOD is an adults-oriented hotel with 35 suites and independent villas. For one night, the Pool Suite or the Premium Pool Suite have a heated jacuzzi on the terrace and can be enjoyed in winter too. The Premium Villa has a private heated pool and is the only one where you can order the floating breakfast. The Double Suite is the simplest, with the same picture window onto the valley. ## El plan ### Saturday · 09:00 · Leaving Alicante AP-7 to Benidorm and the CV-70 via La Nucia and Polop: about 65 km and 50 minutes. Park at the entrance to the Castell de Guadalest. ### Saturday · 10:00 · The San José tunnel Walk in through the tunnel opened in the rock and look out from the reservoir viewpoints before the buses arrive. ### Saturday · 10:30 · Castle and Casa Orduña The house of the Orduña family and, above it, the castle of San José. Allow an hour. ### Saturday · 12:00 · Tasting at the MASOS winery Ten minutes by car, at the Mas de Ondara estate in Benimantell: a winery visit with four wines and oil. Book on its website. ### Saturday · 14:00 · Lunch at ConTemple VIVOOD's restaurant, a couple of kilometres away: a grilled menu with produce from the valley. Book 24 hours ahead. ### Saturday · 16:00 · Suite and spa Check in at VIVOOD and spend the afternoon in the 5E Spa circuit, open until 20:00. Dinner at the Panorámico, for guests only. ### Sunday · 09:30 · Unhurried breakfast The hotel breakfast, or the floating one if you are in a Premium Villa and asked for it the day before. Check-out is at 12:00. ### Sunday · 12:00 · Kayak on the reservoir An hour and a half paddling beneath the castle with Kayak Beni. Outside July and August, by booking only. ### Sunday · 14:00 · Lunch at Xortá and the drive back A set menu with the valley and the sea in the distance, on the Callosa road. In Alicante by around 17:30. ## Un consejo más If you want the spa to yourselves, ask for the Spa Night: two hours at sunset with the spa closed to everyone else, with an aperitif and wine. ## Cuándo no ir Going on a Monday or Tuesday: ConTemple is closed and Xortá does not open on Mondays. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### Can I do it with children? That is not the idea: VIVOOD is an adults-oriented hotel. For a family trip, look at the other accommodation in Guadalest. ### Do I need to book everything? Yes: the MASOS tasting, ConTemple 24 hours ahead and the kayak outside summer. ### How much does the getaway cost? Without the hotel, €120 to €200 per person for tickets, tasting, meals and kayak. ### Can I go in winter? Yes. The castle, ConTemple, the spa and the suites with heated jacuzzi work all year; the kayak is by booking. ## Dónde dormir if you're driving - **Cases Noves**: Cases Noves is a five-room rural hotel at 1 Calle Achova, inside El Castell de Guadalest, in the lower part of the village. It is run by Marcel and Carlos and is designed for adults. The reason to sleep here is the time of day: when the coast coaches leave, the village is almost empty, and in the morning you are a few minutes' walk from the San José tunnel before anyone arrives. Five rooms, castle or sea Each room is named after a mountain range or the village and looks one of two ways. Facing the castle are Bernia, the largest in the house, with a bath; El Castell, with a sloping attic ceiling; and Xorta. Facing the sea are Aitana, with a bath and balcony, and Guadalest, also with an attic ceiling. The house groups them by size: Bernia, Aitana and Guadalest are the Premium, and El Castell and Xorta the Superior. When you book, decide which view you want: it is what changes most from one to another. The common areas are those of a home more than a hotel: a fireplace, a music room, a reading room, the dining room and a terrace. There is an honesty bar, teas and infusions, and wifi is free. The house also offers massages and sells maps of walking and mountain-bike routes through the Vall de Guadalest and Aitana; its website mentions dinners, but gives no days or prices, so ask. Breakfast, included and until late Breakfast is in the room price and is served from 8:30 to 11:30, a wide margin for those who want to set off early to walk or stay in. There is fresh juice, different each day, seasonal fruit already cut, pastries and yoghurt, sometimes with muesli; toast with butter, jam, oil and tomato, cold meats, cheese, and scrambled eggs or bacon, depending on the day. Coffee, tea, milk and cocoa. Summer with a municipal pool From mid-June to mid-September the Guadalest municipal pool opens, about 200 metres away, beneath the village's rocks. Cases Noves guests go in free. It has an Olympic-size pool, a children's pool, lawn and a bar, and on Tuesdays and Fridays it also opens at night. Via Polop, better than via Altea The house recommends arriving from the AP-7 by the Benidorm exit and the CV-70, through La Nucía and Polop, and climbing the last 12 km of mountain road; before entering Guadalest, go straight on at the roundabout and you will be about 500 metres away. It advises against the Altea route along the CV-755, because of the bends. You book on its website, with a discount for direct booking, or on 681 944 017. For the next morning, the San José castle opens at 10:15; to eat up there, La Plaça, and if you want to walk, the climb to the Serra de Xortà starts from the same village. - **El Molinet del Governador**, desde 90 € / night: El Molinet del Governador is a former mill driven by the water of the Guadalest river, at 16 Partida El Molinet, between Callosa d'en Sarrià and El Castell: 7 km from the village and 13 km from Altea. Today it is a country house divided into five independent apartments, for 4 to 8 people, run by the same family for almost a century. The Orduña mill It isn't known when it was built. Its website attributes it to the Orduña, who held the lordship of El Castell from 1669, which is why it is also called the Molinet de Orduña; one of them, Joaquín de Orduña y Feliu, became governor of Alicante. It was one of only two mills that took their water directly from the Guadalest river. In 1927 Joaquín Galiana Blanquer bought the estate from that governor's daughter. His son Juan and daughter-in-law, María Dolores Vila, restored it with their savings to turn it into rural accommodation, and since 2020 it has been run by their son, Juan José Galiana, with his wife and daughters. If you are interested in El Castell's history, the Casa Orduña is the same family's house in the village. From the Verderón, in the courtyard, to the Jilguero, under the roof Verderón, on the ground floor, for 4 or 5: living-dining room with kitchen, bathroom, a small double bedroom and a large triple. It opens straight onto the courtyard below and is the closest to the barbecue and the fountain. Pardillo and Pinzón, on the second floor, for 4 each: living-dining room with kitchen, toilet, a double-bed room and a twin. They share an entrance from the back courtyard. Ruiseñor, for 6: living-dining room, a large bathroom with shower, a double-bed room and two twins, with a courtyard at the entrance. Jilguero, the largest, for 8, on the third floor under sloping attic ceilings: two double bedrooms, two twins and two bathrooms with shower, with valley views and an upper courtyard for eating outside. You reach it by a flight of stairs. All have a kitchen equipped with microwave and coffee maker, washing machine, wifi, TV with Netflix and board games, and most have a wood-burning stove with firewood included. What it costs by season Pardillo and Pinzón are from €90 a night for two in low season and up to €150 at Easter or New Year's Eve. Verderón runs from €120 to €170; Ruiseñor, from €170 to €220, and Jilguero, from €170 to €250, depending on occupancy and date. High season runs roughly from 20 June to 10 September. The minimum stay is two nights in low season and three on long weekends, Easter and New Year's Eve; for the rest of high season, it varies. To confirm, 20% is paid, and a deposit is left which is returned after the apartment is checked; the website gives different amounts depending on how many apartments you rent, so ask. With children and with a dog There is a free cot if you ask beforehand; you bring the cot sheets yourself. One pet per apartment is allowed, with a €5 supplement per night: it can't be left alone in the apartment or get onto beds and sofas. What's nearby You need a car: the house is in the countryside, among crops. Going down towards Callosa you have Les Fonts de l'Algar, and going up, El Castell and the reservoir for paddling. Altea and its beaches are 13 km away. - **Finca Seguró**, desde 124 € / night: Sleeping inside a barrel in the Sierra de Aitana Finca Seguró is an estate more than 200 years old in the municipality of Sella, at over 800 metres above sea level, right in the Sierra de Aitana. The family has lived here for more than 35 years. Little by little they planted vines on the old terraces, set up their own winery and opened the house to guests. It runs on solar energy and spring water. The barrels are spread among the vineyards and the olive trees, each with its own private terrace with two armchairs, a table and a parasol. Inside there is a 1.80 by 2 metre bed, two side benches and a small table; the large windows are designed so that you can see the landscape from bed. They have air conditioning, heating, wifi and a mosquito net, and a separate entrance. For families there is the Barrill Deluxe, for four: a 1.60 metre bed and a 1.10 by 1.80 metre bunk where the little ones sleep. The estate also has rooms, such as the Romero, of 30 m² and with wheelchair access. Bathrooms outside the barrel and booking conditions The barrels have no private bathroom. The toilets and showers are shared and are close to the barrels, so at night you will have to step out onto the terrace and walk a few metres. Bring comfortable footwear and keep a torch or your phone handy. If this does not suit you, a room, such as the Romero, is the alternative on the same estate. As a guest you can use the estate's common areas. Breakfast, dinner and the wine tasting are booked separately. At night, what you see most from the terrace is the sky over the Aitana. On its booking engine, on a Friday in November 2026 the barrel for two came to €124 a night, the Romero room to €140 and the Barrill Deluxe to €170. When you book you leave a card as a guarantee and the total is charged 7 days before arrival. If you cancel at least 7 days ahead you pay nothing; after that the full amount is charged. They also hold a €100 deposit. The website does not publish rules on dogs. If you want to bring yours, ask beforehand by email or phone. The winery and the next valley The estate makes its own wine, Siete Bancales, from hand-harvested grapes grown on high terraces on limestone soil. Tastings are by reservation and, from six people, can be private. On the other side of the Aitana is the Vall de Guadalest: there you have the Castell and its tunnel and the climb up the Serra de Xortà. More ideas in Guadalest. - **VIVOOD Landscape Hotel & 5E Spa**: Sleeping in a suite hung on the hillside VIVOOD is in Benimantell, on the road from Guadalest to Alcoy, about two kilometres from the Castell de Guadalest. It is not one building: it is 35 independent suites and villas, wood and glass modules raised above the ground and spread across an 84,000 m² estate among olive trees, pines and a great rock wall. Each has a floor-to-ceiling window towards the valley, so the landscape is the first thing you see when you open your eyes. It was founded in 2015 by Daniel Mayo, an architect who previously made self-assembly wooden houses, and its website presents it as a hotel intended for adults. There are four categories and the difference lies in the exterior. The Double Suite is the simplest: a minimalist space with the window and the terrace. The Pool Suite adds a heated jacuzzi. The Premium Pool Suite has a lounge terrace with a heated outdoor jacuzzi and mountain views. The Premium Villa is the largest and the only one with a private heated pool. All have a Queen or King bed, a rain shower with a view and climate control. The spa, the pools and the meals The 5E Spa is at the foot of the rock and offers a five-stage circuit: sauna with a cold plunge, hammam, bithermal tunnel, a salt-water flotarium and the infinity pool looking at the valley. It is open Monday to Sunday from 11:00 to 20:00. If you book on its website with the flexible rate, access to the spa pool is free. Massages, rituals for two and the Spa Night, two hours with the spa closed just for you at sunset, are paid separately and requested in advance. For eating you have two restaurants. The Panorámico, for guests only, serves seasonal Mediterranean cooking with views of the valley and is where the Breakslow breakfast is served at the table. ConTemple, the fine-dining one, is open at midday Wednesday to Sunday and admits outside customers with a reservation. There is also a bar by the pools and room service. In the Premium Villa you can order the floating breakfast, served in the private pool, 24 hours ahead and with a €15 supplement. Before you book Check-out is at 12:00. The website does not publish check-in time, so ask if you arrive early. Nor does it say anything about dogs: if you are travelling with yours, enquire first. Booking on its website has advantages that they announce themselves: free cancellation on all rates and spa access with the flexible rate. You arrive by car: from Alicante it is about 50 minutes via the AP-7 and Benidorm; the hotel also offers a private chauffeur transfer that picks you up on arrival (the Alicante AVE station is about 50 minutes away). The Castell de Guadalest is five minutes by car: if you go up early, you cross the San José tunnel before the coach tours from the coast. The MASOS winery is a step away, also in Benimantell. For a full night as a couple, see the Guadalest couple's getaway.