Places: The Westin Valencia

A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain

Travel | Places: The Westin Valencia – A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain
Places: The Westin Valencia - A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain

The Westin Valencia

When This Is Glamorous Interiors Editor Louise arrived to visit us here in Spain, we knew that the best place for her to stay would be The Westin Valencia. Not only is it centrally located and just across the riverbed from our neighbourhood, but we knew that it would have everything she needed for her stay …

The five-star Westin Valencia is located in the city centre, close to the historic district, the Turia Gardens, and la Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences).
Built a decade ago, the hotel resides in a 19th-century Art Nouveau building consisting of 135 Art Deco style rooms and suites, known to be the largest in the city. Each room has a marble powder room and some have private terraces and Jacuzzis.

The hotel has four restaurants. A buffet breakfast is available in the Rosmarino restaurant with terrace tables, fresh juice, eggs made to order by chefs and fresh seasonal  fruit from the spectacular Mercado Central (Central Market). A Mediterranean menu is served all day at El Jardí, and Japanese-Mediterranean fusion cuisine is served at Komori (a branch of the Michelin-starred Kabuki in Madrid). And for after hours, the h-club has live music and a DJ from Thursdays to Saturdays.

The hotel also includes a gym, a grand 17-metre indoor pool, a sauna and steam room.

Take a moment to have a glimpse into some of the hotel’s grand spaces as well as a glimpse of the beautiful city of Valencia, and read, below, a few of our tips for city breaks.

Travel | Places: The Westin Valencia – A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain

3 Simple Travel Tips for Short City Breaks

 

Part of the joy of traveling is experiencing and enjoying new things. How many of us have planned a trip to a city like London or Paris armed with a list of coffee shops, restaurants and sights to see and visit? Maybe you have a long weekend in New York planned, so you google the best restaurants, read some reviews and make a few reservations. With all your research, you practically know the city as well as a local and with Google maps, you can seamlessly navigate your way. It’s instinctual for us to research information on our travel destinations via the internet, but in some ways, it can really diminish the discovery aspect of our experiences.

Tip 1

Avoid over-planning every aspect of your trip. Leave some room for unexpected discoveries, and you will be rewarded with richer experiences and stories.


We recently had a visitor here in Valencia, and she wanted a recommendation of where to stay; we recommended the Westin Hotel, knowing that the hotel would have everything she needed for a comfortable, enjoyable stay. The hotel has a number of restaurants, a full gym, a bar, terrace and gardens, as well as excellent staff. Peer-to-peer accommodation (such as Airbnb) sometimes makes sense for group stays, extended stays, or in remote areas, but a good old-fashioned hotel with all its amenities is hard to beat for short city breaks.

Tip 2

For short stay trips for couples or singles book a hotel. Enjoy turndown service, newspapers, wake up calls, a fitness center, room service and security.


A number of years ago, a friend who is a sculptor, took a trip to Paris and was telling me about his visit to the Louvre. I had also recently visited the museum and asked what pieces he had seen. It turned out he only looked at a few pieces and spent about 45 minutes at the museum. I was puzzled by why he would spend such little time at one of the worlds greatest museums and he explained to me that viewing art is actually an intense sensory experience and that 45 minutes to an hour was the ideal viewing time to be stimulated by what you are seeing. Beyond that time frame, he suggested, you really wouldn’t be responding to what you are seeing. I think this was particularly good advice. Be in the moment, take in what you are viewing, and think about what you are viewing. Don’t worry about what you might be missing.

Tip 3

You don’t need to see everything. Whether it is pieces at museums or sites around the city. Be careful not to cram too much into one visit. Take time to get a vibe of the city, and likely if you enjoy it, you will be back and eventually see everything. —P.F.M.

Travel | Places: The Westin Valencia – A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain

Right: This Is Glamorous Interiors Editor, Louise (right), came to visit from Dublin and was warmly received by The Westin Valencia for her stay. Here, she catches up with TIG Editor-in-Chief Roséline for a rather spa-like day at the office …

Travel | Places: The Westin Valencia – A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain
Travel | Places: The Westin Valencia – A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain

Above, a sun-drenched courtyard at the centre of the hotel

Travel | Places: The Westin Valencia – A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain

Above, Roséline lounges on one of the chic chairs in a lobby outside one of the hotel’s four restaurants & above right, the hotel’s lovely breakfast terrace; below, at the Mercado Central, Valencia’s historic central market; considered one of the oldest European markets, the Mercado Central is a masterpiece of Modernism with more than 1000 stalls of local fresh products.

Travel | Places: The Westin Valencia – A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain
Travel | Places: The Westin Valencia – A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain

Above, the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias / City of Arts and Sciences, a cultural and architectural complex thought to be the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia is nearby. Designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, the project underwent the first stages of construction in July 1996 and the finished “city” was inaugurated April 16, 1998 with the opening of L’Hemisfèric. It is one of the 12 Treasures of Spain. The last great component of the City of Arts and Sciences, El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, above, was presented on October 9, 2005, Valencian Community Day. On Thursday night this month, it saw the opening of Valentino Garavani’s ‘La Traviata’, the Sophia Coppola-directed classical opera.

Travel | Places: The Westin Valencia – A Luxury Hotel in the Centre of Valencia, Spain

Spend some time at La Malvarrosa, a beautiful sandy beach just three miles outside of the city centre, that also has a large, palm tree-lined promenade, as well as restaurants & bars overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.