Seville Melia Colon Review

Good Points
Beutifull City with lots to do & see. Good food. Friendly people

Bad Points
Expect to be woken by church bells in the old town

General Comments
Spent 6 days in Seville having flown out from Stansted on a cheap Ryan Air flight at £64 return for two including taxes. Having got a cheap flight I spent £215 each on a good hotel, the Melia Colon 4 star, though we could have got a cheaper hotel for half the price. At £43 per night each Inc breakfast it is still cheep (a major UK city hotel of the same standard would have been 2, 3 or even 4 times the amount). It was January 2006 and I was looking forward to my first mainland Spanish holiday and was not disappointed. A Taxi from the airport was 16 euros (back it was 25 euros for some reason) The Old Town did not disappoint with beautiful buildings, lots of history, more modern buildings for Expo 92, shops from Gucci to back street bazaars and Taco bars by the dozen.



The hotel was central to everything in the old town. Breakfast was fantastic and should be at the price. Whilst included in our deal, would have cost £18 euros each otherwise. Served from 7am till 11am and we made use of the later 11am time to stay out later at nights. The only downside was the church bells on the hour and half hour, one chime at half past but the full monty on the hour with 1 to 12 chimes. Saturday morning had a church service and constant bells for half an hour - at least they were off at night till 7.30 am in the morning.



The first day we went walk about; all the old sights seem to be within half an hours walk in either direction. Be mindful that the shops shut at 2pm till 4/4.30 pm but remain open till 8ish. Get a free map to make the most of any walk and ensure you don't get lost. The nearby river was a good point of reference as being east of the river you could always walk west and know were you were.



There has been a lot of renovation of the city and it continues. The orange trees lining most streets were a novel sight but due to the heavy traffic and pollution don't try one from the trees. The orange groves out of town are a different matter. The streets were washed and swept clean during the night and I saw very little litter though lots of graffiti.



We were attracted to the London bus style city tour, until we found it only went where we had already walked and the biggest put off was the price at 30 euros each - our flights were cheaper. We settled for a 1 hour cruise of the river. The sun was shining and at only 17 euros each it was far better value in my mind than the bus.



We visited various Bars and having never tried Tacos I'm pleased to report the thumbs up. One bar in particular called Merchants, close to our hotel was an Irish "Taco" Bar. Popular with locals and visitors alike. Menu in English & Spanish with sports TV if you don't want to miss the football and a range of European beers including Guinness. It's open in the late afternoon till early morning during the week and all day Saturday (Sunday unknown). Staff friendly good looking girl staff (I'll let female visitors judge the guy staff for themselves), internet access, pool table in upstairs lounge - Wish I had a local bar like it.



To the west of the river there is lots of local shops and housing. I took a walk over one bridge and a mile or so crossed back by another bridge. The locals are still in scarves and big coats at this time of year but 4 out of the 6 days was T shirt weather for me.

I dressed in jeans & T shirt and felt not only odd for wearing such light clothing but also distinctly shabby as the locals were very classy in designer outfits. Only two dull days and a couple of hours of rain out of 6.

The traffic was heavy and motor scoters were plentiful. Not a major issue but on some of the back streets which were very narrow pedestrians had to be very careful and at times the exhaust fumes were a but much but in some ways it added to the culture.





Great for a City Break or a longer stay perhaps using Seville as a base to visit other locations as well - Can't wait till my next visit.