El Amparo

Beautiful quiet relaxing location. A gorgeous room with beautiful views over the olive trees. Simon’s dinners were a real treat, local fresh produce cooked with a twist…delicious! It’s a really special place and you feel looked after by Jody, Nick and the team…

My husband, adult daughter and I had a lovely overnight stay at the Lemon Tree retreat between visiting Seville and Granada. I just wish we could have stayed at least a day longer to lounge by the pool soaking up the stunning views in every direction and resting our weary feet from days of touristing. We had a delicious 3-course dinner at the hotel and buffet breakfast. The owners and staff were warm and friendly and we enjoyed the - impeccably behaved - resident dogs and cats.

10/5*.  Don't hesitate to book your vacation, retreat, or group adventure at El Amparo/Lemon Tree Retreat!  We were originally supposed to do a  trip to El Amparo in March 2020 - a week or so after COVID shut the US (and most of the world down).  The trip was rescheduled something like 3 times before we actually made it, but Jody and Nick seemed like such amazing hosts and the property and inn so beautiful I was determined to make the trip eventually happen.  We weren't disappointed!  Jody and Nick expanded and completely renovated the property and everything is done just perfectly.  The addition blends seamlessly with the original building and the interior design and construction is top-notch.  My husband, myself, and our two children stayed in the Rosada Suite which was perfect for the family with three small "step out" balconies, two separate rooms separated by an open doorway and burlap curtains, and an outdoor walkway.  The bathroom has two sinks and a HUGE walk-in shower.  There are numerous outdoor lounge areas and the pool area is huge with a great variety of seating - all high end. The dinners are amazing and I highly recommend taking advantage of the cooking.  Because we stayed in early April, the staff chef had not started working for the season yet, but Nick and Jody are excellent in the kitchen and we loved every meal we had there.  It is a great spot for couples or families and we never felt like we were getting in each other's way.  There is space for kids (and adults) to enjoy themselves outdoors, a goat farm next door, and numerous resident cats and dogs.  It is a great location for cycling as well.  Mils and miles and miles of gravel roads literally out the front door (we rented hardtails, but gravel bikes would have been appropriate on most of the gravel, although some of the olive grove roads were a bit rough), but this is of course a highly popular area for road cycling as well. True singletrack/more technical routes aren't super close. Of note: the rescheduled trip ended up being over Easter,  Because El Amparo is in a more rural spot, meal planning did get a bit stressful once or twice.  However, most of the season they are open this shouldn't be a huge concern as long as you are cognizant that this is rural tourism at its absolute finest.  In addition to Jody and Nick being great hosts, all the other staff was amazing as well.  We can't say enough great things about all of them.  The closest larger town is Alhama de Granada, which is about a 10 minute drive away.  Jody was kind enough to organize a short tour of the town with us with a tour guide named Paca who was just lovely.  The town has an incredibly interesting (and long!) history and gorgeous hiking trails through a gorge - we  felt it's a bit of an underrated destination for a few hours of sightseeing.