I stayed with my husband at Hotel Mezquita for 3-nights at the beginning of January having travelled by train from Madrid where we spent New Year (the train service is excellent and tickets are pre-bookable via the Renfe website - in English). We had booked well in advance and as we were staying in the low season we got an excellent room price of €57 a night.

Based on other TA reviews, I asked for either room 4, 25 or 10. We were allocated room 10 - originally the family chapel. This is an amazing room! It is a good size with a comfortable bed although slightly on the small size. However it is the ceiling of plaster angels in a dome above the bed and the ornate stucco plasterwork on the arches that make this room and hotel so individual. The room has been sympathetically converted and faces onto an inner courtyard so it is quiet at night. It was so nice to look up each morning and see the ochre colour of the courtyard walls and then a square of bright blue sky, compared to the grey days in the UK. We were given a map by the lady on reception who was helpful and friendly but I have to say it is worth walking to the Tourist Information on the other side of the Mezquita as they have a larger scale map which is a lot easier to follow. However, Cordoba is similar to Venice in the fact that it is often more fun to lose yourself in the winding lanes of the Jewish quarter as you will come across unexpected beautiful buildings and courtyards.

There was free WiFi available in the room which was the fastest and most efficient of all the places we stayed during our 9-days in Spain and although the shower head was a bit wonky there was lots of hot water at a very good pressure. This is a 2 star hotel so do not expect the frills and fripperies of a 4 or 5 star - the lighting in the room is not great so we used our Petzl head torches to read! However, the rooms are lovely, cleaned well each day and the wall mounted air con./heating system very efficient at warming the room quickly. We did not have breakfast at the hotel as there are lots of places close by but we saw others eating in the inner covered courtyard and it looked nice (coffee, croissants, bread, orange juice etc.).

The real plus for Hotel Mezquita has got to be its location. From the entrance to the hotel it is literally (and I counted) 23 steps to the gate into the orange tree courtyard of the Mezquita. This is an amazing building which we visited many times during our stay. A useful tip is that there is free entry between 8.30 and 10.00am each morning (tripods are not allowed) which is great as the crowds of coach tours have not yet arrived. Although you will not have the place to yourself, it will certainly be a lot quieter than later in the day.

We followed the Rough Guide recommendation and ate at El Rincon de Carmen on Calle del Romero for a lunch and dinner - very good authentic Spanish food at good prices. For breakfast we discovered Oh La la - (don’t worry about the name) on Deanes (opposite Calle del Romero), this is the place where the locals eat and it has a good breakfast menu, great coffee and cheap prices as it is off the main square but still only about 5-minutes walk from the hotel.

To sum up, an excellently located hotel with both history and character. We would definitely stay here again (in room 10) should we return in the future.