THE BEST PLACES FOR FAMILIES TO STAY IN VALENCIA

Planning a family holiday to VALENCIA and wondering where to stay with your children? The following list of our favourite places to stay with kids put you in the heart of the atmospheric Old Town, in a former fisherman’s district by the seafront or right behind the city’s brilliant beaches, whether you want to live like a local in your own apartment or retire each evening to a welcoming hotel.

You can reserve all of our recommended places to stay in Valencia through Booking.com; clicking on the hotel’s name below will take you directly to their booking page, where you can fill in your dates and secure your stay. To find out more about why we’ve partnered with Booking.com, see here.

Set in the Grao neighbourhood of El Cabanyal, the four stylish apartments that make up APARTAMENTOS LA MÀS BONITA are primely located for the beach – you can walk to Playa de las Arenas in 10 minutes and Playa de la Malvarossa in less than 20, along the Paseo Maritimo beachfront promenade or through the characterful streets of this old fishermen’s district – but with a tram stop just outside, there’s easy access to the Old Town, too. The apartments overlook an internal courtyard and are airy and open plan, combining blue shuttered windows, whitewashed walls, exposed brick walls and wooden beams for a very Mediterranean feel. Cala Bonita and Cala Blava sleep 5, the former in a king-size double bed on the mezzanine floor and two comfy sofa beds on the main living level, the latter in a king-size double bed and rollaway singles on the mezzanine. Both have balconies, though only Cala Bonita’s is big enough for seating, with views towards the port. Smaller Cala Mordida and Cala Salada sleep 4, in spacious studio apartments that have a double bed and a sofa bed and share a terrace between them. The amenities in all four apartments are first-rate, including flat-screen TVs, well-equipped kitchens and lots of lovely little extras: bathrobes, slippers, a bottle of Cava waiting in the fridge, a map spotlighting the best places to eat and shop, and a gift card to spend on breakfast in one of the owners’ café-restaurants. There’s a breakfast menu if you don’t want to leave the confines of your apartment, although a wide range of fantastically fresh produce is on offer at the local market. El Cabanyal is home to some great tapas and seafood restaurants, too, particularly Casa Montaña and Casa Guillermo, both within a 5-minute walk.

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The Valencia outpost of a small Spanish hotel group, PETIT PALACE PLAZA DE LA REINA is located right in the heart of the Old Town action – down a side street off the bottom of the focal square of the same name, and within very easy walking distance of the cathedral and the Mercado Central. Occupying, as the name suggests, an old palace (from the 1930s), the hotel is grand but personable, with expanses of marble and elegant spiral staircases in the common areas and friendly, considerate staff. Rooms are modern and pared back and, despite the very central setting, noise-free. You can choose between compact Family Rooms, which sleep 4 in a double and bunk beds, and more spacious Quintuple Rooms, which sleep 5 in a double, a single and bunk beds, spread across adjoining rooms. Both are fresh and bright, come with a TV and iPad and offer great value for money. Breakfast is usually a good range of hot and cold food, although you should also make sure you kick things off at least once during your stay with an early morning horchata at Horchatería Santa Catalina, just a 2-minute stroll away. The hotel offers free bike rental (try and reserve them in advance), and you can also hire electric scooters – a very popular mode of transport with the locals! Xàtiva Station, for the metro and tram to the beach, is 10 minutes’ walk away, whilst bus #15 runs from nearby Plaza del Ayuntamiento to the City of Arts and Sciences.

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Another hotel enjoying an excellent central location, quirky CASUAL DEL CINE VALENCIA lies just off the northern tip of Plaza del Ayuntamiento, a fountain-filled square that’s lined with fine Neo-Classical buildings. One of five differently themed Casual hotels in Valencia, this novel place is dedicated to the world of film, with movie-inspired decor ranging from Audrey Hepburn to Avatar. The best options for families are the Triple Rooms, with a double and a single (choose between The Minions, Grease or James Bond), and the Quadruple Rooms, with a double and bunk beds (Star Wars, Batman or Up), some of which (Harry Potter and Star Trek) are made up of two rooms and come with their own rooftop terrace. All of them are spacious, with an emphasis on simple but fun. Breakfast (included in the rate) is a decent spread that changes every day, and there are literally dozens of cafés, restaurants and tapas bars within a short stroll of the front door. Bus #15 runs from the plaza to the City of Arts and Sciences, whilst Xàtiva Station, for the metro and tram to the beach, is just across the other side of the square, no more than 5 minutes’ walk away. Note that the plaza is one of the main settings for Las Fallas, Valencia’s riotous festival of oversized floats and fireworks; if you’re here during the celebrations (they’re held for a week in mid-March), don’t expect much peace and quiet!

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A great choice if you want to make the beach the focus of your stay, HOTEL BOUTIQUE BALANDRET is set right behind Playa de las Arenas, backing onto its beachfront promenade but accessed from leafy Paseo Neptuno. Despite being a very elegant hotel, with lots of ceramic-tile wall art and chic rooms done out in creams and greys, it is also family friendly, with a decent-sized children’s play area and understanding staff. All of the Double Rooms can take an extra bed (€45 or €50, depending on the age of your child), whilst bigger families can book an oversized Junior Suite, which sleep 4 in a double bed and a sofa bed and have room for one more in an extra bed as well. The rooms are sound-proofed, which is handy, given the strip restaurants on the beachfront can get noisy at night, and music from the Marina Beach Club, down by the water, carries easily, but you still might prefer to go for a room overlooking the palm trees on Paseo Neptuno instead – the tremendous sunsets from the sea-view rooms can be enjoyed from the on-site restaurant, anyway, which spills out onto a terrace on the Paseo Marítimo. There are plenty of other eating options along the promenade, both around here and further north, behind Playa de la Malvarossa, and this is one of the best places in the city to try a paella (or two). The hotel also has its own bikes, which is great for cycling along the Jardín del Turia; you can also follow the cycle path that traces the promenade until the beaches finally run out 3km to the north. The Marina Reial Joan Carles I tram stop is less then 5 minutes’ walk away, for trips into the city proper – changing onto the metro at Marítim-Serrería, you can be on the edge of the Old Town in about 25 minutes from the hotel.

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