Áurea Washington Irving hosts weddings, civil ceremonies and receptions for up to 70 guests in its main hall, with a terrace and a rooftop for the ceremony and drinks, and 60 bedrooms for guests. The hotel stands on Paseo del Generalife in Granada, Spain, about 200 meters from the Alhambra.
Weddings and receptions
The hotel offers three wedding settings. The terrace is an open-air space for exchanging vows. The main hall, which the team decorates to the couple's brief, takes up to 70 guests for the meal. The rooftop gives a panoramic view over Granada for a drinks reception. Civil ceremonies can be held at the hotel, and the wedding page also mentions vows in the gardens with the Alhambra as backdrop. Menus come in three formats: a traditional seated meal, a cocktail of tapas and canapés, or food stations. A wedding-night package for the couple adds breakfast in the room, a few welcome touches and late check-out when available.
Rooms and capacities
The main hall holds up to 70 guests. The terrace and the rooftop have no published capacity, so organisers should ask the hotel for numbers for a ceremony or a standing reception. The gardens appear on the wedding page for ceremonies only.
Accommodation
The hotel has 60 rooms, so the couple and a good share of the guests can stay on site. Bookings of three rooms or more may follow group payment conditions, which is worth knowing when reserving a block for a wedding party.
Catering
Restaurante Garnata, the hotel's restaurant, is open from noon to 11 p.m. and cooks from Granada's culinary tradition with produce from nearby market gardens. It also serves tasting menus on set dates. The lobby bar keeps the same hours, which helps for a welcome drink on the eve of the wedding.
History and setting
The building has received travelers since the 19th century. In 1821 a house with an orchard and a yard was bought from the Royal Heritage of the Alhambra, and the inn became known as the Fonda de Ortiz, after Benigno Ortiz, who later bought the property. The decoration draws on Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra, published in 1832; Irving stayed in the Alhambra in 1829 while serving with the American legation in Spain. The hotel library holds his works, including several first editions of that book. Past guests named by the hotel include Gregory Peck, Brigitte Bardot, the writer Camilo José Cela, the pianist Alicia de Larrocha and the guitarist Andrés Segovia. The hotel sits at 765 meters above sea level, its north front facing the Alhambra palace, between the Paseo del Generalife, the Carmen de los Mártires and the Carmen de Bellavista.
Getting there
Federico García Lorca Granada Airport is about 30 minutes by car. The Royal Chapel and the cathedral are about 1.3 km away, roughly 25 minutes on foot. The hotel has no parking of its own; valet parking runs from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on reservation. The historic center is a restricted traffic zone, and cars need a Spanish environmental label to enter, which matters for guest transport and supplier deliveries.
