The old horse cortijo near San José

When a couple tells me they want everything — all the guests in one house, a long party, a rain plan, and grandma able to get everywhere — I almost always end up here.

This used to be a horse cortijo. Today it is a hotel with 25 rooms, but the old estate is still in there: the courtyards, the arches, the olive tree in the middle. And a round former stable where people now celebrate.

It is the venue where I have the fewest compromises to explain.

At a glance

What it is	Old horse cortijo, today a hotel with its own restaurant
Celebrating	20 to 100 guests – up to 60 outside by the pool
Sleeping	25 rooms, all with their own bathroom and terrace
Music	until 3 or 4 a.m. – there are no neighbours
Catering	own restaurant on site, breakfast included
Rain plan	yes – the hall holds the whole party
Exclusive	yes, the whole hotel is yours
From Almería airport	approx. 30 minutes
Step-free	yes

The white hall

The hall is the reason I suggest this venue first when the weather is uncertain or the group is large. It is entirely white, has a skylight, and it can be made smaller or larger depending on how many of you there are. It seats up to 100 guests.

And it may be decorated completely freely. That is not a given: many houses will not let you touch their furnishings. Here every colour and every concept works, because nothing fights against it.

25 rooms, and everybody stays

Five rooms are in outbuildings, the rest in the main house. All are spacious, all have their own bathroom and their own terrace. Some have room for a sofa bed and an extra bed — those are the family rooms, and in my experience they go first.

There is a restaurant on site with breakfast. So you have nothing to organise, and nobody drives anywhere in the evening.

Outside: pool, olive trees, and a round stable

Two large old olive trees stand by the pool, with a chill-out area beside them. Up to 60 guests fit at the table there — beyond that it gets tight, and then you move into the hall.

The old horse stable also stands on the grounds. It is round, and the niches where the horses used to stand are seating areas today. People celebrate in the middle. No other venue I know has anything like it.

Three places to marry

You can marry among the olive trees at the cortijo. You can move to the terrace of the sister hotel in the village, right above the beach. Or — and this is the special one — on the beach among the agaves: the operator owns a piece of land there, so you need no permit and share the spot with nobody.

Because three houses in San José belong to the same operator, a lot can be combined: ceremony by the sea, celebration at the cortijo, guests split across two hotels. For large groups that is often the simplest solution there is.