Valencia Arthouse

There are three things that make the Valencia Arthouse fantastic. The first is Margarita, the B&B’s owner. Margarita is genuinely a people-​person. She loves to chat; she is a smart, creative, interesting person; and she knows the city inside-​and-​out. When you arrive at the Arthouse, she is waiting for you with drinks, and she takes out a map of the city and spends at least half an hour orienting you. She points out major cultural sites, offers restaurant advice, and tells you how to get around. And she customizes this information — we told her we liked Moroccan food, and she recommended Dukala, which we loved. The second is breakfast. Breakfast at the Art House is an event. Margarita puts out an amazing spread — bread, cheese, crushed tomato, french toast, pancakes, figs, dates, cereal, honey, coffee, tea, juice. It’s a decadent, lovely way to start the morning. Breakfast is also served in a stunning room which houses Margarita’s art collection (or at least some of it!). It’s the kind of room that makes you feel inspired just sitting there. The third is location. The Arthouse is right near the Cathedral, steps to the 95 bus (which transports you to City of Arts and Sciences), steps to Plaza de la Reina and Plaza de los Virgenes. In short, you can walk everywhere if you stay with Margarita.
The set up: There are three spacious bedrooms in an apartment on the second floor of the building. One has a private bathroom (this is the one we stayed in) — it’s the last room on the right hand side, directly across from the kitchen — and has a comfortable bed, two chairs, and ample storage space. There is a smaller bedroom next door which shares a bathroom with the very large bedroom you see when you first walk in. There’s also a communal kitchen at the end of the hallway that has coffee, tea, water, utensils, etc. I think there’s another bedroom on the first floor, in what is Margarita’s apartment, that also has a private bath. There is free wifi though the connection is definitely better and stronger toward the front of the apartment. I should say, we were there at an unusual time — we were the only guests. And so we had the second floor apartment all to ourselves, which made for a particularly peaceful and easy stay.
If you are looking for a really unique experience, check out the Art House. It’s not the anonymous experience of staying in a big hotel — it’s an intimate, homey experience. I can honestly say that our experience of Valencia was shaped by Margarita’s advice and her warmth.