Hotel Rural Casona Santo Domingo

Casona Santo Domingo is a small rural hotel in a 16th-century Canarian house in the historic centre of Güímar, a few steps from the town hall square. The building is laid out in an L around a bright courtyard, the rooms keep their patterned hydraulic tiles and a carved tea-wood balcony looks over the street. There are just seven rooms, from a compact double to a family room for four.

Breakfast is served in the plant-filled courtyard each morning, and a small wine cellar pours wines from the Güímar valley with creative tapas. A beamed reading room gives you somewhere calm to sit in the evening. Güímar lies on the east side of the island, roughly halfway between north and south, so the Malpaís de Güímar reserve, the Badajoz ravine and the coast at El Socorro are all close by car. It suits couples and independent travellers who prefer old buildings and town life to pools and entertainment.