One more year, here we are in this ode to the new and to Valencia, which has long since become a tradition. A message worthy to be enjoyed by locals who recognize it from the first moment as well as the ‘best little homeland in the world’; as well as by the millions of tourists who come each year by land, sea and air and who, the moment they set foot here, want it as if it were their own. Because yes, at Condé Nast Traveler España we support tourism that cares for, respects, and values every destination we visit. And Valencia was not going to be any less.
And indeed, if you set your mind to it, you never tire of Spain’s third-largest city. Yes, the Albufera, paella, horchata, buñuelos and the Fallas are wonderful, but if we set our minds to it we discover an endless array of additional proposals that have emerged in the last year—or that will soon follow—where we surrender to a city that still has many stories to tell.
New hotel openings, restoration projects born from affection and others that arise from a solid track record, new shops to keep an eye on, and exhibitions where culture is perceived in hundreds of forms and presentations.
Valencia, we always want you like this. Lively, beautiful, with your own light. In Fallas and far beyond them. Will you join us on this journey?
Sweet Dreams
Valencia is unstoppable when it comes to hotel openings. 2025 gave us what is probably the year’s big inauguration: the Grand Hotel Centenari Valencia. Where the well-known Telefónica building once stood, last May we welcomed the first five-star located on the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. It opened under the Autograph Collection banner, with the hotel operator behind it and a rehabilitation and interior design project led by the prestigious Valencian studio ERRE: their designs include the Hortensia Herrero Art Center or the newly inaugurated Roig Arena.
With 53 rooms spread across the six floors of the hotel, there is a gym and a restaurant, Soul of 1927, on the ground floor, where we can enjoy a Mediterranean cuisine with French-tinged touches, with the cocktail program and a grand piano providing the crowning touch to the evening. And now that the good weather is starting to show, its rooftop promises to deliver the best moments with the mascletà as the centerpiece or in the late afternoon with the city skyline in the background.
