2 bed Alpujarras villa with pool in quiet hamlet

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Rustical´s Review

Atalbeitar (see Alpujarras map) is a sleepy hamlet at the end of a country road in the pretty Taha area of the high Alpujarra. The mountainside from here is crisscrossed by paths that lead to market gardens, acequias (irrigation channels), out-of-the-way farmhouses and other villages.


Tucked away with a garden, a few steps up from the church on the edge of the village, this independent holiday home offers fine views over Atalbeitar to the Contraviesa mountain range.

It is simply stylish following the traditional Berber style of homes in this interesting historic enclave high up in the Granada mountains, where Moors still lived long after being expelled from the rest of Spain.

Well-prepared as a holiday villa and sporting a delicious pool in its private garden, its architecture and character demonstrate this cultural influence, with thick, rounded walls, beam-and-slate ceilings and floors of terracotta tiling. The pleasing design also reflects the subtle tastes of the artist owner.

It’s a quintessentially tranquil place, where you feel at home immediately.

The cottage is at the end of a garden planted with almond trees and rose bushes, and entrance is through the garden gate. You walk past the pool, which sits under a natural rock wall in this mountainside setting, to a home built on two floors.  From its private terrace, steps descend directly to the pool area.

An old chestnut door opens from a shady porch into a cool entrance hall, big enough to contain a small sitting area with comfortable armchairs. The rock cliff, against which the whole house is built, has been left bare to create an impressive feature at the back of this room while upstairs its shape has been tamed into an organic wall with a bench for the dining table and shelves supporting some rustic pottery.

On this ground floor are a twin bedroom and blue bathroom.The style and feel is rustic and traditional, and this is the coolest area of the house in summertime, when outside temperatures can be quite high.

Upstairs, the first floor is bright and colourful, with plenty of natural light from windows and glass doors in the sitting and dining areas, which are separated by the stairwell and chimney. There’s a double bedroom on this same upper floor. From the dining room, an archway leads to the kitchen and doors lead out to the terrace, another pleasant option for mealtimes.

The terrace affords views of the hamlet below and all the way over to the southern Contraviesa mountains: the last range before the Mediterranean Sea.

Bread is delivered three times a week to Atalbeitar and fish once. Atalbeitar’s population is too small to maintain a permanent bar or restaurant, although in the summer months a small tavern in the square usually opens to provides cold drinks for the thirsty and an interesting new bar has just opened at a restored mill 600 metres down the path from the village!

You have very good places to eat in nearby Mecina (including a French vegetarian restaurant) and tapas bars both there and in nearby Pitres, which is the place for your shopping and most other needs, including internet. There is fairly good mobile cover at the holiday villa.

In Pitres, there is also a garden restaurant that opens from spring to autumn, currently with a Moroccan chef.

Walks from the village are along pathways that meander through the mountainside, crossing gullies, down through ancient chestnut trees and along the acequias (irrigation channels), eventually linking up with other little villages such as Ferreirola or Mecina.

Popular excursions take you to the spectacular Poqueira Gorge just 10 minutes away, further up the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Seven Lagoons or the summit of Mulhacén; to Granada for the Alhambra; to the high Buddhist centre of O Sel Lin; or down to the Mediterranean coast for beaches. Horseriding and pottery classes are also available.

Mostly though, this is a place to lie back, relax and soak up the mountain peacefulness.

Facilities
4-ring hob & table-top electric oven; fridge-freezer; toaster; kettle; washing machine; CD/radio/MP3; open fireplace; radiators; iron; fan; cot available; terrace furniture; private swimming pool (6.5 m x 4 m, 0.9 m – 1.6 m deep); 2 sunloungers; sunshade; all linen provided, including pool towels.

Distribution
On two floors
Ground floor: furnished lobby; twin-bedded room (beds can be pushed together and are 1.40 m x 2 m); shower room/WC
First floor: living room open plan with dining room; kitchen; double-bedded room
Exterior: porch; furnished terrace; pool and garden

Notes:
-The swimming pool is open from mid-May to mid-October, weather permitting

Location & Distances
Up steps from parking, on the edge of Atalbeitar village (no facilities); 3 km from Pitres (all basic facilities)

Pitres (shops, cafés, tapas bars, bank, baker's, health centre)	3 km
Mecina Fondales (3 good bar-restaurants with terraces)	3 km
Poqueira Gorge (Capileira, Bubion, Pampaneira)	10 mins
Trevelez (Spain's highest village)	25 mins
Orgiva (Low Alpujarra, most facilities)	35 mins
Granada and Alhambra	1 hr 15 mins
Beaches (Costa Tropical)	1 hr 30 mins
Granada Airport	1 hr 40 mins
Malaga Ariport	2 hrs 25 mins
Almeria Airport	2 hrs 40 mins

Booking information for this property
Changeover day: normally Saturday in summer High Season.


Prices and dates