Hospederia Duques de Medina Sidonia

A medieval ducal palace with nine guest rooms in Sanlúcar de Barrameda on the Costa del Luz

You can live like a duke for under $100 a night in one of the most famous sherry towns, just up the Costa de la Luz from Cádiz.

This ducal palace in the heart of the city was founded in the 11th century (and rebuilt in the 15th century) on the foundations of an Arab ribat, and it retains many Moorish architectural influences.

The Red Duchess
Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 20th Duchess of Medina Sidonia, inherited her title in 1955 at age 19. She divorced her husband—scandalously, at the time—and later, when in her 60s, spent time in prison for opposing Franco.

Just a few days before her death in 2008, La Duquesa Roja married her longtime secretary—and apparent lesbian lover—Lilianne Dahlmann, who has now inherited the palace and its famous archives, one of Europe's greatest and most precious private collection of medieval documents.

It has belonged to the Dukes of Medina Sidonias since 1297 (one of the line, Duke Alonso Perez de Guzmán el Bueno, was in charge of the vaunted Spanish Armada when it was famously defeated by Sir Francis Drake in 1588).

Until she died in 2008, the palace was the home of the 20st Duchess of Medina Sidonia—the "Red Duchess"—and her historical research foundation. (See sidebar.)

But it's not even the deep history that really sells this place; it's the elegant rooms themselves.

In addition to a tearoom open to the public, there are nine guest rooms in the hospedería of the original, Arab-inflected wing of the palace. They feature period furnishings, painted tile floors, and views over the Doñana National Park across the Guadalquivir River at the point where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

How it is they start at only €60 is beyond me.

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