Fodor's Expert Review Parador de Mérida

This spacious hotel exudes Andalusian cheerfulness with hints at its Roman and Moorish past—it was built over the remains of a Roman temple, later became a baroque convent, and then served as a prison. The whitewashed building has bright guest rooms with traditional dark wood furniture, and the brilliant white interior of the convent's former church has been turned into a restful lounge. Skip the mediocre restaurant, which has gone downhill in recent years.