'As if a cathedral had been flooded with turquoise waters': The Spanish hotel where Gothic and stained glass meet time off in the sun

I was scrolling on Instagram one day when I came across an image of one of the most show-stopping indoor pools I’d ever seen — all Gothic arches, stained-glass windows, clusters of palm and cypress trees and a spiral stone staircase with trefoil motifs streaming down its bannisters. It was as if a cathedral had been flooded with turquoise waters.

I clicked the geo-tag, which directed me to Landa, a restaurant turned hotel on the outskirts of Burgos, Spain (Landa’s quirky location, off one of Spain’s largest roadways and not close to anything necessarily desirable in the holiday sense of things, is part of its appeal).

A few weeks later, I packed my bags for a two-night stay at the family-owned boutique hotel, once frequented by the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren, where the pool is among the many interior spaces worthy of a photoshoot.

During my holiday, I learned that the owners, the same family behind Madrid’s exclusive Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro, had painstakingly moved a 14th-century tower from the nearby town of Albillos to the property’s manicured grounds, where they rebuilt it stone by stone — it now serves as the beating heart of the hotel.

The aristocratic theme extends to the treasure-box-like rooms, dreamed up by leading Spanish interior designer Pascua Ortega, with four-poster beds, ornately carved antique furniture and maximalist wallpaper in pinks and periwinkles.

Still, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t spend most of my vacation stretched out on a lounger next to the aforementioned pool, coddled in a plush robe and drifting off as coloured light poured in through the stained-glass windows.

Rooms from around €190 — see more at www.landa.as