Place to sleep: La Casa Grande, Arcos de la Frontera, Spain

About this place:

La Casa Grande — as dull as the name sounds — is anything but a mundane B&B. In fact, it has a flare for the dramatic. Nestled off a quiet white-washed lane in Arcos de la Frontera, the inn is unassuming at first. However, after check in and a steep climb to the rooftop terrace, you find yourself perched on a patio in the sky. Clinging to a 200-foot cliff with the town's two churches seemingly within arms reach on either side, this has to be the best place in all of Andalucia to watch a sunset. Ask for a bottle of local red wine, kick back and watch an occasional falcon chase the swallows. In May, you might be as lucky as I was, and see a flock of flamingos — migrating north from Africa — pass over the church's nighttime lights. Rooms are modest and cozy and most importantly, cool in the midday heat.