Caserío del Mirador, Alicante

No list of family-friendly hotels in Spain would be complete without the inclusion of this cosseting country retreat in the mountains behind the Costa Blanca. Caserío del Mirador calls itself a hotel but the six apartments, which come with kitchen and dining areas, allow you to be as self-sufficient as you wish. If you'd rather not cook, you can eat one of co-owner Sarah Robinson's home-cooked meals with other guests in the communal outdoor kitchen, or have it delivered to your apartment. The rambling gardens with play areas, trampoline, ride-on tractors, sandpit and a menagerie of pet animals (including Shetland pony and pot-bellied pig) will keep young children happy for hours, while parents relax around the pool. Apartments can be equipped with cots, high chairs, nappies, and age-appropriate toys and books. If you wish to venture further afield, the beaches of Denia, Javea and Calpe, and the bright lights of Valencia, are all within easy striking distance.
• From £1,500 a week for a two-bedroom apartment sleeping four, caseriodelmirador.com

Hotel dos Mares, nr Tarifa, Andalucía

There's a hint of Arabian Nights about this ochre-coloured beachfront hotel with its palm trees and Moorish-style decor. On a clear night, you can see the lights of Morroco twinkling across the straits of Gibraltar from the terrace. Younger children will love the sandy beach, pool and garden aviary, while older kids can take advantage of the attached windsurfing and kitesurfing school, tennis courts or riding stables. There's a choice of rooms and suites but families should plump for one of the simple sea view bungalows which sit right on the beach. Lovely whitewashed Tarifa with its myriad bars and restaurants is five minutes away.
• Sea-view bungalows sleeping up to four, from €115, dosmareshotel.com

La Finca del Castillo Arabe, Andalucía

If you can't decide on a city, beach or mountain holiday, this lovely off-grid eco-retreat in the Alpujarras will let you have a taste of all three. Granada and the beaches of the Costa del Sol are all within a 30-minute drive and there are plenty of walking and biking trails (bikes to borrow on site) allowing you to explore the Lecrin Valley under your own steam. After a day's sightseeing, cool off in the pool and settle down on the terrace for one of Chris and Scarlett's home-cooked meals. Light, bright, family suites come with a bedroom, sitting room with sofa beds, TV and DVD player, dining area and private garden terrace. Guests also have access to a library, free Wi-fi, laundry service and a communal kitchen, and can help themselves to organic fruit and veg grown on the farm.
• B&B from €85 a night (depending on length of stay), plus €30–€50 a night for each extra person, eco-lafinca-granada.com.

Hotel Rural Binigaus Vell, Es Migjorn Gran, Menorca

On a traditional Menorcan farmstead, this whitewashed finca manages to straddle the line between romantic rural retreat and kid-friendly hotel. Cool, spacious guest rooms have been fixed up in traditional Balearic style, with white walls, tiled floors, exposed ceiling beams and carved wooden headboards. The superior rooms and suites come with an outside terrace, too. There are gardens to roam – look out for the free-range tortoises – and a gently sloping pool. The beach of Santo Tomas is a 10-minute drive away or you can walk (approx 50 mins) along a beautiful ravine to the white, sandy Binigaus beach. The hotel will lend buckets, spades, parasols and beach towels. They still breed horses and cows on the farm and the owners can arrange an early-morning ride if you've got pony-mad children. In the evenings, traditional Menorcan food is served in the alfresco dining room.
• From €155 for a standard double, from €234 for a junior suite, based on two sharing. From €30 to €40 a night for a child, second child stays free, binigausvell.com

Hotel Migjorn, Mallorca

Technically, this rustic-chic finca in the south-east of Mallorca could be classified as self-catering, as each of the 10 airy suites comes with a small kitchen and living area, but the level of services and facilities on offer lift it firmly into the boutique hotel category. And once you've sampled the fabulous family-friendly menu in the restaurant, you're unlikely to want to use the kitchen for anything more than a quick snack or heating up baby food. Perfect for pre-schoolers (up to two under-fives stay free), this is a sociable retreat, the focal point of which is the inviting pool. Cots, buggies, high chairs, sterilisers and toys are all on hand so you can travel light. The beautiful beaches of Sa Rapita and Es Trenc are a 10-minute drive away.
• From €1,716 a week for a suite sleeping up to four, plus infants, babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk

Borda de Ritort, Sort, Catalonia

The town of Sort in the Spanish Pyrenees is a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts who come here to abseil, hike, raft and kayak in the beautiful surroundings of the Aigues Tortes national park. The Borda de Ritort is a great base for active families, with an outdoor pool, gym, playground, sports field, bikes for hire and riding stables next door. Inside, the feel is rustic and homely, with stone walls, wooden floors and comfortable communal lounges. Mealtimes make good use of the Pyrenean produce, much of which is grown on the hotel's farm, and there's a good choice of child-pleasing options such as pizza and pasta on the menu, too. Guests can stay on a B&B, half-board or full-board basis, or sign up for one of the good-value multi-activity packages.
• B&B from €23pp, from €15 a child under 10, casaruralsort.com

Hotel Aiguaclara, Begur, Catalonia

In a beautiful old mansion in the medieval town of Beglur, the Hotel Aiguaclara is charming, quirky and effortlessly cool – in other words, the kind of place parents think they'll never get to stay in again once they have children. But the laid-back owners, Joan and Clara (parents themselves), go out of their way to make families feel welcome. Huge bedrooms come with artfully mismatched furniture, high ceilings and plenty of room for an extra bed or two – some even have balconies and terraces. There are beach towels and toys to borrow and relaxed communal areas for board games. The hotel makes a great base for exploring Catalonia, just 5km from the beaches of the Costa Brava and a 40-minute drive from Girona. But if you'd rather not drive, there are dozens of small restaurants and bars within easy walking distance.
• From €105 for a standard double, extra beds €40 a night, B&B, i-escape.com/hotel-aiguaclara

Hotel Spa Nanin Playa, Sanxenxo, Galicia

The Hotel Spa Nanin Playa doesn't win any prizes for beauty or design, but who cares when you've got a location like this? With one of Galicia's finest beaches on your doorstep and the lively and likeable resort of Sanxenxo – a favourite of holidaying Madrileños – a short walk away, it would be hard to find a better spot for an old-fashioned seaside holiday, Spanish-style. Clean, comfy rooms and apartments (make sure you get one with a sea view) are serviceable rather than stylish, but it's likely you'll be spending most of your day around the magnificent outdoor pool or on the beach. There's a small play area for younger children and in peak season there are daily kids' activities and games. The hotel also has bikes for hire.
• From €59pp, a night, room-only, sea view supplement €20 a night, and extra bed €42 a night, nanin.com

Hotel Family, Agua Amarga, Almeria

A child-friendly holiday on the Spanish costas tends to conjure images of kids' clubs, water slides and burgers and chips. Hotel Family, in the attractive little coastal resort of Agua Amarga, turns these stereotypes upside down. A low-key, old-fashioned kind of a place, it has just nine bedrooms, two of which are family rooms sleeping four. There's a small pool and a restaurant that has earned a strong local following for its hearty Andalucían and Moroccan cuisine. A breakfast of fresh fruit, omelettes, crepes and home-made preserves will set you up for a day of horse-riding or hiking in the Cabo de Gata nature reserve or playing on the lovely beach at Agua Amarga, a couple of minutes' walk away.
• Family room from £95 a night, hotelfamily.es

Sercotel Suites Viena, Madrid

Hotel rooms in Madrid can tend to be a little on the "cosy" side, so the spacious suites at the Sercotel come as a pleasant surprise. What the hotel lacks in character it makes up for with a central location a short walk from Plaza de España and the Royal Palace, helpful English-speaking staff and bright, modern, air-conditioned rooms with a kitchenette including a fridge, microwave and hotplate – ideal if you want to make breakfast or prepare a meal for the kids. Families with teenagers can book an escorted city bike tour from Bravo Bike next door to the hotel, while younger children will love the leafy Parque del Oeste, with its ancient Egyptian temple.
• Suites are good value for families: one under four stays free when using existing beds, one child from 2 to 12 stays free in an extra bed, and older children are charged at €28 a night. From €60 for a suite sleeping three, en.suitesviena.com