Cooking in a former convent
El Claustro occupies the ground floor of the Hotel Palacio de Santa Paula on Gran Vía de Colón, steps from Granada's cathedral. The building is a 16th-century Renaissance convent — the Convento de Santa Paula — which the hotel conversion preserved with unusual care. The restaurant takes its name from the cloister courtyard at its centre, where tables sit on stone flags under an open sky in summer.
The hotel is now part of Marriott's Autograph Collection. The restaurant functions independently enough that you do not need to be a guest — Granada locals use it for lunches and special occasions — but the hotel setting brings a level of physical comfort that most Granada dining rooms cannot match.
The kitchen and its sourcing
Chef Rafael Arroyo runs a kitchen focused on Granada and Andalusian produce. This is not a marketing claim: the restaurant's mango and avocado come from the coastal valleys of Granada province, where the subtropical microclimate around Motril produces fruit that is largely unknown outside Andalusia. Granada's coast supplies fish; the vega provides vegetables. The menu changes with the markets.
The format runs to a tasting menu with optional wine pairing and an à la carte selection. There is also an executive lunch menu on weekdays — three courses at a fixed price — which is considerably better value than the evening menu and draws Granada's professional class rather than hotel guests.
The kitchen handles gluten-free and vegan requirements without the substitution-based approach that plagues many Granada restaurants. Arroyo builds dishes around the diet from the start rather than adapting standard preparations.
The dining room
The main room sits inside the convent's former ground floor — arches, stone walls, the weight of the 16th century held in place while the furniture stays contemporary. Service is formal but not stiff. The clientele on weekday lunches runs from business meetings to family celebrations; evenings draw more hotel guests and visitors.
The courtyard terrace opens in warm weather. Dining in the cloister — the colonnaded arches of the 16th-century convent surrounding you — is a specific Granada experience that most restaurants cannot replicate. Book a terrace table between May and October.
Location and access
Gran Vía de Colón is the main artery running north from the cathedral toward the city's commercial centre. The hotel entrance is at number 31 — a large carved doorway. From the cathedral, it is a two-minute walk. From Plaza Nueva, it takes about ten minutes on foot heading north through the old town.
Parking on Gran Vía is difficult. The hotel has no on-site parking; the nearest car parks are on Calle Recogidas and near the bus station.
Hours and booking
The restaurant opens daily: lunch 13:00–16:00, dinner 19:00–22:30. For the tasting menu in the evening, advance booking is strongly advised. The weekday executive lunch is often available without a reservation, but Friday and weekend lunches fill quickly. Contact the hotel directly at +34 958 80 57 40.
