THIS BEACH RESORT IN CHINA'S POPULAR NEW RESORT LOCATION INCLUDED A NUMBER OF LUXURY BEACH VILLAS. THE RESORT WAS THEMED BASED ON THE ALHAMBRA PALACE IN GRANADA. IN FACT EL PARTAL, THE BUILDING ON WHICH THE SHERATON PRESIDENTIAL VILLA WAS BASED, WAS NOT PART OF THE ALHAMBRA COMPLEX UNTIL THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, PRIOR TO WHICH IT WAS A PRIVATE HOUSE. MOREOVER, EL PARTAL WAS NOT ORIGINALLY A HOUSE AT ALL BUT A GATEWAY TO A LARGER PALACE COMPLEX, NOW LOST.

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THE ALHAMBRA AND EL PARTAL WERE BUILT AT A TIME WHEN SOUTHERN SPAIN WAS PART OF THE NASRID MUSLIM EMPIRE AND THE STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE IS CONSEQUENTLY KNOWN AS NASRID ARCHITECTURE, THAT COMPRISES SKILFULLY PLANNED BUILDINGS WITH EXQUISITE DETAILING. 

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THE DEVELOPER WAS KEEN TO MAKE THE OUTCOME AS AUTHENTIC AS POSSIBLE, AND, UNLIKE MOST MODERN HOTEL RESORT BUILDINGS, THE VILLA COLUMNS WERE HAND-CARVED LIMESTONE. THIS BUILDING HAD 14 COLUMNS; THE TOTAL COMPLEX HAD OVER 250 HAND-MADE STONE COLUMNS. EXTRAORDINARILY, JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL ALHAMBRA, EVERY COLUMN HEAD IS DIFFERENT.

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THE HOTEL GUEST ARRIVES AT THE FRONT ENTRANCE COLONADE WITHOUT A VIEW OF THE BEACH OR THE OCEAN. ON ENTERING THE VILLA, THE MAGNIFICENT VIEW OF THE OCEAN AND PRIVATE BEACH OPENS UP ACROSS THE INTERIOR CENTRAL LOUNGE SPACE AND AN EXTERIOR INFINITY SWIMMING POOL.  

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