Say “luxury villa” on the Costa Blanca North and most buyers think of Altea Hills first. The gated estate on the slopes of the Sierra de Bernia has guarded entrances, big sea views and some of the most expensive houses in Alicante province, and it has been the reference point for high-end villas on this coast for decades. Asking prices there averaged €3,784 per square metre in early 2025, up 17.9% in a year, according to idealista data reported by El Español.
It is not the right place for everyone, though. This guide explains what Altea Hills is actually like to live in, what the new villas for sale there cost in 2026, and four alternatives within an hour’s drive that suit buyers who want something different, whether that is a lower price, a beach you can walk to or a finished house you can see before you buy. We are a developer and one of those alternatives is ours. We put it first, we say why, and the criteria come first so you can check our reasoning.
What is Altea Hills?
Altea Hills is a private residential estate in the municipality of Altea, on the southern slope of the Sierra de Bernia between the old town of Altea and Calpe. You reach it from the N-332 coast road, close to the AP-7 motorway. The estate is run by its own conservation body, the Entidad Urbanística de Conservación de Altea Hills, which looks after the roads, gardens, lighting and security, and it advertises private security 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Press reports describe controlled entry with number-plate recording and patrols day and night (El Debate, 2025).
Most homes are detached villas on private plots, almost all with a pool, stacked up a steep hillside so that the higher plots look straight out over the Bay of Altea. Just below the estate is the Luis Campomanes marina, now Marina Greenwich, with 542 berths for boats of 7 to 40 metres. Altea Hills is also home to the Russian Orthodox church of the Archangel Michael, consecrated in 2007 and often described as the first Russian Orthodox church built in Spain (Valencia Bonita). Most owners are international, and the estate has had a sizeable Russian-speaking community since the 1990s.
Driving times from the main gate on the N-332, in free-flowing traffic:
- Marina Greenwich: about 5 minutes
- Altea old town: about 10 minutes
- Calpe: about 10 minutes
- Benidorm: about 20 minutes
- Alicante-Elche airport: about 70 km, just under an hour
Add a few minutes more from the upper streets. Inside the estate, the drive from the top plots down to the gate can take around seven minutes on winding roads.
How we compared the options
Every option here is a real place to buy a detached or high-end home, with current asking prices you can check. Then we weighed five things that matter to buyers looking at Altea Hills:
- Privacy and security. A gate, a guard, how close the neighbours are, and whether the home has its own pool and garden.
- Daily life without the car. Can you walk to a beach, a restaurant or a pharmacy? On a steep estate, every errand starts with the car.
- Price for what you get. Asking prices per villa and per square metre, and what is included.
- What you can see today. A finished house tells you more than a render. Options where you can walk through a finished home scored higher.
- Getting there. Drive time to Alicante-Elche airport and to a town with year-round services.
Here is the comparison at a glance.
| Option | Best for | Location | Price guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our pick Villas de Loix | A private villa enclave with the beach and town on foot, and a finished show villa to visit | Rincón de Loix, Benidorm (about 20 min from Altea Hills) | From €1,080,000 + VAT |
| Altea Hills | Sea views, privacy and an established prestige address | Altea, between Altea and Calpe | New-build villas about €1,750,000 to €3,450,000 |
| Sierra Cortina | A newer gated estate at a lower entry price | Finestrat, behind Benidorm | From about €495,000; detached villas mostly €715,000 to €1,150,000 |
| Mascarat | Seafront apartments and villas by the marina | Altea and Calpe border | New-build homes €1,200,000 to €2,200,000 |
| Cumbre del Sol | A complete clifftop resort with its own school and shops | Benitachell, between Moraira and Jávea | Villas from €1,590,000 |
Prices are asking prices published by developers and their agents, checked on 14 October 2026. They change often, so check the source before you plan a trip.
1. Villas de Loix (best for a private villa with the beach on foot)
Disclosure: Villas de Loix publishes this guide, and we have put ourselves at number one. We are not in Altea Hills and do not pretend to be. We are included because many of the buyers who visit Altea Hills tell us the same thing: they love the views and the privacy, but not the idea of driving down a hill every time they want a coffee. Read the criteria above and decide for yourself whether we belong here.
Villas de Loix is a private enclave of 27 architect-designed villas on the hillside above Rincón de Loix, at the eastern end of Benidorm and the foot of the Sierra Helada natural park. The villas have three or four bedrooms over one or two levels, and each one stands on its own plot of 500 m² or more, with a private pool, a garden and a garage or parking. The Levante beach and the seafront promenade are about a ten-minute walk away, with the town’s restaurants, shops and services closer still. Altea Hills is about 20 minutes up the coast by car.
The other difference is that you can see the finished product. Two villas, Villa 26 and Villa 25, are built, furnished and open for viewing, in person or on a video call. The remaining villas are due for completion in the third and fourth quarters of 2027.
Why consider Villas de Loix over Altea Hills:
- A detached villa with its own pool in a private enclave, a ten-minute walk from the beach, which very few villas at this level on this coast can offer
- A lower entry price than most new-build villas in Altea Hills, from €1,080,000 plus VAT
- A finished show villa you can walk through before you commit, rather than a render
- A specification built for living all year: en-suite bathrooms to every bedroom, a lift between floors, solar panels, a heat pump, a smart home system and pre-installation for an electric car charger (as built in Villa 26)
- Prices published villa by villa, a named developer, a building licence granted in 2023 and floor plans you can download without filling in a form
Worth knowing: you will not get the wide, high sea views of the top plots in Altea Hills here, and Benidorm is a busy resort town with a high-rise skyline. The villas sit in a quiet pocket on the hillside, but Rincón de Loix below is lively all year. If total seclusion and a panoramic view matter more to you than walking to the beach, Altea Hills or Cumbre del Sol will suit you better. Most of our villas are also still under construction; only the two show villas are finished today.
Villas de Loix is best for: buyers who like the idea of Altea Hills but want to walk to the beach, pay less and see the finished house first. See all 27 villas and their availability on the villas page.
Book a private viewing of the show villas
2. New villas for sale in Altea Hills (best for sea views and a prestige address)
Altea Hills is the benchmark for a reason. The best plots have uninterrupted views across the bay to Altea’s blue-domed church and the Serra Gelada, the estate is guarded around the clock, and the homes are generally large, with many of the newer villas offering 500 m² or more of living space. Much of the estate was built from the late 1990s onwards, so most of what you see for sale is resale stock, but there is a steady supply of new villas on the remaining plots and on rebuilt ones. In October 2026 new-build villas advertised by one specialist agency ranged from €1,750,000 for 547 m² to €3,450,000 for 785 m² on a 1,297 m² plot (Oceanhome), and the most expensive homes go much higher. The top listing on idealista in 2025 was €8.5 million.
Why consider it:
- Some of the best sea views on the Costa Blanca, from a gated estate with 24-hour security
- Large homes and plots, with real privacy from the neighbours
- A marina, Altea old town and Calpe all within about ten minutes by car
Things to check: the streets are steep and the estate is spread out, so you will drive for everything, including a loaf of bread. Owners pay towards the conservation body that runs the roads and security, so ask the seller or agent for the current annual fee and the last two years’ accounts. The body’s management has been contested at times; in 2025 rival candidacies fought over its control, one proposing to dissolve it (Vozpópuli). Also check the exact position of the plot. Views, sun and road noise vary a great deal from one street to the next.
Best for: buyers who want a large villa with a sea view and maximum privacy, are happy to drive, and have a budget from around €1.75 million for a new build.
3. Sierra Cortina, Finestrat (best for a gated estate at a lower price)
Sierra Cortina is a newer residential estate in Finestrat, on the hills behind Benidorm and close to the Terra Mítica theme park, about 15 minutes by car from Rincón de Loix. Agents describe it as gated with 24-hour guarding and a network of CCTV cameras linked to a control centre (Luxinmo). It is one of the busiest areas for new villas near Benidorm. Prices start from about €495,000 for townhouses and smaller villas in projects such as Seaview 6, due for delivery at the end of November 2026 (BHHS Costa Blanca), and most new detached villas are listed between about €715,000 and €1,150,000.
Why consider it:
- A guarded estate with new villas at well under half the price of Altea Hills
- Close to Benidorm’s beaches, hospitals and shops, and to the golf courses around Finestrat
- Plenty of choice, from townhouses to large detached villas
Best for: buyers who want a gated estate and a modern villa with a sea view at a more accessible price. Like Altea Hills, it is a car-based estate, plots are generally smaller, and some of the estate’s original facilities, such as its pitch and putt course, no longer operate.
4. Mascarat, Altea and Calpe border (best for seafront living by the marina)
Mascarat is the stretch of coast directly below Altea Hills, where the Altea and Calpe municipalities meet around the Campomanes marina. It is mostly frontline apartment buildings and penthouses with some villas, and it suits buyers who want the same views and the same marina as Altea Hills with less upkeep. Agents list apartments from about €380,000 to €1.5 million and villas from about €1.6 million to €6.4 million (Premium Villas Costa Blanca). New-build homes there are currently offered from about €1.2 million to €2.2 million, with completion in late 2027 (Novado).
Why consider it:
- Sea views and the marina on the doorstep, with a lock-up-and-leave apartment or penthouse
- Less maintenance than a large villa and garden
- Altea and Calpe both about ten minutes away
Best for: second-home owners and sailors who want the Altea Hills views without a large villa to look after. If a private garden and pool are essential, a villa elsewhere on this list is a better fit.
5. Cumbre del Sol, Benitachell (best for a complete clifftop resort)
Cumbre del Sol is a large residential resort on the cliffs between Moraira and Jávea, about half an hour north of Altea Hills. It is developed by VAPF, a Costa Blanca builder working since 1963, and it has more of its own services than any of the estates above, including an international school, supermarkets and tennis and padel courts (Cumbre del Sol). New villas start at €1,590,000 for the Magnolias Design collection, with Lirios Design from €1,865,000, and apartments in Montecala Gardens from €612,000.
Why consider it:
- Sea views and a resort lifestyle, with a school and shops inside the resort
- A single, long-established developer building the new villas
- A quieter, greener setting than the Altea and Benidorm coast
Best for: families and long-stay owners who want everything inside one resort. It is about 45 minutes from Benidorm and further from Alicante airport than any other option here, and the developer’s site does not advertise a guarded gate in the way Altea Hills does, so ask what security is in place.
Altea Hills or an alternative? How to decide
Match the option to the life you want there:
- You want a detached villa, the beach on foot and to see the finished house first: Villas de Loix, Benidorm.
- You want the biggest sea view, maximum privacy and a prestige address: Altea Hills.
- You want a gated estate and a new villa for under €1 million: Sierra Cortina, Finestrat.
- You want a seafront apartment by the marina with little upkeep: Mascarat.
- You want a resort with a school and shops inside the gates: Cumbre del Sol.
Spend a full day in each place before you decide, and do the things you would do on a normal day: buy groceries, find a coffee, go to the beach. A view sells a villa on the first visit. Daily life is what makes you happy there for twenty years. Whichever you choose, ask the developer or seller the same questions. Is there a building licence and a first occupation licence? What are the community or conservation fees? Is every payment before handover protected by a bank guarantee? Can you see a finished home?
Frequently asked questions
Is Altea Hills a gated community?
Yes. Altea Hills is a private estate with controlled entrances and private security 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, run by the estate’s own conservation body. Visitors are stopped at the gate, and press reports describe number-plate recording and patrols.
How much are villas for sale in Altea Hills?
Asking prices averaged €3,784 per square metre in early 2025, according to idealista data, and later reports point to further rises. In October 2026, new-build villas were advertised from about €1.75 million to €3.45 million, while resale villas start lower and the largest homes are listed at well over €5 million.
How far is Altea Hills from Benidorm and Alicante airport?
Altea Hills is about 17 km from Benidorm, roughly 20 minutes by car, and about 70 km from Alicante-Elche airport, just under an hour on the motorway. Villas de Loix in Rincón de Loix is about 20 minutes from the Altea Hills gate.
Can you visit Altea Hills?
The estate is private and access is controlled at the gate, so you cannot drive around it freely as a sightseer. Buyers visit with an estate agent or by appointment with a seller, and residents’ guests are let in at the gate.
Is Altea Hills a good place to live?
For buyers who want privacy, security and a sea view, and who are happy to drive everywhere, it is one of the best addresses on the coast. It suits people who spend their time at home and on the terrace. If you want to walk to the beach, restaurants and shops, a villa in or near a town will suit your day-to-day life better.
Is this guide biased towards Villas de Loix?
We publish it, so yes, and that is why we say so at the top, point out what Altea Hills does better than we do, and include four other options we think are worth a visit. Use the criteria, visit more than one, and choose the place that fits how you want to live.
Final thoughts
Altea Hills deserves its reputation, and for a buyer who wants a large villa with a sea view behind a guarded gate, it is hard to beat. But it is not the only way to own a luxury villa on this coast, and it is not the cheapest. If you want a detached villa with its own pool in a private enclave, a short walk from the beach, and you want to stand in the finished house before you decide, that is what we built Villas de Loix for. Get in touch and we will arrange a viewing, in person or by video. You can also read about the Rincón de Loix area, browse our buyers’ FAQ, or compare more developments in our guide to the best luxury new-build developments on the Costa Blanca.
