For the review I am going to review the hotels and restaurants that we experienced in the Costa del Sol. I’ll talk about the hotels as we spent a bit of time in them but I will only mention restaurants that made an impact. This month: Hotels.
Marbella Inn
The good:
At the Marbella Inn we, I, chose one of the apartments, a one bedroom. As the sofa unfolds into a bed the two room apartment can easily sleep four people. The minuscule kitchen has an oven that is also a microwave, a two burner stove, mini fridge, and small sink. Pots, pans, plates, etc are provided. Kitchen necessities we had to pick up were dish-washing soap and a kitchen knife. And the rooms have heat.
There is no need for other cleaning supplies as the housekeeping staff cleans daily! This includes cleaning the bathroom, providing soap and shampoo, replacing towels and sheets (though you could arrange to use the same sheets and towels for conservation purposes), and cleaning the floors.
Other details include a small, sunny balcony, blackout curtains, free wifi, large bathrooms, and a small dining/work area that seated four. The hotel has a small pool and is located up the hill about a 15 minute walk from the beach. There are several restaurants nearby and a large grocery store around the corner. Breakfast is ample and, at five euros, inexpensive.
The bad:
In my initial post I mentioned at least checking out the website when looking at hotels. If we had checked the Marbella Inn’s website before we booked we may not have stayed there as the hotel was under renovations at the time. This is the second time this has happened to us. Fortunately, both times we really weren’t that bothered by the construction.
There is no bathtub which I am listing under bad despite the fact that this is depressingly common in European hotels.
Soho Boutique Hotel Las Vegas
We ended up staying here twice. I booked the first two hotels and SM booked the last. By coincidence he booked the same Malaga hotel I did.
The good:
Our first room is large with a sofa that folds out into a bed, a huge balcony, and a view of the sea. Can definitely sleep up to four. The bathroom has a bidet and a bathtub. Wifi is free but you do need a user name and password for each device. The hotel has a pool and it’s five minutes walk to the beach. At the beach in front of the hotel there is a chiringuito, a small beach-side bar restaurant, and a playground. So you can sit in the sun with your feet in the sand sipping tinto verano, red wine and soda, and snacking on grilled fish while the kids swing, slide, spin, and zipline. There are easily half a dozen restaurants within a five minute walk of the hotel and it is a fifteen minute walk to the center of town. We never had the breakfast, but heard good things from other guests.
My husband tends to forget to list us as three people because Little Bit is still so, well, little. When we get back from Marbella we are given a smaller room in a different part of the hotel. The balcony is big enough for a small table and a couple of chairs and you don’t have to lean much to see the water. The bathroom is large with both a bidet and a bathtub. The room is done in creams and turquoise which gives it a lighter feel than our previous room at the hotel. Both rooms were well heated.
The bad:
There is no bad during the first visit but the room, the wing, we are assigned upon our return reeks of cleaner. We open up the balcony door to air the place out but the smell is still quite strong when we get back late that night. Even sleeping with the balcony door open it is overwhelming.
Unfortunately, the place is booked up completely. So we grab some bedding and put a couple of sofas together in the lobby. It is only at this point the night manager arranges for us to spend the night in what turns out to be a very charming hotel across the street.
The next morning we are offered several other rooms including an upgrade to a sea view but all in the same wing. Ultimately we decide it is best to stay at another hotel. I do want to give special props to the young woman manning both the night desk and the morning shift who had to deal with the crazy Americans on her very first day on the job!
The ugly:
This goes to the gentleman staffer (night manager?) who made his discontent with our profound discomfort quite clear. When told that the cleaning fumes in our room were too thick to sleep he offered to spray the room with air freshener.
Why, you may ask, did the room require such potent cleaners? There was mildew/mold on the bathroom ceiling and above the balcony doors. As someone from a damp subtropical zone and who has traveled the tropics I am familiar with this fight. Honestly, on my own I probably would have stayed the night in the room, perhaps on the balcony, and moved the next day rather than cause a scene. But I’m not forcing my three year old to breathe air that literally makes her eyes water.
Málaga Marriott Palacio
The Good:
We ended up at the Palacio which was everything you expect from a Marriott. A large room looking out onto the ruins of the castle. Big bathroom with both bathtub and bidet. Great location smack dab in the city center. Gorgeous rooftop with a small pool, a restaurant, and a bar.
The bad:
The rooftop is so popular, especially around sunset, that the three main elevators stay pretty busy. You may have to wait a car or two. There is a side elevator that has been made available. Another nitpicky thing is the lack of a ramp at the main entrance. However, there are door staff to help with luggage and strollers. There is a side wheelchair entrance.
The ugly:
They don’t turn on the general heating until 21:00. They will send up space heaters upon request. I put this under ugly because at this price point one expects to be in charge of her own heating and cooling as we were at our previous, cheaper, hotels.
As a side note I love a bidet or a bum gun. They are far cleaner and more refreshing than toilet paper. We explained to LB that the bidet was for washing butts and not to be played with. A couple days into our trip LB comes out of the bathroom with a bottle half full of what she proudly declares is “butt water”. Kids. Ya gotta love ’em.