Marbella Spain questions.

[chriskre]

I'm going to Marriott Marbella next month and have a few questions:

1. Is there a washer and dryer in the unit? Do they give you soap if there is or do you have to buy it?

2. Is there a grocery store or small market within easy walking distance to the resort?

3. Do you know if the viators do a pickup at Marbella Marriott?

4. Have you used the tours offered by the resort? Would you use them again?

5. Can I rent a car at the resort? I might want one for maybe 2 or 3 days but not consecutively and don't want to rent at the airport.

6. Does the resort provide an electrical current converter for US to Europe?

7. How is the weather in December? Do I need a winter coat or just a light jacket? I'm a Floridian so keep that in mind.

8. Any suggestions for a group of 4 ladies travelling together?

9. Are there hair dryers in the bathrooms?

10. Where should I convert my dollars to Euros near the resort or at the resort or the airport?

11. Do they take American express in the shops in Spain? Do they take VISA or Mastercard for that matter or do I need Euros?

12. Are there safes in the rooms?

13. I think the restaurant is closed for refurbishing so is there a cafe nearby to get a quick breakfast or do I have to cook my own?

14. Any other helpful tips appreciated.

Thanks for any input:

 

[pafort]

answers

Hello, I am an owner in Marbella Beach Resort and I can only answer a few questions:

1. The apartment has a washing machine but do not remember if there is a dryer. The soap should buy, but you can also ask the cleaning staff every day rearranges the apartment.

2. In the resort there is a small supermarket, a little expensive. But only 500 meters there are several supermarkets

3. Not know

4. I have not used the tours offered by the resort, but if you rent a car can easily reach Ronda, Gibraltar, Seville and Granada. Well worth a visit Puerto Banus and Marbella town

5. I had rented the car at the airport. But I think we can also rent directly from the resort.

6. Yes

7. Winter clothing is recommended even if the time might be mild. Certainly very different from Florida.

8. Puerto Banus is the ideal place for 4 women to dine and have fun

9. Yes

10. is preferable to pay for everything by credit card, or even change money in banks, or even at the airport. There is no big difference.

11. Yes, American Express is accepted everywhere, but it's also good to have a Visa. For security reasons it is preferable to advise the AMEX customer service that you go in Europe, because otherwise the Amex card can be temporarily locked (that happened to me).

12. Not know

13. Outside the resort there are some bars, restaurants ... For the evening I recommend a restaurant near the resort on the beach to eat a good paella, otherwise always Puerto Banus?

14. Happy holidays!

I hope I have been of assistance

 

[chriskre]

Thanks, you've been a great help.

Where is Puerto Banus?

 

[lweverett]

Years ago there was a great piano bar in the hotel next door.

 

[chriskre]

Years ago there was a great piano bar in the hotel next door.

That sounds like fun but is there a Spanish bar where we can hear Spanish guitar near the hotel that you can recommend?

 

[andyl999]

Just a little warning about rental cars

I own two weeks at Marbella, I have a friends who also has two weeks. Last year he picked up a rental car at Malaga, some 45mins into the drive to Marbella he and his wife decided to stop for a coffee on the way. They were away from their car for 30 mins, when they got back the car had been broken into, valuables and their passports were stolen.

Apparently according to the local police, renters of cars are being watched and followed, the advice is to load up, drive straight to your resort and unload straight away.

I don't want to alarm you but I would not want to see your vacation ruined, take sensible precautions?

 

[indyhorizons]

Additional responses

1. Is there a washer and dryer in the unit? Do they give you soap if there is or do you have to buy it? Yes there is a dryer also. You might need to contact the front desk to use the washer and dryer. I remember having difficulty, it is not standard US machines.



4. Have you used the tours offered by the resort? Would you use them again? We used the tour to go to Tangier, Morocco. Yes I would use them again.



6. Does the resort provide an electrical current converter for US to Europe? No current converter provided. Let me clarify my response since the above poster said yes. There was not a standard one in the resort. Perhaps you can request one. We did not.



12. Are there safes in the rooms?
Yes there is a safe in the room.

 

[welshhope]

I stayed in November last year and have planned a return trip in April as its an easy trip from the UK.



1. Is there a washer and dryer in the unit? Do they give you soap if there is or do you have to buy it?
Yes is very easy to use with a dryer we picked up a bottle of 2 in one detergent/conditioner from the supermarket kept us going all week about $4

2. Is there a grocery store or small market within easy walking distance to the resort?
There are some very near but they were closed in November as out of season so it was about 10 mins walk to the nearest but the on site stre was good for breakfast rolls milk etc.

3. Do you know if the viators do a pickup at Marbella Marriott?
not sure what viators are?
4. Have you used the tours offered by the resort? Would you use them again?
We planned all our tours using local buses but we heard good feedback from some american guests who did use the hotel organised ones we used to catch up in the indoor heated pool in the evenings - but we had always had more time to see what the trip venues had to offer and ours usually included a very relaxed lunch.

5. Can I rent a car at the resort? I might want one for maybe 2 or 3 days but not consecutively and don't want to rent at the airport.
they have cars at airport and in resort - as we drive many miles with work none of our group wanted the hassle of driving (on the wrong side of the road) LOL
6. Does the resort provide an electrical current converter for US to Europe?
you will need to take plug adaptors
7. How is the weather in December? Do I need a winter coat or just a light jacket? I'm a Floridian so keep that in mind.
its about 16C -18C at the moment and raining I would guess you could get away with a light jacket that you can layer underneath

8. Any suggestions for a group of 4 ladies travelling together?
Take the service bus to Granada and the Alhambra Palace catch a real spanish tapas of dried ham, cheese and sherry - amazing flavours for the winter
9. Are there hair dryers in the bathrooms?
Yes
10. Where should I convert my dollars to Euros near the resort or at the resort or the airport?
Good avice already given on this one

11. Do they take American express in the shops in Spain? Do they take VISA or Mastercard for that matter or do I need Euros?
Yes and Yes
12. Are there safes in the rooms?
Yes
13. I think the restaurant is closed for refurbishing so is there a cafe nearby to get a quick breakfast or do I have to cook my own?
Not sure we had fruit juice and pastries from the on site shop - there was also a nesspresso coffee machine which was great for morning coffee sitting on patio

14. Any other helpful tips appreciated - we also took the bus into Marbella town good resteraunts in the old town nice atmosphere in the evening, Peurto Benus great shopping and harbour, and Rhonda very historic and good eating places. There is a nice 30 min walk along the beach to a small port development nice for lunch (accross a naturist beach - up to you if you sneak a peek) otherwise just look at the sand.

Not sure if it will be beach weather or outdoor pool weather but the history in the region is not to be missed. I am sure you will have a great trip.

 

[welshhope]

I stayed in November last year and have planned a return trip in April as its an easy trip from the UK.



1. Is there a washer and dryer in the unit? Do they give you soap if there is or do you have to buy it?
Yes is very easy to use with a dryer we picked up a bottle of 2 in one detergent/conditioner from the supermarket kept us going all week about $4
2. Is there a grocery store or small market within easy walking distance to the resort?
There are some very near but they were closed in November as out of season so it was about 10 mins walk to the nearest but the on site store was good for breakfast rolls milk etc.
3. Do you know if the viators do a pickup at Marbella Marriott?
not sure what viators are?
4. Have you used the tours offered by the resort? Would you use them again?
We planned all our tours using local buses but we heard good feedback from some american guests who did use the hotel organised ones we used to catch up in the indoor heated pool in the evenings - but we had always had more time to see what the trip venues had to offer and ours usually included a very relaxed lunch.
5. Can I rent a car at the resort? I might want one for maybe 2 or 3 days but not consecutively and don't want to rent at the airport.
They can arrange cars at the resort - as we drive many miles with work none of our group wanted the hassle of driving (on the wrong side of the road) LOL
6. Does the resort provide an electrical current converter for US to Europe?
you will need to take plug adaptors
7. How is the weather in December? Do I need a winter coat or just a light jacket? I'm a Floridian so keep that in mind.
Its about 16C -18C at the moment and raining I would guess you could get away with a light jacket that you can layer jumpers underneathunderneath

8. Any suggestions for a group of 4 ladies travelling together?
Take the service bus to Granada and the Alhambra Palace catch a real spanish tapas of dried ham, cheese and sherry - amazing flavours for the winter
9. Are there hair dryers in the bathrooms?
Yes
10. Where should I convert my dollars to Euros near the resort or at the resort or the airport?
Good avice already given on this one
11. Do they take American express in the shops in Spain? Do they take VISA or Mastercard for that matter or do I need Euros?
Yes and Yes
12. Are there safes in the rooms?
Yes
13. I think the restaurant is closed for refurbishing so is there a cafe nearby to get a quick breakfast or do I have to cook my own?
Not sure we had fruit juice and pastries from the on site shop - there was also a nesspresso coffee machine which was great for morning coffee sitting on patio

14. Any other helpful tips appreciated - we also took the bus into Marbella town good resteraunts in the old town nice atmosphere in the evening, Peurto Benus great shopping and harbour, and Rhonda very historic and good eating places. There is a nice 30 min walk along the beach to a small port development nice for lunch (accross a naturist beach - up to you if you sneak a peek) otherwise just look at the sand.

Not sure if it will be beach weather or outdoor pool weather but the history in the region is not to be missed. I am sure you will have a great trip.

 

[chriskre]

I own two weeks at Marbella, I have a friends who also has two weeks. Last year he picked up a rental car at Malaga, some 45mins into the drive to Marbella he and his wife decided to stop for a coffee on the way. They were away from their car for 30 mins, when they got back the car had been broken into, valuables and their passports were stolen.

Apparently according to the local police, renters of cars are being watched and followed, the advice is to load up, drive straight to your resort and unload straight away.

I don't want to alarm you but I would not want to see your vacation ruined, take sensible precautions?

I'm back from my trip and thanks for the responses. I might as well add my experiences for others considering Marbella.

I rented a car from the concierge so they delivered the car to the resort. So I didn't have to worry about anyone following me. We returned the car to the airport so saved on the cab fare on the return. It was a nerve wrecking experience to drive stick shift after not having driven one in 15 years. There are lots of hills and mountains in the area so beware. The price of an automatic car was almost double the stick shift.

Surprisingly since it was December, I think the thiefs were on vacation elsewhere. We had no issues and were treated like locals.

 

[chriskre]

1. Is there a washer and dryer in the unit? Do they give you soap if there is or do you have to buy it? Yes there is a dryer also. You might need to contact the front desk to use the washer and dryer. I remember having difficulty, it is not standard US machines.

6. Does the resort provide an electrical current converter for US to Europe? No current converter provided. Let me clarify my response since the above poster said yes. There was not a standard one in the resort. Perhaps you can request one. We did not.

The washer and dryer was definetely a big pain to figure out. That has got to the be the most inefficient "efficient" washer/dryer in the world. It took me like 3 hours just to wash and dry one load of clothes. I'm not sure what they are thinking. At home it would have taken me an hour to wash and dry one load. And the washer is tiny so you can't do a full load either. :annoyed:

The manager gave me an adapter for my computer. It wasn't a converter but the guy who gave me the adapter nicely pointed out to this un-techie that my computer had a built in converter and there was no need for a converter just for an adapter. Duh.

 

[chriskre]

Thanks Welshhope,

Just wanted to add:

There are 2 grocery stores within "walking" distance, if you consider walking uphill about a mile, walking distance. Not very easy to drag home lots of heavy groceries. The Marriott onsite marketplace was actually not too expensive and had a nice selection. We did a mix of both since we had a car.

Next,
Viators is the travel agency that works with Julia Tours which runs Andalucia tours which is the same tour company that Marriott uses. It's cheaper to use Viators online and they have a coupon code for a discount but it's a hassle to get a refund if they cancel the tour. I've been trying to get a refund for 3 weeks now for one of the tours cancelled and I'm ready to file a dispute with the credit card company. They say they need to "investigate" and that it takes 7 to 10 days for the refund. That was Dec. 12th and still no refund. It's easier to do the booking with the concierge but it does cost a small premium. All the tours do pickup at the Marriotts. People came from other resorts in Marbella to be picked up at our resort so this is convenient but don't be late. We were told the wrong pick up time one morning and they left us there and we had to take a cab to catch up to them after much arguing with the company and convincing them to wait for us to make the 20 minute taxi ride. All because they got the pick up time wrong. That was Visit Daily tours. I do not recommend doing any tours with them as they were nasty from the start to the end with us.

The weather was in the 70's when we arrived on Dec. 8th and it was down to the 50's when we left on the 18th. Some nights got down to the 40's and Mijas and Ronda get pretty cold since they are in the mountains and very breezy. It was probably in the 30's with the wind chill in Mijas one cold day.

We learned to eat at the Mesons since those are the family style "pub" style restaurants. Had lots of places that had tapas for 1 to 3 euros a piece and with a few orders we ate well sharing the tapas. Don't eat at the tourist restaurants unless you want really bad food. We had the worst food in the touristy places except for Christina's the beachfront restaurant next to the resort. That one was not bad for a tourist restaurant. The little cafes that serve breakfast don't look like American cafes so they kind of catch you off guard. Most of them have a full bar and you think they couldn't possibly serve coffee, juice and doughnuts for breakfast but they do and cheaply so venture into those little bar looking places for good cheap breakfasts.

The nesspresso machine is the coolest thing yet. I want to get one for my house. I'm not sure where the little cups go once they get crushed. I couldn't find out how to empty it but it's just a neat little machine. I'm a coffeeholic.

I brought some really cool washer/dryer sheets from Purex. They pack great in a zip loc and no need to worry about liquid soap or getting confiscated by TSA.

I really enjoyed my trip and my stay at this resort even though it was off season. Although many of our tours were cancelled we did get to do 3 bus tours and then decided to do it like a local and rent a car which was the best thing that we could have done. Not only did we save alot on the tours since we split the cost of the car in 4 but we didn't have to be up at 430am to get ready for these tours that do 18 hotel pick ups going and coming. :annoyed:
The area is just too spread out not to have a car. I guess for the British the driving on the other side of the road might be a problem but for me the only problems I had were trying to navigate the round abouts.

I would recommend doing this area in off season for a touring base. If I were to return, I'd probably try Fuengirola instead so that in the evenings I could walk to the mesones instead of having to drive everywhere like you will with this Marriott. It kind of puts a damper on your wine sampling. Unfortunately I was the only one in the group who could drive stick so I was the designated driver.

 

[andrea t]

Thanks for the info. You gave me some good tips for
my trip in July. What tours did you do? Did you enjoy them ? Thanks!

 

[chriskre]

Thanks for the info. You gave me some good tips for
my trip in July. What tours did you do? Did you enjoy them ? Thanks!

Andrea,

I did the Tangiers tour from Marriott. Did I enjoy it? Well, let's just say that the tour consisted of a bus ride thru the town and countryside which was pleasant, a camel ride which cost 1 euro for the picture op, and a very fast walk thru the old city mobbed by papparrazzi vendors trying to sell me overpriced goods. The tour guide took us to a horrible restaurant and served us God knows what it was and it ended with a shameless visit to the Persian rug factor where they proceeded to try to sell us 10,000 dollar rugs in a high pressure sales pitch. The place was a tacky tourist shop designed to try to get you to spend in levels. The top floor was an extremely expensive rug shop, the next level down by stairs was some expensive wood carvings and other stuff I don't really remember too well like brass stuff (sort of think Bombay stores or Pier One), then the next level down was leather goods & silver jewelry and finally the first floor was just cheap trinkets. They were shameless and we spent alot of our tour time there. Then they walked us to a "Pharmacy" where we were sold creams, potions and curry and saffron.
Honestly it was supposed to be the highlight of our trip and I'm glad I did it the first day because it was the most disappointing tour we did.

The second tour we did was of Cordoba. That was very interesting and a very nice little town, but the tour company which was booked thru Viators, not thru Marriott was with Visit Daily tours. They were horrible from start to finish so I DO NOT recommend them at all. Do not do the tour with them.
You can drive up there yourself although it's a bit far and park and walk the town and visit the mosque/cathedral yourself which basically is all we did on this tour. We also walked the old city and did some sourvenir shopping. There wasn't any shop steering except for the free bathrooms in an upscale tourist shop but our guide was really rude and left us behind. See my post above for details.

The third tour we did was to Granada/Alhambra. This was a beautiful tour but the local guide we had was just awful in Alhambra. We ended up catching a local bus and going to the old city ourselves and having lunch in a meson in the downtown city center (the new part of the city). This is a nice city as well to visit and might be a bit too much to do on your own since it didn't seem that parking was so easy although it might be with better planning than we did. This tour was booked with Marriott. Honestly the value of this tour was that they drove you there and back but we did alot of sightseeing on our own as we were not interested in spending 3 hours in the Alhambra. We were there for about 1-1/2 hours and then we split. The city buses run right by the outside of the Alhambra and take you where you want to go. The tour director gave us a meeting point in front of the Corte Ingles which is their version of Macy's and we walked back to the bus with her.

The last tour to Ronda was cancelled. I was so glad it was cancelled because I was really over the touring by now. I'm glad we did a mix of both independent and car touring. We picked up a rental car on our 4th day and the next day we went to Ronda ourselves. It was a very doable trip. It's some mountain driving and lots of windy roads but the city is so nice. You can easily find public parking and walk the streets of the town. We saw the bullfighting ring and the Old city bridge and had breakfast and lunch in the city. We left around 5pm because I did not want to do night mountain driving since I live in Florida and am a bit inexperienced with mountains but I would imagine the tour must be nice too if you don't want to do the drive.

Malaga city tour on our own was a problem because we couldn't find safe public parking. It's a big city and lots of one ways that lead you down paths where you can't find your way out so after 2 attempts at parking to see the sights we gave up and went to another town.

Mijas is a beautiful little town a very close drive up a short mountain that overlooks the sea. The sights are breathtaking and we found a great little inn that served great paella. This place was so quaint and definetely worth a visit.

We also visited Gibraltar. This we did on our own partially. I drove the rental car to the border and we walked over the border and picked up a local tour on the other side. Definetely worth doing this as you would not want to drive Gibraltars mountainous cliffs without knowing what you are doing.
They take you up high to the top of the Rock and they have these cute little monkeys that entertain you for a while. Then you visit a cave that was used by the British and Romans and you also go to some beautiful lookouts for some fabulous picture ops and then they leave you about 3 hours later in the town center where you can grab a pub dinner and shop for duty free goods.
Everything is in British pounds so not the bargains us Americans are used to but I did buy some t'shirts and trinkets.

Finally we did Torremolinos and Fuengirola on our own several nights and our free days with the car. Both towns are beachfront but Torremolinos is more touristic and Fuegirola seemed to have more year round inhabitants. The Corte Ingles was in Fuengirola. We spent a very rainy day in Corte Ingles which by the way is worth a visit. It's a 4 story department store with a Hipercor in the basement levels. Hipercor is their version of Target or WalMart. You park in the underground and shop til you drop. The higher you go in the Corte Ingles the cheaper it seems to get. Also the lower you go the bargains are better too in the Hipercor but they are 2 totally different types of stores.

Marbella, the town near the Marriott is a very nice little town also. Kind of upscale beach town. Reminds me of Bal Harbor for those who are familiar with Miami beach. Anyway we really didn't spend much time there but it looked to have alot of locals and some nice restaurants and shops.

There were a few other little towns which I kind of didn't really explore much like Puerto Banas which didn't really appeal to me much although others have said it's nice. I liked Fuengirola and Marbella better. I guess you have to see it to decide for yourselves.

Hope this has been helpful.

 

[andrea t]

Wow, you saw so much! Sounds like it was an amazing vacation! The info you shared was very helpful and will be very useful to me in my planning. Thanks for taking the time to post so many deatails and Im glad you had an amazing time!

 

[indyhorizons]

The washer and dryer was definetely a big pain to figure out. That has got to the be the most inefficient "efficient" washer/dryer in the world. It took me like 3 hours just to wash and dry one load of clothes. I'm not sure what they are thinking. At home it would have taken me an hour to wash and dry one load. And the washer is tiny so you can't do a full load either. :annoyed: :

I forgot all about that, esp since a previous poster stated that the washer was easy. There was nothing easy about that process.

 

[Bwolf]

chriskre

Seems to be a very good, honest summary of your trip. We had planned to do all our tours through the Marriott, but now we wonder. Tangiers should be much more pleasant than your experience. So, we may go with some of the guides recommended in other posts.

 

[davewasbaloo]

Very interesting trip report, glad you had what sounds like a good time. However it is interesting to see American vs other perspectives. The washers are pretty standard for Europe and more environmentally friendly than most of the American washers.

I never do tours unless in unsafe areas because we like to take things at our own speed. I could spend a full day at the Alhambra palace, but have no interest in shopping in a modern department store.

The beauty of the region is there is something for everyone, and we all have different tastes. That is the great thing about humanity.

What did you think of the resort itself?

 

[chriskre]

Wow, you saw so much! Sounds like it was an amazing vacation! The info you shared was very helpful and will be very useful to me in my planning. Thanks for taking the time to post so many deatails and Im glad you had an amazing time!

Andrea, we did have a great time. I'm glad I went in the off season as nothing was crowded but yet we felt like locals in most places. We just blended in since we speak Spanish. It was also a great value to go off season from II's getaways. We paid half the price of the maintenance fee
for our unit for the week and we were in a 3 bedroom.

 

[chriskre]

I forgot all about that, esp since a previous poster stated that the washer was easy. There was nothing easy about that process.

No the washer is not easy. Maybe if you are used to European symbols on your electronics you might find it easy but to us Americans used to Whirlpool, Kenmore and GE forget it. I honestly couldn't figure out all the symbols.

Very interesting trip report, glad you had what sounds like a good time. However it is interesting to see American vs other perspectives. The washers are pretty standard for Europe and more environmentally friendly than most of the American washers.

As for those washers being environmentally friendly, I truly don't see it. They use 220 to begin with instead of 110 so they use more electricity, then they run much much longer than American appliances. Yes they use a little less water but you have to run them longer so I think it's a wash as far as being superior to American washers. Truly, my washer at home could do a load comparable to what I did over there for a total of 50 minutes including washing and drying. It really did take almost 3 hours to wash and completely dry one small load. Also the washer is so small that you can't wash more than 6 or 7 items at once, less if you wash a sweater or two.
I just don't get it honestly.

 

[chriskre]

Very interesting trip report, glad you had what sounds like a good time. However it is interesting to see American vs other perspectives. .......

I never do tours unless in unsafe areas because we like to take things at our own speed. I could spend a full day at the Alhambra palace, but have no interest in shopping in a modern department store.

The beauty of the region is there is something for everyone, and we all have different tastes. That is the great thing about humanity.

What did you think of the resort itself?

I usually don't like to do tours either but my friends really wanted to do them so we did. We had a good mix of both with the rental car for the 2nd week.

As far as seeing Corte Ingles, I think that visiting a typical store is part of the experience of seeing Spain.

Spain has such extremes with the ancient and the modern that Corte Ingles just seemed to be a great part of the experience. They have lots of Spanish designer clothes along with the typical stuff you find in the US but I really enjoyed shopping the costume jewelry that was very different than what you typically find here in the states.

I know this might sound silly but to me the parking garage was extremely interesting to me. For example they actually paint the entire concrete and it is spotless. Then when you enter the store you take the most unique escalators that I have ever seen. They are not stairs like the US but are long conveyor belt style escalators. If I hadn't visited the "modern day" department store I would have missed this. For me as an American this was extremely entertaining.

It was also entertaining for me to piss of the security guards with my picture snapping while they tried to tell me to stop but I just acted like I didn't understand Spanish.

I also enjoyed doing my Christmas shopping here because they wrap everything for you and remove the tags for free so everyone got "Majorica pearls" nicely wrapped and I didn't have to shop when I came home. Also, when you charge on your credit card they give you the option of paying in Euros or in US dollars and they tell you exactly how much it is in dollars.

I could bore you with more details about our day at Corte Ingles but I think that a visit to the "modern" Spain is certainly warranted. I get tired of just seeing cathedrals and really wanted to see where the "real" Spaniards shop.

As far as the resort, I thought it was very nice. I didn't care for the beach much because it is not really in my opinion one of the nicer beaches in the world, since I live in Florida I am partial to warmer beaches but the staff is very friendly and helpful in the resort.

The only restaurant open was a Sports bar called Charlie's which had okay food. They comped us a meal so we ate there twice but I would have preferred the Med restaurant that was closed due to remodeling.

I did do a review on the timeshare forum in case anyone wants to read it.

The place is a little far removed from the action but was a very enjoyable stay. If I were to return to the area, I'd probably stay closer to Fuengirola just to not be so far from all the "typical" restaurants and shops. More like living like a local in that town. If you stay here in the off season you will probably need a rental car or you will spend a ton on taxis and have to deal with difficult bus schedules and inconvenient pick up spots. The area is just too spread out to really get around from the Marriott without a car.
If you don't want a car then make sure to stay in Marbella proper (the Marriott is actually in Elviria) or Torremolins or Fuengirola instead. The Marriott Estapona is even further away from anything typical.

 

[davewasbaloo]

The area is just too spread out to really get around from the Marriott without a car.
If you don't want a car then make sure to stay in Marbella proper (the Marriott is actually in Elviria) or Torremolins or Fuengirola instead. The Marriott Estapona is even further away from anything typical.

you couldn't pay me to stay in Torremolinos in the high season, too full of drunk brits and germans. I love the location of Playa Andaluza, it is really close to Benhavis which is very typical for the area and has some of the best restaurants in Spain.

 

[davewasbaloo]

And yes, there are a fair few differences between Europe and the US, though no where near where it used to be be. When I moved to Europe in 1986, it was quite an adjustment.

 

[chriskre]

you couldn't pay me to stay in Torremolinos in the high season, too full of drunk brits and germans. I love the location of Playa Andaluza, it is really close to Benhavis which is very typical for the area and has some of the best restaurants in Spain.

That's what we had heard about Torremolinos but since it was off season the place was dead. During the day some places were open but at night forget it. Not in December anyway.

Now, Fuengirola was hopping with life and locals. We had some great meals there in typical tapas style family mesones drinking house wine and lots of seafood tapas.

I probably would not have enjoyed Torremolinos with the drunkards either. I get enough of that in my hometown in South Beach.

 

[Zac495]

I think most of your questions were already answered, but my picture trail has information that you might enjoy.

Marbella http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20057024

Morocco http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20064804

Seville and Gibraltar http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20065407

I also have a review on TUG