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Marriott resorts in Spain

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pinetree1

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We are planning a middle October 2-3 weeks visit to Spain. It is our first visit to Spain. The tentative plan is to fly AA to Barcelona for 3-4 days, then train to Madria for 3-4 days. and fly back home from Madria. I just wonder whether we should try to book some Marriott timeshare resorts in Spain for 1 week or so.

Any experiences with Marriott timeshares in Spain? Where should we pick up the rental car? Which cities should we incorporate into our travel plan if we get a Marriott timeshare exchange? How is the weather that time period of the year?

Any comments and suggestions are highly appreciated.
 
In addition to any comments here go to the European timeshare forum and search using the word Spain and see what you get.
They are good options and a nice time of year to go.
 
Just realize that most timeshares in Europe and Spain are where europeans want to travel for vacation, not where American generally want to go. So don't expect timeshares to be in the major historical cities.
 
pinetree1 said:
We are planning a middle October 2-3 weeks visit to Spain. It is our first visit to Spain. The tentative plan is to fly AA to Barcelona for 3-4 days, then train to Madria for 3-4 days. and fly back home from Madria. I just wonder whether we should try to book some Marriott timeshare resorts in Spain for 1 week or so.

Any experiences with Marriott timeshares in Spain? Where should we pick up the rental car? Which cities should we incorporate into our travel plan if we get a Marriott timeshare exchange? How is the weather that time period of the year?

Any comments and suggestions are highly appreciated.
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Marriott has 2 timeshare resorts in the south of Spain - Marbella Beach Resort and Playa Andaluza. They are about a 30 minute drive from each other and are both very nice. You can request exchanges to either one to maximize your chances.

October is not quite reliable beach/pool weather, but you can get some nice days. The resorts are very relaxing, especially if you don't go during the school holidays (July-August). Mediterranean Sea beaches are not Hawaii beaches though.... but there are several nice things to do in that area. You can do day trips to Alhambra, Seville, Gibraltar and even Morocco via ferry (Tarifa, Spain to Tangier).

The nearest airport to both of those is Malaga, and you can also get a rental car at that airport.

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If you plan to take day trips to sightsee points east and north (we've already done Gibraltar and Morocco so no need to return). Which Marriott is better located and set up to use as a home base for exploration?
 
CalGalTraveler said:
If you plan to take day trips to sightsee points east and north (we've already done Gibraltar and Morocco so no need to return). Which Marriott is better located and set up to use as a home base for exploration?
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Both Marriott resorts in Spain are close to each other - about 30 minutes, so either one can be a good base camp. When we went a couple of years ago we stayed at Playa Andaluza and were able to get to all the places were desired without a problem;
 
Went April last year. Car from Airport and returned at train station in Malaga.
Lots of easy day trips to drive.
One place that might get overlooked is Mijas. It is a fun little city. Great views and fun to walk around.
We also did the Paella class at the resort. Great meal.
 
We have made three trips to Spain, staying at both Playa Andaluza and Marbella Beach Resort. Both are very nice and great bases, but we probably prefer Marbella. We flew into Madrid, rented a car and drove south to Marbella, overnighting at Parador (goverment owned historical Castles, Palaces and National Monuments). A day in Madrid was enough for us. Easiest trip was flying into Malaga and renting a car. We stayed one week at Playa and one week at Marbella. DanCali has good advice on day trips, we would add Mijas, Ronda and Puerto Banus. We nixed Barcelona due to civil unrest at the time, but that was years ago. Don't know how it is now. Weather tends to be better in the south. Spain is a beautiful country and there is much to see and enjoy.
 
How difficult is it to drive in Spain? Is public parking readily available in towns mentioned above? In our first trip to Europe over 12 years ago, we drove into town centers multiple times in Italy and were fined close to $1000 from rental car agency. Also, we felt challenge driving in Cinque Terre area.
 
pinetree1 said:
How difficult is it to drive in Spain? Is public parking readily available in towns mentioned above? In our first trip to Europe over 12 years ago, we drove into town centers multiple times in Italy and were fined close to $1000 from rental car agency. Also, we felt challenge driving in Cinque Terre area.
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Easy in my view, not had a problem in decades of doing it. Make sure that you park in legal areas, like you would have to do anywhere and nowadays check if there are tolls and get the toll pass if needed. Some cities require a pass to drive in the ctr, usually rental cars will have that anyway.
 
pinetree1 said:
We are planning a middle October 2-3 weeks visit to Spain. It is our first visit to Spain. The tentative plan is to fly AA to Barcelona for 3-4 days, then train to Madria for 3-4 days. and fly back home from Madria. I just wonder whether we should try to book some Marriott timeshare resorts in Spain for 1 week or so.

Any experiences with Marriott timeshares in Spain? Where should we pick up the rental car? Which cities should we incorporate into our travel plan if we get a Marriott timeshare exchange? How is the weather that time period of the year?

Any comments and suggestions are highly appreciated.
Click to expand...
We have been an owner at Marbella Beach since 2001 and go every other year. Driving is easy in most areas and great day trips are numerous. TripAdvisor can provide more ideas than you can do. Be aware that some of the most historic places are now so popular that you need advanced reservations to visit.
 
I find it very easy to drive in Spain and I'm used to driving on the left. Been driving there for decades and not once have I received a fine apart from a speeding ticket on the AP-7 to Malaga. Parking can be tight and if you're used to big US parking spaces you might find parking a bit of a challenge. If you're not used to a manual transmission then I recommend paying extra for an automatic.
 
One of our favorite trips was going to the Marriott in Play Andaluza in September. The weather was great and there were no crowds. We flew into Malaga and rented a car. My husband said it was very easy to drive in Spain. The roads are spacious and routes easy to follow. Walking around this Costa Del Sol area was very pleasant. We took side trips to the Alhambra and Seville. It was a few years ago, but at the time there were tours you could take directly from the Marriott to Morocco and Gibraltar. It was a great one day trip with a guide. The resort was great!
 
Generally driving in Spain is no problem at all, once you are comfortable driving a left hand drive car on the right side of the road and most rental cars have manual gearboxes.
You just need to be aware of where / when you may need to use the Autopista (AP) toll motorways.
The only other things to really look out for are
- the perched villages in Andalucia especially can have very steep and very narrow roads, so it can be best to park on the edge.
- the slip roads onto most major roads are very short, so you may need to accelerate fast to join the traffic (or wait a long time for a gap.
 
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