Marbella Travel Guide
Tags: Hotel Spas / Hotel Deals / Spain hotels / Marbella hotels / Ritz-Carlton hotels / → All Tags
Head to Marbella for Hotel Spa Happy Hour
There’s nothing like knocking prices down for the extras at hotels to make us feel better about spending money about going there in the first place. The Landmark Hotel spa in London is doing a roaring trade at the moment, what with it offering 20% off all treatments. Now the Hotel Villa Padierna, just outside Marbella (paradise for footballers and their wannabe wives) is running a “happy hour” at their spa.
It’s a bit more expensive than your usual happy hour – two 25 minute treatments for €75 ($96). But then you’re getting more than a watered down cocktail – treatments include reflexology, facials and full body salt scrubs.
The downside? Happy hours are only Monday through Friday, 12-5pm, which cuts out the weekend breakers. Still, that shouldn’t be a problem if you’re a proper WAG...
Tags: VIP Hotel Reviewer Series / Kimberly Murgatroyd / Marbella Hotels / Costa Del Sol Hotels / Hotel Nightlife / → All Tags
Jet Set Girl Chillaxes at the Not-Quite Five-Star Don Carlos Resort in Marbella
We now present you with our VIP Hotel Reviewer Series in which we hand-pick experts in the travel and media worlds and beyond to tell us what are their favorite hotels and why. Once a week, we'll feature a hotel review from said VIPs about their favorite leisure or business hotels. Pay attention: These VIPs are experts at what they do and they don't mess around when it comes to their hotels.
Our next VIP reviewer is Kimberly Murgatroyd, the pretty young thing behind My Jet Set Life blog. Her motto is "Excuses are over. It's time to live." And indeed she does. Here she gives us her insider take on the Don Carlos Resort in Spain. Enjoy.
For my husband and I, deciding to spend a few weeks enjoying Spain's sunny Costa del Sol was easy, however deciding where to stay wasn't. There are some great hotels in Marbella, although I found that the Don Carlos Leisure Resort & Spa was the perfect place to park my jet set suitcase for a few weeks.
During our stay, the hotel celebrated their new five-star rating with a large party in the hotel's gardens. However, I think the rating was a little ambitious considering the check-in process and staff is average. They also don't have a concierge, and getting help with local restaurants, directions and things to do seems more three-star than five-star.
Tags: Marbella Hotels / Budget Hotels / Spain Hotels / → All Tags
Where to Stay in Marbella Without Breaking the Bank
In an expensive town like Marbella, a good deal can be hard to find--and we mean that quite literally. While our stay at The Town House was easy on the pockets and the eyes, with its under-$200 room rate and roof top terrace, finding the place was a bit harder.
The nine-room pensión is located off a square inaccessible by car, so it may not be ideal for disabled travelers or travelers with lots of and/or heavy bags. Otherwise, The Town House provides a practically flawless stay.
Tags: Luxury Hotels / Spain Hotels / Marbella Hotels / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / → All Tags
Can You Judge a Hotel By Its Picture?
"Um, wow," were the first words that came to mind when we first laid eyes on Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella, Spain. A destination unto itself, the Ritz-Carlton property has 112 guest rooms and suites, a 21,000-square-foot Thermae Spa, beach access, two pools and an 18-hole golf course.
Despite our initial impression (and really, look at that picture--who wouldn't have that reaction?) it seems the hotel leaves something to be desired among some past guests. One recent reviewer said the hotel is a retreat for "golf lovers only," which likely ties into other guest complaints that Villa Padierna is "within walking distance to nowhere."
Surprisingly, some complain about the price of food and drinks onsite. (Honestly, we'd like to meet the people who sign up for a room at the Ritz-Carlton and then gripe about a $15 cocktail.)
A more legitimate dislike seems to be that not all rooms have balconies, so when you book, be sure to ask for a room with a terrace. Just don't then have the audacity to complain about the view.
[Photo: Webhexe_2]
Tags: Hotel Sick / Hotel Hell / Marbella Hotels / → All Tags
When Travel Agents Travel in Packs...
What's the best way to impress a big bunch of British travel agents being hosted by the Spanish Tourist Board at a Marbella hotel in southern Spain? Well, we're not sure what the best way is, but the worst way was definitely demonstrated this week: give them all food poisoning.
Whether it was the less-than-well-done pork or just some suspicious prawns that did the trick is unclear, but what is clear is that a large proportion of managers and other important members of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) who attended the final dinner of the convention in Marbella were stuck in bed (and near the bathroom) for at least 24 hours.
The hotel where the dinner was held hasn't been named in press reports, although ABTA did mention that an event organizer and caterer called CO Plus had been hired for the job by the Spanish Tourist Board. Apparently ABTA's conventions have twice before been struck by food poisoning--perhaps it's a case of disgruntled holiday-makers seeking a little revenge?
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Tags: Spain Hotels / Celebrity Scoop / → All Tags
Lose Weight at Spain's Incosol Hotel
It's not just Hollywood or the American population in general that uses hotels for post-plastic surgery hideaways. More and more hotels abroad are incorporating such cosmetic surgery programs and other beauty packages into hotel amenities.
In Marbella, the president of Gabon (in Africa) recently treated himself to a hotel beauty and health regime at the Incosol Hotel and Spa.
So what is it about this place? Well, apparently European celebrities like Prince Rainier, love the hotel for its program to help them lose weight and provide the relaxation and scenery of southern Spain:
pCelebrity visitors to Marbella have been able to kill two birds with one stone: take a break and lose a few extra kilos all in one go. Actress Carmen Sevilla is well known for her loyalty to the Buchinger Clinic's "fasting" therapy, as it is colloquially known, in order to rid herself of a few spare centimetres. She's not the only one. Every summer Mario Vargas Llosa undergoes a food abstinence cure, broken only by the intake of liquids to purify the organism.
It makes sense since Spanish cuisine is nothing to get excited over. One thing is for sure, this is one hotel that won't be adding a celebrity chef to its name anytime soon. Yet as for the celebrities, they'll keep coming.
Related Stories:
· Iconsol Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Hotel Hell / Bed Bugs / → All Tags
Hotel Miguel is Hell
Bad food, dirty conditions, holes in the wall, and a small swimming pool. Need we say more? Actually, yes. The Don Miguel Golf and Sport Hotel in Marbella, Spain has some explaining to do.
First off, why are there so many stairs? There are more stairs at this hotel than an Escher print. Maybe this is why it is called a sports hotel. Either way, if you love climbing stairs, especially very steep ones, this could be your dream come true. If you don't then, you're screwed.
One recent guest has the whole low-down on just how unrelaxing staying at this hotel can be:
All inclusive - four restaurants (only one open and was a buffet), shopping center (never opened for three days), four pools (indoor open, but very small - the children's pool was brown and opaque), needed to shuttle 15 km away to participate in golf and water activities (only ran at certain times of the day), and the other activities were each only offered once a week for an hour at a time. To top it off we ended up covered with bug bites from the bed bugs. Absolutely repulsive.
Oh no. Why didn't they just mention bedbugs first? Then we wouldn't have even tried to find something nice to say about this place.
Related Stories:
· Don Miguel Golf and Sport Hotel Guest Reviews [Trip Advisor]
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