At the end of July, I was lucky enough to visit the Costa del Sol on an 11 night holiday to San Pedro de Alcántara; a small Andalusian village just a three minute bus journey from the centre of Puerto Banús – where you can then travel further into Marbella.
When booking the holiday, we decided to book a hotel that was in a quieter village outside of Marbella because we were travelling as a family and just wanted a relaxing getaway to the Spanish seaside. The hotel we 
stayed at was a Gloables chain hotel and was officially a 3 star hotel for it’s facilities, but actually gets 4* reviews on TripAdvisor. The hotel was a typical Spanish resort with food and entertainment geared particularly towards English families. The hotel has, this year, converted it’s tennis courts into a third swimming pool so there is never a lack of sunbeds or pool space at the hotel. The entertainment team provided by the Thomson Suneo Club were great for children staying at the resort, providing them with a Kid’s club, daily activities and a mini disco in the evening – so if you’re considering taking your family to Spain, this would be a definite plus. The hotel was recently renovated so the rooms are all modern, fresh and clean and were plentiful in space.
The food at the hotel was always of good quality and there was plenty of choice on most nights, but as I don’t eat seafood I did, towards the end of the holiday, get a bit bored of the food – but that’s probably just me being a fussy eater!
The surrounding area was really pleasant. To the rear of our hotel room from our second balcony, we could see the stunning Spanish mountains and then to the front of our room, we could look down upon the resort. This is a perfect location for people to stay if they’d like a relaxing all inclusive holiday but then have the choice to explore the day and night life of nearby Marbella and Puerto Banús. The hotel actually provided us with free return coach trips into Puerto Banús 3 times a day which was a real benefit of this particular hotel.
I’d definitely recommend this area if you’re looking for a sunny getaway in the summer months; but my top tip if you do want to go is to book at least 6 months in advance! This year, demand for Spain was really high so prices started to rise very early in the year. We booked in January and it cost us an average of £600pp, whereas if we’d wanted to book 6 weeks before departure, the same holiday was on sale at over £1650pp!
This holiday for Summer 2017, based on 7 nights in May, at this hotel on an All Inclusive board basis is available for £500pp if you book now!
James Lowery is a Marketing Assistant at the Holiday With Us Group.
