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Thank you for your advice!!
We managed to get some reasonable flights to Malaga in August ‘24 and we haven’t been to the Costa del Sol for many years (pre kids).
We are a family of four (2 adults and children of age 5 and 7). Would welcome any suggestions for 13 nights in August for a summer holiday. I don’t know where to start to identify a resort followed by a hotel, so wanted to ask for advice please.
Some pointers:
– We’d like to use it as a base to travel to Malaga, Gib, Seville etc and will rent a car for a few days. Maybe a trio across to Tangier.
– Close to a beach with outdoor pool a must.
– Hotel room ideally with a dedicated separate bedroom inside (ie some separation from children overnight)
– We’re happy to be in a busy area if it means walkable amenities — to be honest we’d prefer this to isolation as we like to get out and about a little and not stick in the resort or hotel.
– The kids tend to want to eat quickly in the evenings before we go for a walk (and pondering over local restaurants is a no-go with young children) so half board self-serve is just fine.
– Not wedded to any particular brand or loyalty programme and I hold no hotel status.I know there are many resorts (towns) along the coast and each with their Tripadvisor recommendations, but I wanted to ask HfP readers for advice as I don’t know where to start.
We wouldn’t mind breaking it up a little (few days town, few days resort) if that works.
My wife and I have done long weekends in Malaga and I think I recall going to Fuengirola and Torremolinos but 10+ years ago pre-kids.
It’s such a massive coastline but welcome any advice – thank you so much.
Have a look at the Sol Don Pedro, xtra sol family rooms
With the sheer amount of accommodation in the area you’re spoilt for choice really, but we always found apartments the best option with children – either a 2 bedroom or 1 bed with separate living room with sofa bed. You then can eat out (again spoilt for choice) but also have preferred snacks and drinks handy.
There are lots of options but MacDonald resorts have a few very nice properties, some beach front, of a very high standard.
https://www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/
You can book direct or via sites like booking. comMany thanks – yes it’s the choice which is driving me mad. I can usually pin point a resort or down and then drill-down from there, but as you say it’s a vast area.
Thank you for tips so far – will take a little look!
I agree. The Sol Don Pedro, Pablo, Marco complex or the Sol Principe in Torremolinos are geared towards family holidays.
Both are right on beach too.Personally I prefer Fuengirola . We like Stella Maris apartments, Los Boliches.Basic but cheap. Also right on the beach and a short walk into Fish Alley and the Port area.
Remember, taking out an Amex Platinum , enabling Melia Gold and the 20% off will almost pay for itself with a fortnights holiday at any of the Sol Melia in August
Many thanks – I did check out a Melia on TA yesterday and whilst the price was as expected, the reviews were a bit 50/50. It’s a good point re Amex Plat. My wife and I have the BAPP with some hotel deals on there but no Melia now.
Fish Alley seems to ring a bell from a very long time ago!
Appreciate your help on this.
I was in that area at half term with a friend – Fuengirola Bioparc is just enchanting, a must with young children. As well as the animals in beautiful settings recreating the different regions of the world, there’s a huge play area with an open air cafe next to it where you can have a drink/lunch. 10 minutes stroll down to the beach.
I would do it early or late in August, though, as it will be blisteringly hot in the middle of the day!Sol Atalya Park in Estepona is another option, close to Marbella and Gib. A wee bit cheaper too.
With 5% app booking + 20% Gold thats nearly a grand off the normal price for an xtra suite
I just checked out the Melia Atalaya Park and the “XTRA” houses look ideal.
In terms of the 5% app and 20% gold bonus, I don’t fully understand the discount. My pricing when browsing via mobile just now is a non-ref rate of £5k, Black Fri fully refundable of £5300 and then a semi-flex for £5800. This is just plain vanilla pricing without any coupons etc. Would Amex (Gold or Platinum) take off a further discount in cash-back? I don’t have anything by Melia on my BAPP list for the moment but I have the odd £70 or £100 off Marriott, IHG etc which is a set (and low) monetary discount rather than percentage.
Will check out the others later – all look fab and I’m really grateful for the tips.
Melia members get 5% off for booking via app on top of any promotions.
Amex Plainum gives you Melia Gold status. Gold members get 3 x 20% discounts on bookings.These are all stackable so any promo + 5% + 20%.
So as Gold you can get at least 25% off a booking. In your case Black Friday deal should discount down to £3975.
You might shave another £100 off with a points and £s booking
However quite often even basic members get 2000 pointswhen joining, so You might shave another £100 off with a points and £s booking.Members also get at least 1 x 10% birthday discount however this is not stackable with the 20%, but may help if you dont get GOLD
This is very useful advice, thank you. I was in two minds about taking out the £650 Amex Plat but indeed, 20% off of a likely £5k hotel spend more than covers it. Then it’s just a case of spending £10k in 6 months to get the mega SUB!
I read some HfP reviews of Melia and of course the comments and the consensus appears to be that the status doesn’t really provide much by way of benefit other than of course the 20% off, which is fab. Some comments also note a recent devaluation in points and poor website (which I too experienced when browsing!) but £1k off is a good shout and then I can use the travel insurance benefit. And some instances of points balances disappearing after frauds – eek.
Now I need the guts to pay £650 for a credit-card. I just hope the 20% benefit comes soon so that I can stack it with existing offers.
I did check out the Stella Maris apartment albeit the pool was a little small – a great find and I have bookmarked.
If you’d recommend any particular Melia property then let me know. I read pretty negative reviews of the Melia Costa del Sol but the others all seemed fine enough and reasonably standard.
Many thanks again for the handy tips.
Id forgot, but another place we stayed, although at the time it was £100 for the week (now bust) Club La Costa timeshare promo,is
https://www.wyndhamgrandcostadelsol.com/
Just outside Fuengirola on a hill mind you, but the accomodation was lovely. A 2 BED aptment would be around £3k.
They also have their RAMADA brand on site a bit cheaper.
Im sure Ryes did a review a couple of years back
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