Having just returned from a 2 week holiday in Spain with the memories of sun, sea, sand of the Costa del Sol and the beautiful mountains of Adalucia fading fast as I’m faced with a large heap of snail mail and lots of email messages mostly in Chinese. It’s very easy just to delete the message from the on-line booking web site asking me to write a review for my hotel stay and to be honest for most of the hotels we stayed in I did exactly that but the Hotel La Posada del Angel in Ojen is the one exception where it is worth taking time out to write a few lines to sing it’s praises.

We arrived at Malaga Airport and after hiring a car we eventually made it to the relative safety of the AP7 toll road after several near death experiences from driving on the right side of the road (or wrong side depending on how you look at it). Thirty minutes later we managed to negotiate the motorway turn off near Marbella and headed up into the hills along steep mountain roads with stunning views of the small white village of Ojen clinging to the hill side in the distance.

As you approach the village there is a very steep right hand turn at a mini roundabout which takes you down to the car park (free) at the bottom of the village. This is not sign posted (as far as I remember) so we continued on up the hill and came in at the top of the village and worked our way to the centre through narrow streets and lanes with hairpin bends which got tighter and tighter with the locals looking on with some amusement. After 10 minutes of driving the pristine new shiny hire car around in circles, (thinking perhaps I should have paid extra to waive the insurance excess?) we somehow found ourselves at the bottom of the village in the car park and decided to find the hotel on foot because we simply hadn’t got a clue of where we were going.

It was at this point that we started to follow the signs towards the hotel (I’m sure they weren’t there before) and after 2 minutes found ourselves standing in front of the Hotel La Posada del Angel.

The front of the hotel was freshly painted white with a picture of an angel just above the front door. There are 4 or 5 parking spaces outside the hotel and every where is spotlessly clean, no litter, no rubbish not even a cigarette end to be found. Very much like the rest of Ojen, the locals take a real pride in their village.

We went inside to the reception area which had antique wooden furniture in the Moorish style with angel pictures and angel ornaments absolutely everywhere. We were welcomed by Franck the hotel owner who after hearing my pathetic attempt to speak the local lingo replied in perfect English and checked us in. He also gave us some good advice about the bars and restaurants and pointed out a list on the wall of where and where not to eat. He also said the front door is usually locked at 10pm but you can get in using a door entry code. We told him that our suitcases were in the car at the bottom of the village and he offered to drive the car up to the hotel and bring the cases up to our room but we decide to be brave and do it ourselves.

Once again back into the narrow streets and this time we managed to drive up to the hotel with no problems. Franck showed us through the back of reception to an open courtyard with a Lemon tree and beautiful plants and flowers climbing up the walls. He explained that breakfast was usually served in the courtyard but as the weather was cold at the moment breakfast would be inside in the dining room. Cold?! It’s 23 degrees practically unheard of where we come from, so he said we could have breakfast outside if we wished.

The rooms and are reached by staircases going around the outside of the courtyard. There are no room numbers, each room has a picture of an angle hanging outside and the key fob has the corresponding picture. We were in “El Conductor” on the top floor. Some of the rooms have a small walled area in front with a table and chairs so you can sit outside, enjoy a bottle of wine and watch the Swallows perform their aerial acrobatics as they dive down into the courtyard below.

The room was quite large and once again was in the antique Moorish style with a tiled floor, a large double king sized bed and plenty of cupboard space. A good sized bathroom as well with 2 large wash basins, a bath with shower and a w/c in an alcove around the corner.

I cannot fault one thing about the room it was quiet, spotlessly clean, the bed was comfortable and you woke up in the morning with the sun shining through the curtains really feeling as if you had had a good nights sleep ready for the day ahead, just what a holiday should be. The shower was powerful with plenty of hot water and the bath big enough to wallow in for hours.

So down for breakfast, served by Franck himself in the courtyard. To start freshly squeezed orange juice and a freshly made fruit salad followed by a large platter of cured meats (chorizo, ham etc.), cheese with succulent slices of thick juicy red Spanish Tomato not the greeny/red under ripe force grown greenhouse efforts you get in supermarkets but real tomatoes only available in the Mediterranean. Then a large plate of scrambled eggs and just when you think it’s all over hot rolls and croissants arrive with butter and jam. All washed down with a never ending supply of coffee or Hornimans Tea. Absolutely stuffed!

It’s also worth mentioning the there is free wireless internet available at the hotel. It didn’t quite reach our room on the top floor as the signal strength was low but I got into the habit of checking my email and planning the next day’s activities in the reception every evening over an ice cold glass of San Miguel. In fact having just checked my bill to see how much the beer was I notice I haven’t been charged for any drinks at all only the room is on the bill!

Over all we had an excellent stay and every detail was made perfect by Franck and his friendly staff. I wouldn’t just recommend this hotel I would say it is a “must visit” if you are planning a holiday to Andalucia or the Costa del Sol.