I just returned from a trip to Spain where we were based at the Marriott Marbella Beach Resort. It’s huge, but laid out well. We had a 3 bdrm apartment with a view of the sea from the terrace off the living room. It was wonderfully spacious, clean and well kept. My experiences with the concierge staff were great; Tatijana Nkolic’s gracious professionalism began with a conference call before we arrived and continued during our stay. Aga Slusarczyk arranged for a FANTASTICO private tour to Ronda that was one of the high points of the trip for me. Be sure to request “Francisco” or Frank as he calls himself for his English speaking clientele for private tours. He’s wonderful and makes the tour super special. Plus he can probably answer ANY question you may have about Marbella, the Costa del Sol and Espana in general.

The day trip to Granada to see the Alhambra was great though Andalusia Tours arrived 15 minutes late and “Paco” the tour guide left a lot to be desired, starting with lack of personality. You need a pleasant guide when you’ve been up since 6am to arrive early for a 7am SHARP pick up and had to stand out in the cold without any breakfast. (The property’s complimentary bkfst isn’t available until 8:30am.)

I never went swimming though I saw 3 pools on the resort and one was heated. The outdoor pools were too cold for a Caribbean lover like me to even consider it. Still, their huge pool near the beach was inviting to look at and it’s the first walk in pool I’ve ever seen. The property’s Chill Bar near the beach has lovely outside seating configurations, it was lovely to sit out there on the nights we did so.

My dining experiences at the resort were mixed. On our first night we had a lovely server named “Diego” who was marvelous. The dinner was tasty, the arugula salad with pine nuts and goat cheese was good, the fish with saffron risotto decent. My 2nd dining experience when we were a party of six was AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ERIC WAS THE RUDEST WAITER IN LIFE!!!!!!!!!! First he coughed on me without covering his mouth when he came to take my dinner order. No apology. When he finally brought our entrees he stood on one side of the table and HANDED OUR PLATES TO US FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TABLE???????? WITH MAAAADDD ATTITUDE!!!!! After having such a good experience with Diego I can’t tell you how jarring Eric’s rudeness was especially as I was in such a great mood after the incredible trip to Ronda and as this was the last night for 2 people in our party who were returning to the States the next day.

3 of us ordered the lamb, medium rare, it came to the table WELL DONE. Only 2 of us bothered to send it back and INSULT TO INJURY, the chef brought it out himself so rare it might as well have been tartar. It was late and as we were celebrating a birthday, only 1 person bothered to send it back. Since I’m a big sushi and tartar lover, I just resigned myself to RAW LAMB for dinner, eating a very small portion of it and my vegetables. What was truly insulting was as the chef is standing at our table holding the 2 new plates, Eric looked on from a station right next to our table and took his sweet time to come and remove the old plates so the chef could put our new plates in front of us. As I said he was the WORST SERVER EVER!!!!! It was so bad, David a lovely Englishman we’d been chatting with at the table next to us, insisted on buying us all a round of drinks. When he discovered the bar was closed, he very determinedly negotiated buying 2 bottles of champagne (Moet and Pipers) from the bar and sat there toasting us well into the night.

Bottom line on dinner, drive into Marbella, where you’ll get better dining options and better service. La Pescheria in Old Marbella was delicious with good service. Flamenco Ana Maria was inspired in an intimate setting, we had a blast there even at 25 pesos per person. Hungry thanks to the nice gentlemen in the Irish Pub we found our way to Ray’s Caribbean Restaurant which is open until 2am. The rum punch and reggae music were a great surprise in the midst of Marbella and the food was fabulous. Muchas gracias to Ray, a St. Lucian who made us feel so welcome and Dace how kept the rum punch flowing!!

On a much more positive note, the property’s fitness club is good and I enjoyed doing my 3 miles on one of their state-of-the-art treadmills. Lots of towels for wiping off and water is also available, plus you can watch the news or music videos. There’s a nice little market on site that while high as the dickens is worth it for convenience. The internet café is also good with a more than adequate number of terminals though again, be prepared to pay for it. 2 Euros for 20 minutes and the terminal shuts you down before your time is finished every time. You can also browse through their lending library with offerings in at least 5 languages and pick up complimentary magazines.

To get to the actual beach you have to walk out a door near the pool. The beach is kind of sad sack but then my basis for comparison is probably not fair having lived in Bermuda and St. Lucia and spent time on dazzling arcs of sand like Shoal Bay East in Anguilla. The sand is dark and the beach is pretty rocky though not as rocky as Aquinnah on the Vineyard. Still it was lovely to see Marbella’s beach and the high point of our stroll was Nikki Beach, super cool club. Amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it; go go dancers on pedestals and a DJ situated in the center of the bar. Their mojitos were lovely and the white sun beds were very pretty.

Would I stay here again?? Absolutely. We left discussing dates for 2009.

Just got back from a week at the Beach Resort. We were really lucky with the weather and had an excellent time. Although good weather the pool was freezing and I mean freezing although I didn't expect any different. We stayed in a one bedroom apartment which was large and clean and looked towards the see. All rooms, I think, face inwards so no carpark views. Towels replaced every day, bin cleaned out and beds made. Middle of the week a proper clean. There are all the amenities mentioned in the information about the hotel ie washer/dryer micro, kettle etc. In our case all working with no problems at all. I didn't like the fact that our room wasn't cleaned until 5pm every day but that's just me. The beach is really naff. We went for a stroll one day along the beach and I wouldn't repeat it. Your kids won't want to play there either. Can't do without a car but having previous stayed the other side of San Pedro getting around was much easier from this side. If it wasn't so expensive would stay there often.

Just arrive there. This place is near Buerto Banus and Marbella, but if you want to see something or even go to some restaurant, you need a car! Hotel is lovely and aparmentos are wery big, clean, modern and very versatile. We have lovely front sea wiew. Beach is next to hotel. Hotel area is small, but beautiful.

There is couple problem. First, restaurant is not wery high quality. If you dont want to do food your self, you have to go some other restaurans.

Second problem is child room, it is almost all the time close! I don't understant that.

just arrived back after a four day break at marriott. you can't help but
enjoy this resort everybody and mean everybody is so helpful.
Charlies bar has a new great menu and is run by Antonio who is probably the nicest guy in Spain.El-Med restaurant had its problems
in the early days but is now a very good choice.The rooms are all being updated with new furnishings so everything looks fresh and new.
the beach was a bit of a mess but bad storms and rough seas were to blame.
for people using taxis here a few prices.
to marbella 12.5 euro
to p. banus 20.5 euro
mijas 31.0 euro
malaga 55.0 euro