Andalucía Hotels

Other Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Hostal Alborada: (Tarifa) Not bad compared to last time in town!

by Bwana_Brown

After spending a night in beautiful Vejer de la Frontera while exploring the Atlantic coast further west of Tarifa, we returned to Tarifa for our final night in this part of Spain. Still just 'winging' it as we had been doing for the past three nights, this time we found a street parking spot outside Tarifa's walls and began exploring that part of town for a hostal. The first one we came across was closed but not long after we came across Hostal Alborada on a small street a block away from one of the busier streets. It looked good and it was far enough away from the ringing church bells that spoiled our last night in town!

There was no problem getting a room and we were taken up for a look before forking out the required 55 Euros (C$98 or US$75) - I paid in cash since I had topped up at an ATM machine after entering town. We returned to our parked car to bring it closer to the hostal, managing to squeeze it into one of the few parking spots still open near the front entrance of the hostal. Like the locals (we had been watching them from our balcony), Sue had to help me by using hand signals re bumper clearances because of how closely together they park their vehicles - sometimes even double-parking.

No complaints with the room and the hostal also had a whole array of internet computers set up beside their lobby. They were coin operated and fairly expensive at 3 Euros per hour, so we did not play with them too much. Next to the computers was their breakfast area with various food options and tables/chairs spread around. We made use of it in the morning with tea/coffee to go with our toasted buns and marmelade/jam for breakfast. After that, we packed up and managed to extricate our car from its near imprisonment before heading back up the coast. We planned to take in Gibraltar some time during the day but still had nowhere to spend New Year's Eve that evening - a bit worried about that but we ended up in good shape as our first hostal (in Torremolinos) took us in for one more night!

Hotel Atalaya: (El Cabo de Gata) Final stop, eastern Andalucía

by Bwana_Brown

For our last seven nights on Spain's southern shores, we had not booked any accommodations so we could be free to roam at our leisure depending on what took our fancy. It was the final night of that stage of our journey as we made our way to the eastern end of Andalucía prior to flying to Madrid the next day. We fronted up in the coastal town of San José at about 2:30 PM, where our Lonely Planet book said there were some good possibilities - and we soon spotted a nice looking hostal. However, a sign taped to their locked front door said something in Spanish and gave some phone numbers, so we kept looking. We did not have to go far because located next door was the equally attractive Hotel Atalaya. All was quiet as we entered but a very helpful 'George' soon arrived at the front desk (thanks to a motion detection system) and at a price of 45 Euros we quickly settled on a room overlooking the main street. Strangely, just after we had finished with our luggage and emerged onto the street for a look around, a lady returned to the hostal and opened it up!

Hotel Atalaya is kept very tidy and has a beautiful inside courtyard - a real Spanish look to the place. They also have a small parking lot at the side of the hotel where I was able to easily find a spot for our car. Beside the check-in desk is a small cafeteria where breakfast is served (it was part of our rate). San José is not a very big town and the hotel is located on the main street right where all the restaurants and other businesses are congregated - so it is quite an easy walk to reach whatever is happening during the evenings.

Our beds were comfortable and no complaints about the bathroom either. We had quite a few conversations with George as he was quite a friendly guy and there were not many other guests around at that time of the year. We paid 45 Euros (US$65) for this enjoyable hotel that accepts credit cards for payment. Our next two nights were spent in Madrid and then it was back to a bone-chilling winter in Canada for us!

Hostal la Janda: (Vejer de la Frontera) Views in all directions!

by Bwana_Brown

After leaving Tarifa, for once on this 'winging' part of our trip we actually arrived in town at a decent hour (~3 PM) to try to track down a place to spend the night! Sue's Lonely Planet guidebook had mentioned the Hostal la Janda as a good place to spend a night or two and we just happened to get a glimpse of it as we drove through one of Jerez de la Frontera's main streets. We turned around and went back to park in its large lot off the street at the back, while we went in to check availability.

The front desk staff were very helpful, despite our usual communication difficulties in Spanish, and in no time at all we had ourselves booked in for the night. As per usual in Spain, we retrieved our suitcases from the car and lugged them up a couple of flights of stairs to what turned out to be a very nice room with twin beds and an air coniditioning unit mounted on the wall. Hostel La Janda has 36 double rooms available, each with a private bathroom, television and air conditioning and is situated in the historic center of Vejer de la Frontera, making for easy explorations on foot.

The quality of the room was great and we really enjoyed our little balcony that overlooked the hostal parking lot and also provided a great view out over the valley below Jerez - after all we were just about as high as you could get in this mountaintop town! Later on in the early evening, we enjoyed sitting on the balcony sipping some sherry we had bought, as we marvelled at the beautiful landscape spread out before us, including the distant small village of La Muela (2nd photo).

The hostal had a reasonably priced internet service on a computer downstairs near the lobby, so we also used that later in early evening to kill some time before we went out to search for our final meal of the day. Althought this hostal has a restaurant, we did not use it because we only had one night in Vejer and wanted to try out some of the local eating spots while we had the chance. At only 40 Euros (US$56) for our stay, we certainly had no complaints about this accommodations!

Pension Correo: (Tarifa) Any port in a storm!

by Bwana_Brown

We left Nerja in the rain some time after 1030 AM for the 220-km drive to the Atlantic on the coastal toll highway past Gibraltar and through Algeciras before reaching Tarifa. With a stop for lunch in our car at a gasoline station parking lot along the way, combined with getting a bit lost as we negotiated the interchanges in Algeciras, it was late afternoon by the time we arrived - but at least the sky was clearing! After finding a street parking spot in the centre of Old Tarifa, we set off on foot using Sue's Lonely Planet book and talking to passers-by as we checked out some leads. We had our sights set on Hostal Africa but found it closed until February. Another one near our car wanted E70 per night so we passed on that, but they gave us a more detailed map and a couple of other possibilities. The first one was closed but the second (Pension Correo) was open and had one room left for E40 (C$70 or US$55). It was up three flights of stairs but had its own little patio and an attached bathroom, so we decided to take it while the going was good. It was only a couple of blocks from where we had parked our car, so we just left it there for the night and dragged our suitcases down a narrow pedestrian alley between the two locations.

Pension Correo is so named because it sits opposite a Post Office on one of Tarifa's many narrow streets. It actually used to be a group of houses surrounding a typical Andalucian patio, but they were all taken over and converted into a hotel. The patio remains for the use of patrons, but with a light drizzle falling, we did not make use of either it or our roof-top patio.

The front-desk clerk was very helpful with advice and Pension Correo is located very close to the action in Old Tarifa, with our favourite restaurant located only a few paces away. I would normally have rated it higher but, because we had one of our worst sleeps of all-time, I had to cut a couple of notches off. Their problem is that they are located almost next door to one of the downtown churches that rang its bells EVERY 15 MINUTES all night long!! We returned to Tarifa after a one night stay in Vejer de la Frontera, this time making sure to find accommodations a long way distant from the church!

Hostal Cafeteria Marazul: (Nerja) A very welcoming sanctuary!

by Bwana_Brown

This nice little hostal was the first of four 'un-booked' accommodations we used in Spain, arriving on the afternoon of Dec. 27th after dropping off Sue's sister at the Malaga airport for her return flight to England. We then explored the local 'white villages' before continuing to Nerja. We drove and walked around town a bit trying to find some of the recommended places to stay as per our Lonely Planet guide but we had no luck. Finally, down along the waterfront we stumbled upon Hostal Marazul and there was no fuss at all in getting an upstairs room with a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, at a price of 35 Euros.

As it turned out, due to weather forecasts of continuous rain (the first we had seen in two weeks!), we left the next morning and drove to the Atlantic coast of Spain where we spent three nights before returning to Nerja again on New Year's Day, 2009. After having no luck at all finding accommodations at two cities further up the coast, we said let's head for Nerja and give it another go! This time we went strait to the Marazul and by 6 PM had booked for two nights at only 30 Euros/night (US$42 at the time). We were again checked into an upper room with a balcony on the waterfront side (the 2nd photo shows both our balconies with the pillars) and we liked this room even better than the first.

We spent the next day doing absolutely nothing as the rain was intermittant and we finally felt like just chilling out (we only had one further night left on the coast before we had to depart for home via Madrid). On both our stays at the Marazul, we had great fun just sitting on our balconies taking in the views of the Nerja's street activities and observing with our birdwatching binoculars what was happening out on the Mediterranean Sea !

We also ate all three of our Nerja breakfasts at their ground-floor cafeteria. I recommend this place for good value to all travellers.

Casa Sol y Luna: (Estepona) This one should be a tourist attraction

by Bwana_Brown

In our search for accommodations in Spain during the Christmas period, we stumbled across this very nicely landscaped B&B in early November 2008, initially booking the nights of Dec. 24 and 25th. As our plans changed due to flight cancellations from England brought on by the world financial crisis, we were able to book at third night a few weeks later without any problems. Casa Sol y Luna is located outside Estepona and is quite difficult to find without detailed instructions, which the owners forwarded to us!

This is a beautifully built and maintained house, located on a hillside with a beautiful view of the countryside below leading toward the Mediterranean Sea. The main feature of this B&B is its very picturesque outdoor pool as well as the immaculately maintained grounds of various flowers, shrubs and trees of all sorts. Of the three bedrooms in the house, one 1st floor room is used by the owners with, in our case, the second available for Sue's sister. Sue and I had the only ground floor bedroom, with access to both the living/dining room and the outdoor swimming pool. The off-season room rate was 45 Euros per room/night in cash plus an additional 5 Euros for breakfast if you wish.

We enjoyed our room - it was really quiet without nearby neighbours and, if we felt like it, we could walk out our patio doors and fall right into their swimming pool! The bed itself was very comfortable but, being a hot-blooded guy, I found the double duvet a bit warm for my tastes - still I survived somehow.

The room had a small adjoining bathroom with a modern shower, toilet and sink arrangement that worked just fine. Another door opened into the living room where they had a fireplace and we also watched a CD movie on their TV on Christmas Eve. The breakfast table and refrigerator are located at the far end of the living room with a small bar providing access to food being prepared in the adjoining kitchen.

We enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere so much, that we made just lazing around the pool our major activity on one of our few off-days from travelling - this was just too good to pass up. Our young hosts from Belgium and The Netherlands were very helpful, providing us with small cakes in pottery bowls as a gift on on one of our evenings there. They also were very helpful in the weeks leading up to the trip as I emailed them with various questions on road conditions at that time of year. Iris and Hadelin were having a glitch with their banking accounts when I booked the rooms but, after brief email correspondence, they just said forget about sending an advance and simply pay when we arrive!

Hotel Dunas Puerto: (Cadiz 'suburbs') What a surprise find this was!

by Bwana_Brown

In planning our trip to Spain, Sue and I figured we would be tired of 'big city' traffic after our sessions in Granada and Sevilla, so for our accommodations stop on this leg of the trip decided on the small city of El Puerto de Santa Maria, just across the bay from Cadiz, We made our arrangements via Booking.com without problem (40 Euros per double room) but were never really able to obtain much detailed information on the hotel itself. I was thinking that this was probably an industrial city along the waterfront and that Dunas Puerto was likely just some run-of-the-mill place, but at least we could take a boat ride to reach Cadiz!

Arriving from Sevilla, we managed to find the hotel without too much problem and, as soon as I saw it, I was totally amazed at how beautiful it was. The Dunas Puerto has a large reception and restaurant building but most of the accommodations are more like attached single-story motel units spread out on beautifully landscaped grounds. We had quite an enjoyable time wandering around their lawns as we viewed a large swimming pool (not a single person using it in late December) and the many different types and arrangements of their plant-life. After our drive, it was quite pleasant to sit in their lawn-chairs in the waning sunshine to simply enjoy the solitude in the absence of hardly any other guests. The hotel is located only a short walk up a very nice road from the best sandy beach in town, so it was not long before we were out for a bit of local explorations.

The hotel has a reasonably-sized parking lot in front of reception where an eye can be kept on the vehicles and it also has security monitoring access to its little plot of land located just off the highway leading up to it. The check-in process was one of the more laborious I have been through in some time, as details from each one of our three passports were entered by hand on a sheet of paper of some sort. However, eventually it was over and we were directed to our rooms via paved footpaths on the grassed grounds. The rooms themselves were quite modern and very solidly built, equipped with a remote-controlled TV with about 15 channels and there was also a remotely-controlled air conditioning unit mounted high on the wall. The bathroom was also very nice, no complaints.

We found the staff at Dunas Puerto to be very helpful. When we asked about a possible evening meal, they said their daily menu would be posted in the lobby at 8 PM and we could take a look then before seating opened at 8:30. They also gave us some good advice regarding taking the short drive into El Puerto de Santa Maria for a look around as well as recommending the ferry ride to Cadiz as a much better option than driving there.

Hostel Atenas: (Sevilla) Another very enjoyable hostel

by Bwana_Brown

We reserved two nights at Hostel Atenas over the internet a few weeks before setting off for Spain. Since Sue's sister was travelling with us at that stage of our trip, we booked a triple room with three single-beds and an attached toilet/shower for 70 Euros per night (or US$100 at the volatile exchange rate during the world financial crisis) for the three of us.

The hostel is a quiet spot yet located in the heart of downtown Sevilla - great for walking to the various nearby attractions, with Casa Pilatos located just a few steps away. Atenas has a tiny parking lot beside its entrance and there was usually only room for a single 'guest' car to stop long enough to unload the luggage on the side of the narrow one-way street running past the hostal (first two photos). After deliving the ladies and our luggage, I set off to find a nearby public parking garage - which ended up costing 18 Euros/day (and the traffic was no fun either!).

A buzzer beside the front door alerts the front desk to remotely open the steel gate, allowing entrance to a very nicely decorated hallway (2nd photo) that leads to the front desk. Located beside the front desk is a computer terminal that allows internet access at a rate of 1 Euro/hour and not far away is a vending machine that can dispense a few snacks and cool drinks (some of which are alcoholic). There are no lifts (elevators) so you had better be prepared to carry your luggage up the stairs yourself (just like in Granada) depending on whether you are on the Ground, 1st or 2nd floor! No meals are served at the hostel.

I did not mind having to carry our luggage up two floors, especially when I found that our room had a nice roof-top patio table and chair set! The room itself was very basic with its three single-beds and one closet beside the entrance door if you wanted to hang some clothes up. The unfamiliar Spanish air-conditioning unit mounted high up on the wall and operated by a remote control unit took a bit of getting used to, but we finally figured it out after having a bit of a chilly first night! The beds were comfortable, the room was quiet and the bathroom worked as advertised, so we never had any complaints about this relatively cheap lodging in the heart of Moorish Sevilla!

I enjoyed having the outside balcony. After our extensive wanderings to see the various sights on our only full day in town, I retired there to sit in the late-afternoon sun as I read a book I had brought with me and sipped on a glass of Spanish red wine! It was great to be able to sit outside with no real noise and to just look up at the distant spires of Iglesia del Salvador off in the distance. Yes I thought, this definitely beats Regina, Canada in winter!

Hostal/Pension Landazuri: (Granada) Fantastic location!

by Bwana_Brown

Two months before we were due to arrive, we had enquired over the internet about staying for two nights at Hostal Landazuri, eventually settling on a room with triple beds (with Sue's sister along for the ride). The staff were more than helpful and we did not even have to supply our credit card information details until about 3-weeks prior to our arrival and, even then, they only required a deposit for one night. You probably could not ask for a better location in Granada. Located part way up one of the valley walls surrounding Granada, Landazuri is located only a 5-minute uphill walk from the bustling Plaza Nueva and continuing upward for a further 20-minutes will find you at the main entrance to the Alhambra! It also has its own private indoor parking area just up the street, costing 10 Euros per night.

Outside the gated and locked hostal entrance grill (with the front desk always occupied to respond to the buzzer) are some very interesting hole-in-the-wall shops selling a great variety of Moorish themed items. The Landazuri is a family-run place with mother & father and grandparents too taking shifts from what I could see (as well as their children making brief appearances). For meals, only breakfast is served on the premises.

Our Triple room was two floors up (no elevators - luggage must be manhandled upward) and consisted of one bed not too far from the door with the other two beds for Sue and I located 3-steps further up with the common bathroom off it. The beds were comfortable and the rooms were quiet! We paid 60 Euros per night for the three of us (plus car parking fee).

Considering our short stay in Granada, the Landazuri's roof-top patio provided us with some great relaxing moments! On arrival at the hostal, the ladies retired to the nicely flowered roof-top patio, one further floor up from our room, to relax and take-in the late-afternoon views after our harrowing adventure in actually finding the hostal! In the meantime, I walked back to the public parking lot to retrieve our car before eventually finding my way back to our accommodations via the ancient and confusing streets. We all enjoyed sitting on the patio sipping our wine while we either looked up to the Alhambra towering above or down to the busy plaza at the foot of our street.

Hostal Los Geronimos del Pinar: (Torremolinos) That old 'Africa' feeling

by Bwana_Brown

After spending one night in Madrid and then two more way up the Mediterranean coast in Alicante, we then made the 6-hour drive west to Torremolinos. It was Sue's sister from England who found Hostal Los Geronimos del Pinar for us, since she was flying into Malaga late at night and it looked like quite a nice spot, located only a few minutes drive from the airport. We had a bit of difficulty figuring out exactly where the hostal was located in the busy streets of Malaga/Torremolinos (all I had was a Google map of its location) but we finally spotted one of their signs directing us up a steep hill. It was a relief to find such a lovely spot, set on the sloping hillside with a profusion of plants and large trees making for very attractive grounds, with a view out over the town below.

There was no problem with checking in, with our double room costing 40 Euros and the single for her sister 35 Euros. I was so thirsty after the trip that the owner/check-in lady hauled out a cold San Miguel beer (1.50 E) for me, from the refrigerator under the counter, while we did the paperwork! The variety of plants and the architecture of the buildings themselves brought back fond memories of similar places in East/Central Africa from decades ago when we used to live/work there. Now that we knew the lay of the land, we had no problem picking up Sue's sister later that night.

We only spent one night at Los Geronimos before we were off again in the morning - headed inland for Granada where we planned to begin our serious explorations! Many days later, on busy New Year's Eve, we once again returned to Los Geronimos (without prior notice) and were immediately checked into our same room! The price had gone up to E60 because all of Spain was celebrating - we were just happy to have a place to sleep.

The owners of Los Geronimos were very helpful on both our stays, giving us advice on where to find a good restaurant meal and also finding an old extension cord that allowed Sue's hairdryer adapter to plug into it. It was also nice to have a safe parking spot at the back of the hostal for our rental car, simply by driving through their solid steel gateway to the enclosed grounds at the rear of the establishment.

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Andalucía Hotels

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Other Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Hostal Alborada: (Tarifa) Not bad compared to last time in town!

Hotel Atalaya: (El Cabo de Gata) Final stop, eastern Andalucía

Hostal la Janda: (Vejer de la Frontera) Views in all directions!

Pension Correo: (Tarifa) Any port in a storm!

Hostal Cafeteria Marazul: (Nerja) A very welcoming sanctuary!

Casa Sol y Luna: (Estepona) This one should be a tourist attraction

Hotel Dunas Puerto: (Cadiz 'suburbs') What a surprise find this was!

Hostel Atenas: (Sevilla) Another very enjoyable hostel

Hostal/Pension Landazuri: (Granada) Fantastic location!

Hostal Los Geronimos del Pinar: (Torremolinos) That old 'Africa' feeling

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