Benalmadena sits on the coast between bustling Fuengirola to the west and it’s immediate eastern neighbour Torremolinos, with its high rise hotels and discos.
We have stayed in both hotels and timeshare apartments in this town, at opposing ends of the seafront. Both were great holidays, it is such a nice seafront that we believe there no bad place to stay in Benalmadena, location wise anyway!
As you know by now, we like to start these ‘Bites’ with a description of the resort from what we call the ‘ahh’ spot, that is the best place in town to take in the view. This time it was from the private roof terrace of our penthouse suite in the Sunset Beach timeshare resort hotel. No we haven’t won the lottery, we complained!
Our first week there was in a pretty ordinary ‘studio’ apartment, come the second week they wanted to move us to an apartment in the basement with a view of the main road at eye level. “Not on your nelly!” I told the receptionist, not that she understood me. The only other vacant apartment was the showplace penthouse suite, and that’s what we got! Sunset beach is one of the few buildings on the beach side of the main road, situated on the western end of town. Our 8th floor seaward corner suite had commanding views out over the whole town and countryside.
The high sierra mountain sweeps down to the sea with just a few hundred yards of level ground before the beaches. Benalmadena Alto, as the old town is called, perches midway up this steep slope, above it the main coastal motorway is carved into the rock face. Tivoli World is up in the old town, the enterprising owners have built an alpine cable car that takes you from the car park right up, over the motorway to the top of the sierra. The view is stunning, even Africa can be seen on a good day. From our terrace we could just make out the swaying cable cars as they jigged upwards.
Tourist laden pleasure ferries bob in the turquoise waters as they convey sunburned tourists between the marina and its counterpart in Fuengirola. Jet skis and millionaires yachts race about in the offshore seas, attracting the attention of all the walkers on the promenade. The golden sandy beaches are raked clean every morning, wooden boardwalks lead to the rows of sunbeds and umbrellas for hire. Fresh water showers abound to rinse away the clinging sand, all these things make a day on the beach a very pleasant experience.
The modern stylish marina is the new centre of town, apartment blocks are built in the centre of the structure, surrounded by boat moorings, underground residents car parks and great sea views. The swish apartments are an enviable place to live (where’s that lottery win!) they are built in an eastern style, a bit like Antoni Gaudi meets the Brighton Pavilion!
Bars, café’s and restaurants of all standards and prices abound in this massive site. Shops, stalls and even an indoor ‘flea market’ are there to browse around. The Sealife Centre caters for the odd rainy day, various boat rides or fishing trips can be had most of the year. No self respecting resort would be complete without the great little ‘Tourist Train’ that plies, bell clanging, around the pathways of the marina, scattering children and adults alike from it’s path. The eastern side of the marina meets directly with the beaches and promenade of Torremolinos, here bars and café’s sit directly on the sands and can be seen leading off in ranks to the town centre.
There is plenty in the area to see and explore if sunbathing gets too much! Marbella is just a few minutes drive along the coast, with its famous ‘Orange Square’ where you can sit beneath fragrant trees and be waited on from a number of café’s that surround the square.
Millionaires playground, Puerto Banus, Marbella’s famous marina. Where an overpriced beer will buy you hours of great people watching. The boats here range from small speedboats to huge transatlantic yachts, some with their own helicopters!