Since we have a winter vacation, and there was no question of a beach holiday, we went to see Andalusia. Based on our experience of our previous trips around Europe and after reading the responses of tourists, we decided that we would draw up the excursion program ourselves, taking into account our interests, since we read too many negative reviews and complaints about the organization of tour tours.
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Since we have a winter vacation, and there was no question of a beach holiday, we went to see Andalusia. Based on our experience of our previous trips around Europe and after reading the responses of tourists, we decided that we would draw up the excursion program ourselves, taking into account our interests, since we read too many negative reviews and complaints about the organization of tour tours. firms (may the tour firms forgive me). It is better to plan excursions by yourself, and we planned to use public transport.
From this we proceeded when choosing a hotel. Since we had early departures, we didn’t need breakfasts at the hotel (they would simply be gone), and even more so dinners, which we didn’t want to tie ourselves to the hotel at all. Our choice fell on Aparthotel VISTAMAR. The first thing we liked was the appearance of the hotel. In reality, it looks the same as in the photo. The hotel is located in Benalmadena, a 20-minute walk from the port, not reaching the hotels Sun Set Beach, Best Benalmadena.
For some, this will seem far away, but it's how you look. The embankment from the hotel to the port is very pleasant, it is a pleasure to walk along it, but if you are in a hurry, you can use public transport. Near the hotel (about 100m) there is a bus stop. Bus number 110 and 120. One of them goes along the route Malaga - Torremolinos - Benalmadena, along Benalmadena it goes along the coast to Flatotel. The fare to Malaga costs 1.25 euros, to Torremolinos and Benalmadena - 1.1 euros. The second bus goes along the route Torremolinos - Fuengirola, along Benalmadena it also goes along the coast. There are no problems with supermarkets either. If you go down to the main road from the hotel, you can go to the right, past Burgerking, (200 meters) there will be a large SuperCor supermarket. If you go to the left, before reaching Bill-Bill Castle, turn left again, then, going up the street, you can reach Mercadona.
These are large supermarkets (relatively, of course, not Auchan), and along the way there are small ones like SuperSol. Both the location and the appearance of the hotel were satisfied.
The service leaves much to be desired. There were, to put it mildly, disagreements about cleaning the room and changing towels. We tried to prove that the change of towels in four stars should be daily, to which we were given the answer that this is an apartment, and they have one day off. But after an hour of conversation at the reception, the husband still achieved a daily change of towels, and better cleaning. Bed linen was changed after two days on the third. Our room was on the eighth floor, the view was of the mountains and Benalmadena-Pueblo. A big disadvantage of the rooms that had a sea view is the road - the hotel is located 20 meters from the main road, but the noise from it is still heard, and in the morning when we opened the door to the balcony, the birds sang.
The hotel is clearly not in demand among our compatriots, for the entire time of our stay there (Two weeks) we did not meet Russian speakers.
I can’t say anything about the daily meals, since they took it without meals, but I’ll stop a little at the New Year’s dinner, which was included in the tour package. We received invitations to celebrate the New Year at the hotel two days before the holiday. At 20-00 we left the room to celebrate the New Year in Spanish. The doors of the banquet hall were kindly opened before us by two smart Spaniards, and what do we see?! ! ! Two thirds of the total number of tables in the large banquet hall are occupied by English grandparents! ! ! We approach the table with the number that is marked on our invitation card, two couples, over 60 years old, are already sitting at it .... The first minutes of our stay in the banquet hall were brightened up by large shiny packages that lay on each chair.
While we were examining the contents of the package, we tried to cope with the feelings that flooded over us when we ended up in this club, who are over 60 ... And the packages contained the following: a small whistle, a large whistle, a set of serpentine, a New Year's mask, a rattle, a necklace from tinsel, and something that at least somehow cheered me up - everyone got some kind of headdress, for example, a flight attendant's cap, like many of those present, and imagine - I take out a black hat with narrow brim, such as the Spaniards wear on holidays, the grandparents sitting nearby even hooted, there were only two such hats in the hall. Having exchanged hats with my husband, we had no choice but to come to terms with our situation. I was struck by the clothes of grandparents, they were so modest, not festively dressed, our mothers and grandmothers only go home like that.
Everyone was brightened up by bright, festively dressed Spaniards, mostly middle-aged people, who occupied the tables of the remaining one-third of the hall, most likely residents of Benalmadena. The festive dinner began. The dishes, which were constantly changing, were so skillfully decorated that it was not always clear what was brought. For table setting, for decorating dishes, for the quality of the meal, the chef could be given 5 +++++, everything was very tasty and aesthetically pleasing, but there was no cultural and entertainment program, we were very surprised by this. Every New Year we celebrate in some country, and at least some kind of program usually happens, but nothing here. The time comes to 22-00, i. e. to the Moscow New Year. At the table, at the very least, as far as the base of the English language allows us, we communicate with our grandparents. I forgot to say that only we are Russian speakers in the hall, there are no tourists from Russia or the CIS countries.
The husband calls the Spanish waitress and explains to her in English that we are from Russia, and the New Year's Eve is approaching Moscow time, and, it would be nice to have a bottle of cava on our table. She tries to explain to him that the cava will be in two hours - for the New Year. The husband began to explain to her again that we now want to celebrate the New Year, we do not know what she understood, but five minutes later we had a bottle of cava on the table. A few minutes before the Russian New Year, my husband poured kava into glasses for everyone present at our table. I explained to our grandparents that we are celebrating the Russian New Year, and at 22-00 Spanish time - at midnight Moscow time shouting Russia Happy New Year, lifting our grandparents from their chairs, we celebrated the New Year in Russian time !! ! ! From the outside, it must have looked very funny. While we were eating delicious food, a DJ came over.
He began to set up the equipment, and we had hope for something like a disco. And so, the time is 23-45, the DJ announced into the microphone that the New Year is coming soon, and that it's time to wake up, and all our grandparents buzzed their whistles and crackled their rattles. We didn’t know what to do with our laughter, because it looked very funny - in front of me, grandfather tried so hard to blow into the whistle that I thought his eyes would pop out of their sockets. Five minutes before the New Year, everyone took out a bowl with the famous 12 grapes, and most of them picked up, my husband tried to explain to our grandparents at the table that this was a Spanish tradition, but they replied that this was not their tradition, that they were meeting the New a year with champagne or cava - they never ate grapes. Exactly at twelve, all the Spaniards, and tourists who respect the customs of the country, and we, of course, began to eat grapes in unison.
In the bathroom (combined with a toilet) - a bathroom, in trouble, on the first day there were toiletries, later only soap was replenished in containers at the sink and in the bathroom. Plumbing in good condition and working properly. The room is medium in size but comfortable. The balcony-loggia is finished with beautiful tiles (under the tiles).
Beach across the road. It seems to me that due to some remoteness of the hotel, in summer it is not so crowded, and this is a big plus. If we go to the Costa del Sol again, then only to this hotel.
From this we proceeded when choosing a hotel. Since we had early departures, we didn’t need breakfasts at the hotel (they would simply be gone), and even more so dinners, which we didn’t want to tie ourselves to the hotel at all. Our choice fell on Aparthotel VISTAMAR. The first thing we liked was the appearance of the hotel. In reality, it looks the same as in the photo. The hotel is located in Benalmadena, a 20-minute walk from the port, not reaching the hotels Sun Set Beach, Best Benalmadena.
For some, this will seem far away, but it's how you look. The embankment from the hotel to the port is very pleasant, it is a pleasure to walk along it, but if you are in a hurry, you can use public transport. Near the hotel (about 100m) there is a bus stop. Bus number 110 and 120. One of them goes along the route Malaga - Torremolinos - Benalmadena, along Benalmadena it goes along the coast to Flatotel. The fare to Malaga costs 1.25 euros, to Torremolinos and Benalmadena - 1.1 euros. The second bus goes along the route Torremolinos - Fuengirola, along Benalmadena it also goes along the coast. There are no problems with supermarkets either. If you go down to the main road from the hotel, you can go to the right, past Burgerking, (200 meters) there will be a large SuperCor supermarket. If you go to the left, before reaching Bill-Bill Castle, turn left again, then, going up the street, you can reach Mercadona.
These are large supermarkets (relatively, of course, not Auchan), and along the way there are small ones like SuperSol. Both the location and the appearance of the hotel were satisfied.
The service leaves much to be desired. There were, to put it mildly, disagreements about cleaning the room and changing towels. We tried to prove that the change of towels in four stars should be daily, to which we were given the answer that this is an apartment, and they have one day off. But after an hour of conversation at the reception, the husband still achieved a daily change of towels, and better cleaning. Bed linen was changed after two days on the third. Our room was on the eighth floor, the view was of the mountains and Benalmadena-Pueblo. A big disadvantage of the rooms that had a sea view is the road - the hotel is located 20 meters from the main road, but the noise from it is still heard, and in the morning when we opened the door to the balcony, the birds sang.
The hotel is clearly not in demand among our compatriots, for the entire time of our stay there (Two weeks) we did not meet Russian speakers.
I can’t say anything about the daily meals, since they took it without meals, but I’ll stop a little at the New Year’s dinner, which was included in the tour package. We received invitations to celebrate the New Year at the hotel two days before the holiday. At 20-00 we left the room to celebrate the New Year in Spanish. The doors of the banquet hall were kindly opened before us by two smart Spaniards, and what do we see?! ! ! Two thirds of the total number of tables in the large banquet hall are occupied by English grandparents! ! ! We approach the table with the number that is marked on our invitation card, two couples, over 60 years old, are already sitting at it .... The first minutes of our stay in the banquet hall were brightened up by large shiny packages that lay on each chair.
While we were examining the contents of the package, we tried to cope with the feelings that flooded over us when we ended up in this club, who are over 60 ... And the packages contained the following: a small whistle, a large whistle, a set of serpentine, a New Year's mask, a rattle, a necklace from tinsel, and something that at least somehow cheered me up - everyone got some kind of headdress, for example, a flight attendant's cap, like many of those present, and imagine - I take out a black hat with narrow brim, such as the Spaniards wear on holidays, the grandparents sitting nearby even hooted, there were only two such hats in the hall. Having exchanged hats with my husband, we had no choice but to come to terms with our situation. I was struck by the clothes of grandparents, they were so modest, not festively dressed, our mothers and grandmothers only go home like that.
Everyone was brightened up by bright, festively dressed Spaniards, mostly middle-aged people, who occupied the tables of the remaining one-third of the hall, most likely residents of Benalmadena. The festive dinner began. The dishes, which were constantly changing, were so skillfully decorated that it was not always clear what was brought. For table setting, for decorating dishes, for the quality of the meal, the chef could be given 5 +++++, everything was very tasty and aesthetically pleasing, but there was no cultural and entertainment program, we were very surprised by this. Every New Year we celebrate in some country, and at least some kind of program usually happens, but nothing here. The time comes to 22-00, i. e. to the Moscow New Year. At the table, at the very least, as far as the base of the English language allows us, we communicate with our grandparents. I forgot to say that only we are Russian speakers in the hall, there are no tourists from Russia or the CIS countries.
The husband calls the Spanish waitress and explains to her in English that we are from Russia, and the New Year's Eve is approaching Moscow time, and, it would be nice to have a bottle of cava on our table. She tries to explain to him that the cava will be in two hours - for the New Year. The husband began to explain to her again that we now want to celebrate the New Year, we do not know what she understood, but five minutes later we had a bottle of cava on the table. A few minutes before the Russian New Year, my husband poured kava into glasses for everyone present at our table. I explained to our grandparents that we are celebrating the Russian New Year, and at 22-00 Spanish time - at midnight Moscow time shouting Russia Happy New Year, lifting our grandparents from their chairs, we celebrated the New Year in Russian time !! ! ! From the outside, it must have looked very funny. While we were eating delicious food, a DJ came over.
He began to set up the equipment, and we had hope for something like a disco. And so, the time is 23-45, the DJ announced into the microphone that the New Year is coming soon, and that it's time to wake up, and all our grandparents buzzed their whistles and crackled their rattles. We didn’t know what to do with our laughter, because it looked very funny - in front of me, grandfather tried so hard to blow into the whistle that I thought his eyes would pop out of their sockets. Five minutes before the New Year, everyone took out a bowl with the famous 12 grapes, and most of them picked up, my husband tried to explain to our grandparents at the table that this was a Spanish tradition, but they replied that this was not their tradition, that they were meeting the New a year with champagne or cava - they never ate grapes. Exactly at twelve, all the Spaniards, and tourists who respect the customs of the country, and we, of course, began to eat grapes in unison.
In the bathroom (combined with a toilet) - a bathroom, in trouble, on the first day there were toiletries, later only soap was replenished in containers at the sink and in the bathroom. Plumbing in good condition and working properly. The room is medium in size but comfortable. The balcony-loggia is finished with beautiful tiles (under the tiles).
Beach across the road. It seems to me that due to some remoteness of the hotel, in summer it is not so crowded, and this is a big plus. If we go to the Costa del Sol again, then only to this hotel.
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