Leaving a wet UK for sunshine and near 80 degrees in Estepona was so so hard.
Estepona was a missing piece in our personal experiences of Spain’s southern coast. Between us Gill and I have seen many of the MICE locations from Valencia down to Cadiz.
Birmingham flights are great for us and although Ryanair are not top of our list for carriers the flight was OK and arriving late afternoon suited us.
The plan was to pick up our hire car, from Malaga airport, and arrive at our hotel mid-evening. Unfortunately a hundred or more people must have had similar plans and were in the queue ahead of us!!!
Once we were on our way it only took 50 minutes from Malaga airport to The Gran Hotel Elba Estepona & Thalasso Spa
Our thanks to our dear friend Mercedes for suggesting the Gran Hotel Elba Estepona & Thalasso Spa and to Monica and Lara for our complimentary stay and lovely junior suite.
Aside from a late breakfast and show round we decided that we would be healthy and have a gym workout before lunch and post lunch try out the thermal spa plus have a spa treatment.
We both thought that wine with our spa treatment would make an unusual change – bathing in it as opposed to drinking. The treatment that caught our eye was 90 minutes of wine bath, scrub and mud wrap followed by massages. But the Spa team were almost fully booked with only one of the team free so unless the Spa could “call in” an extra team member one of us would loose out. As it was Labour Day Bank Holiday, we thought it was going to impossible. Gill opted we toss her double headed coin to see who was lucky.
Unbelievably one of the team gave up their day off!!! Impressive service.
Having been wined, scrubbed, wrapped and massaged we spent a very relaxing two hours thoroughly checking the different thermal baths, various showers and ice room. Finally we took twenty minutes relaxing on heated stone recliners.
Breakfast on the sunny terrace was followed by an hour in the gym before we set off for Estepona.
Estepona town is an unspoilt delight – free of high rise hotels, apartments and offices – such a refreshing change.
We loved the flower pot filled windy streets and picturesque central flower garden square. Just sitting in the sun, sipping a wine and walking around with some great ice cream cones was so relaxing; even though some of the streets were a little steep and the heat melted our ice cream.
We lunched on a terrace overlooking the beach, and as we found out later, picked up a little sunburn.
The long beach offers a number of beachside cafes and bars plus a great nightclub (so we are told by the hotel staff). We were also recommended to look at Robbie’s restaurant but could not find it. This is the place to go for great food, totally unusual fun quirky atmosphere – dishes named after old film stars – just get Robbie talking about Marilyn Monroe!!!
On our return we stopped by the N10 Estepona Palace. Very modern and a little funky with décor.
And we returned to test the poolside sunbeds for an hour before getting ready for a dinner in the Elba’s Al-Andalus restaurant.
The Al-Andalus restaurant is very southern Spain, featuring a lovely indoor space, outside terrace and a small terrace capped by a lovely wooden “dome”.
Was exploration day after a big breakfast.
First stop was the beautiful village of Casares – few photographers could drive past without stopping to photos.
The village is a haphazard heap of stone white boxes tumbling down steep hillsides from the Arab castle which crowns the hill. The pace of Saturday morning life is very slow. Well slow for the residents – we and other tourists were busy wandering the streets taking pictures or enjoying a drink in the village square.
Few shops were open in the morning, locals stood and, I assume, traded gossip while we spent half an hour wandering up and down hilly streets.
En route to Casares we found tiny valley hamlets in wonderful settings, some great views of Gibraltar and, of course, the odd golf club.
Our next stop was to be the equally interesting village of Benahavis, we drove in what we thought as the general direction, enjoying the sunshine and scenery until we found a signpost.
Benahavis also sits on a wonderful hillside, has flower filled gardens and walls along with a pretty main street. We had a late tapas lunch washed down by a local wine and soaked in the sun for a while before locating the restaurant where we intended to eat that evening.
We loved the pepper in oil and balsamic lunch tapas so much we have been making it at home.
On our return we took a brief stop to walk through Kempinski Bahia – a lovely hotel, elegant but modern.
Dinner was in La Sarten, Benahavis – the oldest restaurant in town and family run. Sarten is a blend of restaurant, pub/bar and dining terraces with lovely hillside views. While our starters were traditional as were our side dishes I had one of the best steaks ever and Gill a dish invented by the matriarch of the family – solo millo de cerdo adobado. Marinated pork sirloin.
Was just to chill by the pool, sunbathe and visit the gym. The reception staff allowed a 17:30 check out as we had a late flight back to the rather cooler and wetter Brum airport.
We feel that Estepona has much to offer MICE be it incentives, golf trips or conferences.
Located just 50 mins driving distance from Malaga Airport and 30 minutes from Gibraltar Airport, Estepona is easily accessible.
The obvious being great weather, sea and beach along with an “unspoilt” old town and beautiful countryside with a number of dinner venue options.
The Gran Hotel Elba Estepona & Thalasso Spa (5*) provided us with wonderful service during our stay and we feel it works well for conferences of 150 plus.
Subject to season the hotel may be privatised and will also offer an all-inclusive option.
The main meeting spaces are located under one wing of the hotel so if the outside garden spaces/terraces are being used for dinners with entertainment you need not finish early.
And for hotel choice there are a number of other 5* hotels both on the coast or a little inland along with some great 4* properties. Hotel styles vary from Andalusian to modern and more funky.
Although a number of hotels offer main meeting spaces that approach a 300 pax capacity for those looking for accommodation in a single hotel 200 is a sensible maximum for conferences.
And our DMC Between Congresos y Eventos would be delighted to provide full proposals tailored to your brief.