The Costa del Sol is quite large! I suppose the three main resorts are Torremolinos, Benalmadena and Fuengirola. Of the three I prefer Fuengirola because it's very flat. Torremolinos and Benalmadena have flat bits but everything is mainly up some fairly steep hills. Torremolinos has a long beach front with some hotels along it but to get to the main part of the town you either have to find a lift or climbs hundreds of steps up to the main square. I was unfortunate one year and stayed at a hotel called the Griego Mar which is a long walk from the beach and vowed to make sure I knew exactly where the hotels were before I booked them. Recently my husband and I found some hotels right by the beach in Torremolinos and they were at the Benalmadena end of the beach and we'll certainly be booking one of those next year. If you don't want access to lots of shops then those would be suitable as there is a pedestrianised street behind that part of the promenade with some lovely shops and restaurants but to get to the main ones you'd have to find the lift or steps as I mentioned before. The Benalmadena marina is within walking distance as well as several hotels but you have the same problem of it being hilly towards the back of the resort.

Fuengirola is, as I said, dead flat and has a long beach with a promenade that runs the whole length of it. My husband and I have stayed several times at the Las Palmeras Hotel which is directly behind the harbour and just a short walk from the beach. There are lots of shops and restaurants right outside and it can get noisy at certain times of the year if you're given a room overlooking the nearby bars but the rooms at the back, although they overlook a car park, are very quiet. Speaking of the car park, if you stay at the Las Palmeras and hire a car, they have an underground car park but it costs nearly as much as hiring the car - the trouble is, in the height of the season, there's no way you would be able to find a nearby parking space on the street. The evenings are when the resort really comes alive with hundreds of people strolling along the promenade, sitting in bars or looking around the shops. The train station is a short walk from the hotel and you can go from Fuengirola right the way to Malaga, with lots of stops along the way although the station at Belalmadena is right at the back of the resort and no good if you want to get to the beach. The trains run every 15 minutes, are very cheap, clean and reliable. The Fuengirola zoo is also within walking distance and there's an aquapark nearby.

As for half board or all inclusive, I've stayed in all inclusive before and more often than not AI means the hotel isn't in the best position, either being at the far end of a resort or in between resorts with nothing much else around. My son and his wife recently stayed at the Holiday Village between Benalmadena and Fuengirola and while it had good facilities, it was the sort of place where you'd stay if you didn't want to see a lot of the area as it meant either hiring a car or catching a bus and you certainly couldn't go for a stroll in the evenings. If you like seeing the area then half board would be better because then you could eat out in the middle of the day rather than rushing back to get to the food. Although it can be good not to have to take much money to buy food, if you're unlucky and don't like the selection of food in the AI hotel then you're stuck with it. The Gardenia Park hotel in Fuengirola is an AI and the food was very acceptable but the hotel doesn't have air conditioning, (except in the lounge I believe). Eating a hot meal in the dining room in the middle of July, when the sweat was pouring off us, wasn't the most pleasant experience we'd ever had. Perhaps you could have a look in some travel brochures and read about the different resorts, just to get an idea of what each place has to offer. You've still got plenty of time to book. I don't know if you intend to go through a travel agent or intend booking the flights and hotel separately but I can certainly say that booking through a travel agent, while it may give you peace of mind, is certainly a LOT more expensive than booking direct with the airline and hotel or accommodation agency. We always go Easyjet and book the hotels through Alpharooms although I'm in the process of booking a week in Lanzarote for us and some friends and have already booked the flights with Thomsons (Easyjet don't fly there) and will book the apartment direct. I have calculated that I'll save us £110 EACH by booking direct - a saving not to be sniffed at!

thank you for your advise and help, will certainely look into the advise you have given me, Yes I would be booking through a travel agent, such a scaredy cat, would be to afraid to book it on my own...lol
I knew about the holiday village, did look at that this year but didn't have very good reviews so will be avoiding that.
Thanks again.

Hi, welshoney, we went to costa del sol in June this year,
We stayed at the Holiday village, we would not go back there, but lots of people did love it ( so did my kids aged 9 & 12)
We went into Fuengerola- didn't like it much.
Benelmadena- we loved it- it has a chic marina, nice promanade by the beach to walk into torremalenos, best of all Tivoli world is there.
The kids loved this place, we had a brilliant day.
I would check out the hotel reviews, and see if any appeal to you...

benalmadena is really nice and there was a thread recently about the riviera hotel.may be worth checking it out

garry

Don`t be chicken, Welshoney, book your flights with Bmibaby and the hotel with Alpharooms and save a load of money. That is what we do since the holiday companies took millions of holidays out of the system to boost their profits...

Hi welsh honey. I can definately recommend Benalmadena Palace (4*Aparthotel), it's absolutely brilliant especially for the kids, our lad whose 11 loved it there. They had various daytime activities, (Killer darts, archery, snooker, football, games in the swimming pool, etc, etc, Alex the daytime (and evening), entertainer was great with the kids, and had a brill sense of humour. In the evening the entertainment for the kids was good too, the kids were presented with awards/certificates ect.. for coming 1st, 2nd, and third in daytime activities. The entertainment for the adults was good too, Mr &mrs, mr elivator, karioke, Different quiz's. (This is the only hotel we have ever stayed in where the entertainment was good), usually we prefer to have a wonder around, and find our own entertainment, but we didn't come accross many bars that had entertainment on, so was quite happy to stay in hotel at night time. We hardly ever saw our lad, for the 2 weeks, as he was off having a brilliant time with the other kids. If you want any further info just PM me. All the best. BBB.

thanks bellyboo.
hotel looks fantastic, who did you book with?
did you go HB or SC?

hi welsh honey - booked with direct holidays. Much cheaper than airtours (Same company). We went self catering, but you can book half board, if this is the option you prefer, book whilst there, it's much cheaper, and when we were there, there was an offer of 25% off all meals. Evening buffet was 11 euros per adult, and 5euros per child of 12 and under. If you booked over 2 meals in the week, you got another discount (But can't remember how much),we found a lovely italian restaurant, and prefered to eat there, if I you have any further questions, - just ask!! BBB.

hi you should try diy however if you want a good diy company that gives advise try http://www.holidays.ctberbree.com they are spanish and english owned out in costa del sol they will do something for you they are brill.you can email them theyll call you back.
the staff are abta trained but have moved to spain read there web page its still under consruction but its ok

sorry that was http://www.holidays.cyberbree.com