Ive also just returned from Carihuela, it was my first visit but wont be my last , i absolutely love the place, we stayed at the Palm Beach Apartments which were fine, but discovered there wasnt any air conditioning in our apartment , wasnt too bad though as we left windows open all night and being on top floor gave us a cool breeze. Already looking for flights for next year to go back, would recommend it to anyone.

Sanji it must be the design on the older style bathrooms. We stayed in a small hotel in Ibiza a couple of years ago and the bath and toilet were the same there and I know what you mean about the gurgling noise.Hopefully the Pez Espada will refurbish their bathrooms and get rid of the smell.

What ever the wiff La Carihuela is still a wonderfull place to visit, I am looking to go again next easter. Not long for you now Sanji.

I have stayed at the Palm Beach appartments and even though i enjoyed it thought they was a bit pricey and didnt like the fact that you had to pay 30 euro's, on top of price of the apartment, for air conditioning

We bought our Apartment at Torrequebrada near to the Sunset Beach Hotel 3 years ago & try to visit it as often as possible all the year round.
We started off watching "A Place in the Sun" with a vision of buying a small casa to renovate in a white village & try to integrate into the local community.
I am so glad we did`nt.
We land at the airport & within 15 minutes we`re in our Apartment.
Everytime we visit we love it,the area & ambience it`s so relaxing.
As a base it`s great with the Motorway network.
You can be ski-ing in less than 2 hours above Granada in the Seirra Nevada, or watching Flamenco dancers in Seville within two hours.
Puerto Banus for "people watching" in 40 minutes.
We stayed at the Pez Espada as a recommendation when we first started exploring Spain & the Hotel was looking tired 3 years ago!
I sometimes do an early morning jog/walk from our Apartment to Torremolinos its about 8 miles in total along the Paseo Maritimo from Playa Bil Bil to Torremolinos & at that time of the morning you see the effort that is being put into painting, sweeping up & cleaning the resort by the local authorities before everyone gets up.
Away from the front line i`m afraid it`s a different story with refuse & excrement on the footpaths.
The locals (all nationalities) don`t appreciate & are ignorant that the local economy is so very dependant on repeat tourism. Things are getting better.
The Paseo Maritimo is excellent in particular the La Carihuela area.
Has anyone you seen the double sunbeds, pamper & massage areas in front of Resturants San Miguel/Don Juan. It`s like Hollywood!
There is an abundance of Resturants,our current favourites are Cristals of Costamar, La Serana, & the Wok in Arroyo. There are hundreds to choose from & we seem to find a new one on every visit.

Hola Adrian and welcome to HT.
I agree with everything you say, but I'm afraid it's not just this area, if you go to other parts of Spain and venture into the residential area's or a few streets back from the Paseo Maritimo, the problem of dog excrement fouling the pavements is every where.

This is something that really really annoys me and there is nobody to blame except the dog owners, in fact why people want to keep a large dog in a shoe-box apartment is beyond me and when the temperatures get sky high, it must be agony for the dog.

Has anyone you seen the double sunbeds, pamper & massage areas in front of Resturants San Miguel/Don Juan. It`s like Hollywood!

No, but I might do in September

Sanji
Edit for Typo error

I have to be carefull as i`m a new poster on here but what i will say is...........
It`s not that long ago since Spain was a 3rd world country.
Back in the 60`s i remember just how backwards it was.
& like any other hot destination change takes time zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Having said that the infrastructure of the New Spain, the trains, planes & motorway system & a lot of other things are excellent.
That said the government does need to address the sewage & littering issues.
Dust Bins are emptied most days, they don`t seperate the waste just yet as i think that would be a "bridge too far".
Its changing the culture & that`s the thing.
The local Spanish authorities need to clamp down on the dog owners etc & issue on the spot fines etc.
With unemployment running at 20% then the pets will suffer judging by the number of pet sanctuarys & strays on the street it is an increasing problem.

The Local Police are quick to fine people for not having id cards but you will see young people tearing up & down the streets with no helmets on?
Change will come i`m sure.
They are just digesting the compulsory wearing of seat belts.
Meanwhile i`ll be checking on all things clean in August & September, October & December!

Hi adrian , i seen the double sunbeds more like four poster beds with drapes. Wn5, i liked the apartments but im looking for a private let next time, i would have been willing to pay the extra for air conditioning but our apartment didnt have it.

The whole of the Costa is living on it's past reputation. Many of the older hotels need gutting.

How is the new 5* hotel progressing?
Obviously a long time yet, but any pics?

Robby

Hi Robbie.
It's not progressing (see my earlier post) therefore, I saw no point in taking another picture.
This was from last June and it's still (more or less) the same, even the cranes are still in situ.


Sanji

I have noticed that a couple of the large Apartment Blocks on the Headland just a little way after La Carihuela & front line on the Paseo Maritimo have been given a major facelift.
A lot of the major building works have been mothballed until things pick up i guess.
There is also a distinct lack of cranes on the horizon & that i don`t mind!!
The new mayor has pledged to improve the appearance of the resorts.
I guess that once the Airport is completed & that`s not far off.
The European economy will pick up & then we`ll see the A330 wide bodied jets landing & an increase in tourism.
The downside is that most of those passengers initially will be All-inclusive & destined for the large Hotel complex in between Benalmadena & Fuengirola. Eventually i expect long haul passengers ie Americans & Chinese etc will venture to the Costa.

Cheers Sanji.
Can you remember the supposed opening date??
A long way off and probably longer if little progress.

Robby

Hi Robby
It was supposed to be May 2010, which gave them just over 3 years to build it....Now, they haven't got a prayer.
First they were going to have a helicopter pad on the top, until Malaga Airport said "No", so they had to change directions and draw up new plans.....then they (Torremolinos Ayuntamiento) got the full wrath of the Andalucian Government for giving planning permission in the first place.
So, to date, it remains a gigantic eye-sore.

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=108647&p=1085683&hilit=hotel+cruiser#p1085683

Sanji

Hi Sanji

Just read your posts as we have been away, last week of June in Torre, and last week in Lanzarote.

We stayed at The Aloha ( I almost booked The Pez simply because of your recommendations) and have to say we had no complaints with our hotel, no sewage smells etc., and the food was varied with almost anything you could think of.

The Aloha is dated and IMO is more of a good 3* standard but the rooms are large and clean so no complaints.

Personally I prefer Benidorm to the CDS so I don't think we shall return but we did enjoy our holiday.

My son spent a year in Australia so I know how much you miss and worry about them, but how lovely for you both with your surprise visitor.

Regards....Caz

Hola!

Returned from La Carihuela last night - and want to go back already!

Had an absolute fantastic time. Just me and my husband (children stayed with grandparents). We caught the train from the airport to El Pinillo Station (1.4E each) Train on time and exceptionally clean. We stayed at a superb little hotel called La Luna Blanca (owned by a Japanese couple). It took us about ten minutes to walk from the station (although the owners had offered to collect us from the station - it was a lovely evening and we fancied the stroll). Also, we were provided with an absolutely accurate map, courtesy of Sanji (thank-you!), so knew exactly where we were going.

I won't go on about the hotel too much as I am going to leave a separate review. All I will say is it was beautiful and that the owners Chizuko and Reiko couldn't do enough for us and made our stay a very special one indeed.

On our first morning, after breakfast, we walked along the promenade into Benalmadena up to Sunset Beach to look at the Benalmadena Palace where we stayed a few years ago with the children. Got 'hijacked' here by a lady trying to sell timeshares (although we did not know at the time, hubby claimed he did though!!!!) very clever too, I must say. She just caught my eye and started chatting about the weather, asked where we'd walked from etc. Then offered us a scratch card at which point we said no thank you. She ensured us that she wasn't selling anything. She then commented on how brown my husband was and it was our first day, yet she'd lived in Spain for almost 20 years and could never get a tan. Cue for the question (which I foolishly asked) 'Where abouts do you live'. She told us that she lived not far from Fuerengirola in a poor residential area with her 12 year old daughter, would love to return to Scotland, but her ex partner would not let his daughter leave the country...........

Anyway, my husband scratched his card to reveal 2 sunshines - free bottle of vodka. Then I scratched mine to reveal 4 sunshines, at which point the 'lady' burst into tears and sobbed how this would automatically give her an extra 100E bonus and how it would 'so help me and my daughter'. She was a very good actress indeed.

I had apparently won either £1000E, a free flight and holiday or a camcorder - and could we please just nip over with her to the Sunset Beach Hotel/Apartments to have a quick look round at the recent 3E million refurb (in the current climate? - I don't think so!) and tell the manager there that we would certainly recommend it and that would be that, we would be free to leave...........well after about 90 minutes, no longer. By this stage we smelt a rat...........so told her we'd see her on our way back down from the Benalmadena Palace, and obviously took a different route back. She remained at the bottom of the hill, still sobbing and shaking her head in disbelieve with her £100E bonus!!! The worrying thing about her, and I'm sure many others that do this sort of thing, is that are very very clever, getting you into a conversation about various things, well before they produce the scratch cards. Very well trained - unfortunately.

From there we walked up to Alloya and had a walk around and stopped for a drink and watched the Spanish go along their way. Then down to Paloma Park (which is one of my most favourite parks). Lots of Spanish around, and also a school trip (I'd say probably 6-7 year olds), whose laughter could be heard throughout the park - lovely! Then back onto the Promenade and back into Carihuela for some lunch and a drink.

Following morning after breakfast, we had a stroll into Torremolinos and had a browse around the little streets/shops there, before venturing back and spent a few hours on the beach. Decided then to return to our hotel and have a dip in their pool, so went back to the room to get changed and there in the corner was an ice bucket with a bottle of Cava and two champagne glasses from the owner wishing my husband a happy birthday. Needless to say, after drinking that on our balcony, did not think it wise to go for a swim!!

Day three we decided to catch the train into Furengirola and took a walk along the promenade, passed the castle and stopped for a drink at one of the many beach bars. Then walked back to the opposite end, had some lunch and caught the train back and had a swim at the hotel (no Cava this time!!!).

And our last day saw us chilling out on the beach, going for the occasional swim to cool down!

What did sadden us during our stay is the amount of bar owners we spoke to who are really struggling this season as a result of the euro and the credit-crunch. Some of the ones we spoke to had been out there 15 years and said that this year would be either make or break. They were all saying how quiet it is for July. Can't really comment on this, as we normally go in the school holidays anway, so don't know what its like in term-time.

We had lunch at a lovely little bar on the sea front called The Dark Side of the Moon. Just sold simple snacks at reasonable prices and the owners were very friendly. It is inbetween the Buen Sol and Pez Espada and has a green area infront of it, so is quite set back, but can still see the beach when sat outside.

Also had dinner at a lovely Italian restauranr called Da Fano around the Marina. Very busy, superb food and very reasonably priced. Some friends of ours ate in the Chinese in the Marina and also said how good and reasonably priced that was. Also had a night cap at Champagne Charlies on our way back to the hotel (set along the next road back from the Promenade). Lovely cosy bar, nice music (60's and 70's) and some very pleasant people in there. The owner too, is a lovely very sociable man. There were quite a few bars on this stretch. but this was the only one we called in, although some of the others looked very busy as they had entertainment on.

Having spoke to a lot of bar owners there, they too said that a lot of building work had come to a halt and things were very quite.

I wish everyone who has a business in this area all the very best and hope that they survive this very difficult time - it is a lovely place and these people work so hard...........so despite the Euro, it will be Spain for us again next year, we will give them all the support they need

We loved this part of Spain and also visit Benidorm with our lads in the school holidays. We were trying to decide which was our favourite..............we love them both, but think Carihuela just has the edge, especially when not travelling with children.

Roll on two weeks on Tuesday and its off to the Terralta in Benidorm with the family to give our support to that area of Spain too!

And finally, a big thanks again to everyone who gave us useful information for this break. Have taken some pics so will have a go at posting them - although don't hold your breath, I'm not very good at uploading pics!

Apologies for rambling on...... !!

Cheers

Elaine

PS - I gave my name and phone number to one of those ladies at the airport as we were queueing to board the plane, she told me it was a prize draw - what an eejit!

Hi Elaine.
I'm so glad you've had a nice time and found the intructions/map useful, cor blimey, you got about a bit and packed a lot into 4 days.
If you want any help with the photos, just send me a PM....I made a little video of my photos and after spending ages editing it, I closed the programme down and clicked the wrong button, so, it wasn't saved and now I have to start from scratch again....silly me, silly moment.

We had lunch at a lovely little bar on the sea front called The Dark Side of the Moon. Just sold simple snacks at reasonable prices and the owners were very friendly. It is inbetween the Buen Sol and Pez Espada and has a green area infront of it, so is quite set back, but can still see the beach when sat outside.

I can't believe it, you probably sat in the same chair as I did two weeks ago.
I don't use British bars ( with the exception of the Dark Side of the Moon) and the first time we went there a few years ago, it was because it's opposite the section of the beach that we use, just up from the Pez Espada, and I think I was crossing my legs for a pee.

Their Sunday lunches are very good indeed, we have never bothered before, we usually have a light snack, but we had one last year as we had a late flight home and wouldn't have anything to eat after breakfast, so, to pass some time away and to get a good meal inside us, we gave the Sunday lunch a try, it was excellent and I couldn't have cooked it better myself.........we took our son there for a good meal....the only problem is, that they only open 10 am to approx 5 pm each day.

For anyone who knows about this bar, Mike and Jenny have retired and it has new owners now, but the chef (Gary) and the waitress Julie ( his wife) are still working there, so, the food hasn't changed...just the owners

Sanji

Hello Sanji
If you stopped at the Pez Espada no doubt you will have ventured across the road to Pepe`s bar. Is it still going?
What a nice man & a little gold mine it was. Tea towels adorn the walls.
He would start sober at about 10.00am & by midnight he`d be well on his way hic!
His lovely wife did all the cooking in the smallest kitchen in Spain & produced some excellent dishes!

Adrian

If you stopped at the Pez Espada no doubt you will have ventured across the road to Pepe`s bar. Is it still going?

Pepe is retiring, his bar or I should say the lease, is up for sale....yes a lovely couple, a gentleman.

Also, Imo : the people who are taking the full brunt of the bad currency/exchange/recession, are the people who rent out the sun-beds/parasols on the beach.
9 Euros for two beds and a parasol, that's nearly £9 and if you times that by 12 days,(£108) it becomes a question for those on a tight budget whether they want to spend £9 on a bed or £9 on a snack.

Before the bad exchange rate/recession, you were lucky to get a bed if you went on the beach after 11 am....now you can take your pick all day long...it was heartbreaking to see rows and rows of the beds empty, even though there were plenty of people in the resort during our stay.

Sanji

I agree about the sunbeds.
What i don`t understand is how they arrive at 8 / 9Euros?
It is greed by the authorities.
The majority of the wooden beds & Parasols are in poor condition & if you look down the beach their must be over a thousand.
A real revenue maker.
We sunbathe at the Fuengirola end of Benalmadena at the side of the Sunset Beach.
It was 8 Euros in early June & the beach attendant also did a waiter service from the nearby Beach Resturant/bar with meals & drinks.
Most of the spanish holiday makers to & fro`d from the Burger King across the road.
I must admit i added up the cost & was surprised that it reduced £100+ out of our spending money.