Hi Davanne.
I can't understand why anybody would give planning permission to build a hotel in that location with the design of the hotel Cruiser and the Junta de Andalusia are now questioning the decision, and of course the recession hit Spain"¦"¦. The last I heard, it had gone to Seville to be sorted out because of some problem with the building license ....IMO, it's going to look kindda 'space age clean' amongst the surrounding typical Andalusian properties, and it can't take away from the fact that if you walk to the bottom of the street on Avda Salvador Allende, some of that really needs flattening (in places) and are the kind of people who will pay 5* prices for a 5* hotel going to sit on a plastic chair all night to save a few euros in the bars offering 'cheap booze'? I don't think so.
Looking on the positive side, it will bring employment to hundreds of people, but there always seems a 'price to pay' for that, these days.
I don't think the traffic will be such a problem except for those people who have property at the top of Avda España because all the traffic will probably come off from Avda Carlota Alessandri at the top of Avda España, near the roundabout....
I'm glad that someone had the sense to slap a preservation order on La Carihuela village and whilst the shops may change, there will never be any high rise horrors or a vast swerve from its character today.
I'm in dull and dreary South Yorkshire until the 16th September"¦.I do like the atmosphere in Torremolinos during the San Miguel fiesta and I'm counting down the weeks.
Sanji
Getting back to the costs.
Some are talking the pee, but generally speaking I really didn't find the prices extortionate, maybe that's because I've been going every year and I've seen/paid the slow increase in the price of goods, but I appreciate that if you haven't been to Spain for years and are still in love with the Peseta prices, you will be shocked, but I do think that if you're going to go self catering, then you have to have a dabble at it, otherwise eating out for every meal will become expensive, and the final cost will be the same as staying in a hotel on something like H/B.....it's not really the price that niggles me, it's the quality of the food on offer.
I think to get the full benefit of self-catering, you certainly have to shop where the locals go, and get the idea of imported British named brands out of your head...EG: Tomatoes are tomatoes and those with a well known British label on the tin have probably been grown in Spain anyway...oranges, eggs, ham, cheese etc, it's all the same at the end of the day.
Each to their own, but I can't sit in a grotty Brit bar on a plastic chair all night to save a few euros.
Last September, we went into a place called Champagne Charlie's opposite the hotel Sol Aloha Puerto because we were meeting some friends who wanted to meet us there, and from the outside it looks a dump, TBH I wasn't really looking forward to it, but they were driving up from Fuengirola and liked this place, and knew where to park the car.
I was pleasantly surprise when we walked inside...it was just like an old fashioned British pub with carpets, plush velour seats and not a plastic chair in sight, plus the TV's were on mute and there was some good background music being played, and a nice crowd of people in there, but, you were paying for the surroundings because the drink prices were on par with the hotels"¦"¦It's become a bit of a beggar when some of the British and Spanish bars are charging more than the 4* hotel Pez Espada for drinks....someone is getting greedy.
Without doubt these days you've got to shop around and self catering can still be done a lot cheaper than staying in a hotel, but not if you're going to go out for every meal and buy a tin of British baked beans or a British brand of bread.
Sanji
Some are talking the pee, but generally speaking I really didn't find the prices extortionate, maybe that's because I've been going every year and I've seen/paid the slow increase in the price of goods, but I appreciate that if you haven't been to Spain for years and are still in love with the Peseta prices, you will be shocked, but I do think that if you're going to go self catering, then you have to have a dabble at it, otherwise eating out for every meal will become expensive, and the final cost will be the same as staying in a hotel on something like H/B.....it's not really the price that niggles me, it's the quality of the food on offer.
I think to get the full benefit of self-catering, you certainly have to shop where the locals go, and get the idea of imported British named brands out of your head...EG: Tomatoes are tomatoes and those with a well known British label on the tin have probably been grown in Spain anyway...oranges, eggs, ham, cheese etc, it's all the same at the end of the day.
Each to their own, but I can't sit in a grotty Brit bar on a plastic chair all night to save a few euros.
Last September, we went into a place called Champagne Charlie's opposite the hotel Sol Aloha Puerto because we were meeting some friends who wanted to meet us there, and from the outside it looks a dump, TBH I wasn't really looking forward to it, but they were driving up from Fuengirola and liked this place, and knew where to park the car.
I was pleasantly surprise when we walked inside...it was just like an old fashioned British pub with carpets, plush velour seats and not a plastic chair in sight, plus the TV's were on mute and there was some good background music being played, and a nice crowd of people in there, but, you were paying for the surroundings because the drink prices were on par with the hotels"¦"¦It's become a bit of a beggar when some of the British and Spanish bars are charging more than the 4* hotel Pez Espada for drinks....someone is getting greedy.
Without doubt these days you've got to shop around and self catering can still be done a lot cheaper than staying in a hotel, but not if you're going to go out for every meal and buy a tin of British baked beans or a British brand of bread.
Sanji
-
Edited by
Sanji
2010-08-18 17:02:28
Hello Snaji,
Thank you for your comments on this topic. Your right about sitting in the plastic chairs etc. I do prefere to go self catering as i do enjoy going to a nice restaurant etc. It must be about 5 years since i last went to Benalmadena, i think it was Euros then, i was probably moaning about the prices back then too ,lol.... Maybe i just like the old times too much, i like to reminice(spelling?) about being out there, cant wait to get back out there one day. Very true regarding the food in the super markets,its just a case of trial and error really.
Kind regards
Adam
Thank you for your comments on this topic. Your right about sitting in the plastic chairs etc. I do prefere to go self catering as i do enjoy going to a nice restaurant etc. It must be about 5 years since i last went to Benalmadena, i think it was Euros then, i was probably moaning about the prices back then too ,lol.... Maybe i just like the old times too much, i like to reminice(spelling?) about being out there, cant wait to get back out there one day. Very true regarding the food in the super markets,its just a case of trial and error really.
Kind regards
Adam
We do long stays now, and thought we would visit local market for fresh fruit & veg ( back of Paloma Park) but were very disappointed with the quality & price of most stuff we found there..
We now use Mercadona, and have found their fresh goods really nice, Mas in Benal have a really poor display, lots of stuff on their shelves looked rotten
We like to frequent small Sp bars, for coffee/tapas/sangria...but do enjoy some Brit Bars, were there is a lively atmosphere & no TV's....
Sanji not spotted Champagne Charlies, but will look out for it next Visit..
We now use Mercadona, and have found their fresh goods really nice, Mas in Benal have a really poor display, lots of stuff on their shelves looked rotten
We like to frequent small Sp bars, for coffee/tapas/sangria...but do enjoy some Brit Bars, were there is a lively atmosphere & no TV's....
Sanji not spotted Champagne Charlies, but will look out for it next Visit..
Hi Davanne
I've just edited my post because I wrote "in June" and it was last September when we first found Champagne Charlies....Time flys and I have so much going off at the moment, that I'm having trouble remembering what day it is.
It's a few doors away from the bus stop, right at the end of Avda Salvador Allende and more or less opposite the hotel Sol Aloha Puerto, it only opens at night and if you walk by during the day, you can easily miss it because it's all locked up with a gate and you'd think "what a dump".!
There's about 6 steps leading off from the pavement and at first you enter an area with cane chairs/cushions/tables and then the "pub" area is just beyond....it's all the same place, but it just depends where you prefer to sit.
It might not be everybody's "cup of tea" and we all have different preferences, but IMO it's one step up from the usual Brit plastic chair scenario, especially if you're wanting a nice comfy place to have a conversation and not having to shout above the music or the TV, and they play a good range of background music from the 60's right through the years, to today.
Sanji
I've just edited my post because I wrote "in June" and it was last September when we first found Champagne Charlies....Time flys and I have so much going off at the moment, that I'm having trouble remembering what day it is.
It's a few doors away from the bus stop, right at the end of Avda Salvador Allende and more or less opposite the hotel Sol Aloha Puerto, it only opens at night and if you walk by during the day, you can easily miss it because it's all locked up with a gate and you'd think "what a dump".!
There's about 6 steps leading off from the pavement and at first you enter an area with cane chairs/cushions/tables and then the "pub" area is just beyond....it's all the same place, but it just depends where you prefer to sit.
It might not be everybody's "cup of tea" and we all have different preferences, but IMO it's one step up from the usual Brit plastic chair scenario, especially if you're wanting a nice comfy place to have a conversation and not having to shout above the music or the TV, and they play a good range of background music from the 60's right through the years, to today.
Sanji
Each to their own, but I can't sit in a grotty Brit bar on a plastic chair all night to save a few euros.
That's my thought too. Having lived in Spain for 15 years I like a good British meal for a change. Most are much better value than the spanish restaurants. However for people coming for just a week or two I can't understand why they would want to sit in a dingy Brit bar just because the beer is 1 euro. I would be wanting to try something different and see some local culture.
I do wonder how these bars survive charging so little. Bar rental is about 1000 euro per month, local taxes. water, electric. Plus 250 pm for autonomo (self-employed NI). That is a lot of pints to sell before breaking even.
That's my thought too. Having lived in Spain for 15 years I like a good British meal for a change. Most are much better value than the spanish restaurants. However for people coming for just a week or two I can't understand why they would want to sit in a dingy Brit bar just because the beer is 1 euro. I would be wanting to try something different and see some local culture.
I do wonder how these bars survive charging so little. Bar rental is about 1000 euro per month, local taxes. water, electric. Plus 250 pm for autonomo (self-employed NI). That is a lot of pints to sell before breaking even.
Sanji is C Charlies next to Fig & Olive or on next corner, if it only opens at night thats why we have missed it, will stroll down Monte next visit, and find it...
Jacky i think these bars exist because they always seem full, especially the one's in Ibensa Sq, they must turn over barrels of beer so quickly..but even then, with overheads they cannot make much of a profit..
We do not mind spending a few more €'s on our evenings out, and getting a comfy chair, might be an age thing..
Jacky i think these bars exist because they always seem full, especially the one's in Ibensa Sq, they must turn over barrels of beer so quickly..but even then, with overheads they cannot make much of a profit..
We do not mind spending a few more €'s on our evenings out, and getting a comfy chair, might be an age thing..
Sanji is C Charlies next to Fig & Olive or on next corner, if it only opens at night thats why we have missed it, will stroll down Monte next visit, and find it...
I've sent you a pm.
Sanji
Thxs Sanji know exactly were it is now..
well i was in fuengirola from 9/08 - 19/08 and i thought prices had dropped between 65 cent -1.50 for a glass of red wine, currency was around 1.18 - 1.19.5 all food has dropped in the english bars, we really did notice the difference to last year,. last year was just too expensive...I am planning self catering in july in fuengi next year the supermarkets really were quite cheap..lots of deals and offers on meals all around los boliches and fuengirola centre..
On my last visit in September staying in S/C accommodation for 2 weeks, I like a mission 
and I did a bit of an exercise regarding what we spent on food, so I saved every one of the receipts from Super Sol, Maxi Dia and Lidl supermarkets and in front of me I have 10 receipts.
The two biggest 'shops' came to €25.80 at Supersol and €27.34 at Maxi Dia, all the rest were figures between €3 and €10 (ish).
The grand total is €122.03, which based on the exchange rate at the time is £107.04"¦.I can't live at home for that.!
So, what did we buy during our visits to the supermarket.?
Bread, milk, bottles of wine, butter, marmalade, plenty of beer, half bottle of gin, Schweppes tonic, 4 ready cooked chickens, salad stuff, vegetables, cartons & cartons of orange juice, tomato juice, fizzy pop, crisps, yoghurts, cheese, ham, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, rice, peppers, tins of tomatoes and beans, minced beef and estofado (like stewing beef) kitchen roll, toilet rolls and water.
I took from home, tea bags, a small jar of coffee, a small jar of mayonnaise (because I don't like salad cream) and a small plastic bottle of brown sauce for my bacon butties/sandwiches, and a few spices/herbs in those little plastic money bags that banks use.
We went out for 3 meals, twice to an Asian restaurant,(in El Pinillo) which served more Japanese, Korean and Thai food, rather than the bog standard ‘Chinese' food, and the first visit we just had the ‘menu of the day' and the total price for 2 persons, for a 3 course meal was €13.10.
The second time we splashed out a bit and the bill was nearly €19, we went once to the Dark Side of the Moon and we had a snack in El Horno beach chiringuito......plus the odd 3 or 4 euros here and there on tapas.
We started out every morning with a full English cooked breakfast, when we got back to the apartment we had a sandwich/crisps during the afternoon, a cooked meal in the evening or a nice salad, and sometimes another sandwich before retiring.
A couple of days before we came home, we had a load of vegetables left, so I bought some casserole meat (estofado) and we threw everything that was left into a stew pot, which made a kind of my version of Andalusian stew, which we let simmer over a low heat whilst we sat on the balcony and when the sun had gone down, we enjoyed eating it with some fresh crusty bread on the balcony"¦. .so, if you want to do self catering, it can be done.!
Click on image to enlarge, the steam made the stew photo blurred.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
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Sanji
and I did a bit of an exercise regarding what we spent on food, so I saved every one of the receipts from Super Sol, Maxi Dia and Lidl supermarkets and in front of me I have 10 receipts.The two biggest 'shops' came to €25.80 at Supersol and €27.34 at Maxi Dia, all the rest were figures between €3 and €10 (ish).
The grand total is €122.03, which based on the exchange rate at the time is £107.04"¦.I can't live at home for that.!
So, what did we buy during our visits to the supermarket.?
Bread, milk, bottles of wine, butter, marmalade, plenty of beer, half bottle of gin, Schweppes tonic, 4 ready cooked chickens, salad stuff, vegetables, cartons & cartons of orange juice, tomato juice, fizzy pop, crisps, yoghurts, cheese, ham, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, rice, peppers, tins of tomatoes and beans, minced beef and estofado (like stewing beef) kitchen roll, toilet rolls and water.
I took from home, tea bags, a small jar of coffee, a small jar of mayonnaise (because I don't like salad cream) and a small plastic bottle of brown sauce for my bacon butties/sandwiches, and a few spices/herbs in those little plastic money bags that banks use.
We went out for 3 meals, twice to an Asian restaurant,(in El Pinillo) which served more Japanese, Korean and Thai food, rather than the bog standard ‘Chinese' food, and the first visit we just had the ‘menu of the day' and the total price for 2 persons, for a 3 course meal was €13.10.
The second time we splashed out a bit and the bill was nearly €19, we went once to the Dark Side of the Moon and we had a snack in El Horno beach chiringuito......plus the odd 3 or 4 euros here and there on tapas.
We started out every morning with a full English cooked breakfast, when we got back to the apartment we had a sandwich/crisps during the afternoon, a cooked meal in the evening or a nice salad, and sometimes another sandwich before retiring.
A couple of days before we came home, we had a load of vegetables left, so I bought some casserole meat (estofado) and we threw everything that was left into a stew pot, which made a kind of my version of Andalusian stew, which we let simmer over a low heat whilst we sat on the balcony and when the sun had gone down, we enjoyed eating it with some fresh crusty bread on the balcony"¦. .so, if you want to do self catering, it can be done.!
Click on image to enlarge, the steam made the stew photo blurred.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Sanji
They look nice Sanji - I guess number 2 is Chilli con carne??
Glynis HT Admin wrote:They look nice Sanji - I guess number 2 is Chilli ???? carne??
It is.
I also forgot to say that the €13.10 for the 'menu of the day' included a bottle of water and a bottle of beer.Sanji
Hi Sanji,
That menu of the day sounds like excellent value for money- I'll keep my eye open for the place when we're there. You're food looks yummy- you haven't changed your name to Askcy by any chance have you?
I'm sure the list of supermarket prices will be a great guide to self caterers.
Thanks
That menu of the day sounds like excellent value for money- I'll keep my eye open for the place when we're there. You're food looks yummy- you haven't changed your name to Askcy by any chance have you?
I'm sure the list of supermarket prices will be a great guide to self caterers.
Thanks
shirley h wrote:Hi Sanji,
You're food looks yummy- you haven't changed your name to Askcy by any chance have you? :rofl
I can't take the credit,
Dave is the cook and it's a joint effort, we didn't spend our holiday stuck in the supermarkets, and if we'd been out for the day we called in on our way back to the apartment.Dave hates shopping, so I left him in a nearby bar and he came to the supermarket as I was about to reach the tills, and then we both went back to the bar.
but I think the secret is to plan what you are going to eat and buy food for a few days in advance, and then you're not walking aimlessly around the supermarket.We kept the meals simple, like chilli con carne, salads, stew or using the cooked chickens in various concoctions, and we had spag bol, but we had it with rice instead of pasta because we forgot the pasta in the supermarket.
It has to be a joint effort, otherwise you can't expect somebody to go shopping, preparing, cooking and cleaning up afterwards....that's a 'no go' and no holiday for anybody, but you only have to look at the total price €122.03 and the savings, because if we went out for a cooked breakfast @ €5 each, that's €10 a day x 12 days = €120. The breakfast alone would cost what we spent in the whole fortnight....what was more important to me, was the fact that I know Dave wouldn't poison me, he's hygienic and I wouldn't have the problem of sickness and diarrhoea, well not from him.!
It's not the money, I've stayed in the 4* hotel Pez Espada and paid top wack for years"¦..I think past experiences has made me a bit unnerved about eating out and I've been very disappointed in the quality of the food, and I know we could do better.! but the whole point of my post was to prove that you can (if you want to) still do self catering in Spain a lot cheaper than staying in a hotel, and if you get the 'right' apartment, I love the 'freedom' and space that it brings.
I'm sure the list of supermarket prices will be a great guide to self caterers.
I'll try and itemise the prices later, but some of these receipts are getting a bit hard to read now, because the print has started to rub off with being at the bottom of my bag and around the house since September.
Sanji x
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Edited by
Sanji
2010-10-24 11:06:46
Sanji once again a great post full of info...meals look appetizing as well.. would love to be on a balcony in Spain today, we have sunshine but its really cold, Torre webcam states 24c, loads on the beach..well back to my ironing..lol
Maybe it is different self-catering to living on the CDS but the fact is that many things are now more or as expensive as in the UK. Even tomatoes are generally cheaper at Tesco etc. so are bread and potatoes. Things aren't cheap anymore and the poor exchange rate doesn't help. We do a big monthly shop in Morissons Gibraltar to help the budget.
Well, I think that's debatable and if you are insisting on buying British branded goods, well yes, they will be expensive by the sheer fact that they have been imported into Spain, but I'm not going to argue the issue.
One example would be bread.....a large loaf of white sliced bread by some unknown Spanish name (pan molde rustico) was €1.15 and there was absolutely no difference to what we eat at home....Sunblest, Warburton or Hovis....way over €2 and near enough €3.
Bacon? 10 rashers for €1.29 and tomatoes in Lidl are €1.49 a kilo.
Sanji
One example would be bread.....a large loaf of white sliced bread by some unknown Spanish name (pan molde rustico) was €1.15 and there was absolutely no difference to what we eat at home....Sunblest, Warburton or Hovis....way over €2 and near enough €3.
Bacon? 10 rashers for €1.29 and tomatoes in Lidl are €1.49 a kilo.
Sanji
Living on the coast 15 years I don't really buy British stuff except for Bisto and sliced bread as spanish Bimbo stuff is too sweet. I buy Kingsmill which costs about 2.80 per loaf. We have a breadmaker and make most ourselves although electric is expensive too. Any ex-pat will tell you that one of the cheapest shops now is Iceland foods in Fuengirola (British). I never go in Lidl either here or in the UK. so couldn't say how prices compare between the two. Supersol is one of the most expensive supermarkets along with Hipercor. We shop mainly in Alcampo or mercadona which is where most of the spanish shop, and potatoes are around 2.30 to 2.70 per 3 KG (not very good quality) which seem expensive compared with Sainsburys in the UK. Most bacon is about 2 euro but is only the fatty strip rashers not middle.
Here you go"¦.in euros and what I can still read on the receipts.
Supersol
Ready cooked chicken €4.95
Bread (large white sliced) €1.15
Orange juice ( carton) 59 centimos
Tomato juice (carton) 90 centimos
Supersol's own brand of lager 27 centimos each can"¦12 for €3.24 (thanks Chivas)
Schweppes tonic 59 centimos per can
Cheddar cheese (average sized slab/ as seen in the photo) €2.29
Good quality ham €1.98
5 ltr mineral water 65 centimos
Mince beef (weighing over half a kilo, we halved it and it did for spag bol and chilli) €3.86
Estofado €3.94 (can't read the weight on receipt)
Lidl supermarket.
Tomatoes € 1.49 per kilo
Cherry tomatoes (in plastic box) 99 centimos
Bacon €1.25 (10 rashers in vacuum pkt)
Eggs (6) large €1.09
Milk (carton semi skimmed) 48 centimos
Marmalade ( medium sized jar) 89 centimos
Marg/butter spread (large tub) €1.83
Baked beans (per tin) 55 centimos
Maxi Dia supermarket
Vina Lambrusco ( bottle/rosada) €1.63
Orange juice ( carton) 53 centimos
Potatoes ( pre-packed bag-baby salad size) 99 centimos
Crisps (huge bag) €1
Mushrooms ( sliced in a pre-packed tray) 85 centimos
Tomatoes ( huge tin, did us for 2 breakfasts) 72 centimos
Toilet rolls (9) €2.50
Bread (Pan molde de rustico) €1.19
7UP pop (2 lts) €1
Gin (half bottle make Ginebra Barmon's) €3.89
Vino Blanco (bottle) €1.65
Cheese (in slices) €1.98
Onions (1 kg) 85 centimos
Spring Onions 75 centimos
Kitchen roll (x 2) 99 centimos
Yoghurts x 4 (activia) €1.95
Carrots ( bag) 59 centimos
Cucumber 59 centimos
Lettuce ( 3 in a pack) 99 centimos
Fabric conditioner 99 centimos
5 lts water 57 centimos
Bacon (vacuum packed) €1.29
Heinz Baked beans were on offer for a few days at Supersol for 87 centimos per tin, so we treat ourselves to 6 tins.!
Sanji
Supersol
Ready cooked chicken €4.95
Bread (large white sliced) €1.15
Orange juice ( carton) 59 centimos
Tomato juice (carton) 90 centimos
Supersol's own brand of lager 27 centimos each can"¦12 for €3.24 (thanks Chivas)
Schweppes tonic 59 centimos per can
Cheddar cheese (average sized slab/ as seen in the photo) €2.29
Good quality ham €1.98
5 ltr mineral water 65 centimos
Mince beef (weighing over half a kilo, we halved it and it did for spag bol and chilli) €3.86
Estofado €3.94 (can't read the weight on receipt)
Lidl supermarket.
Tomatoes € 1.49 per kilo
Cherry tomatoes (in plastic box) 99 centimos
Bacon €1.25 (10 rashers in vacuum pkt)
Eggs (6) large €1.09
Milk (carton semi skimmed) 48 centimos
Marmalade ( medium sized jar) 89 centimos
Marg/butter spread (large tub) €1.83
Baked beans (per tin) 55 centimos
Maxi Dia supermarket
Vina Lambrusco ( bottle/rosada) €1.63
Orange juice ( carton) 53 centimos
Potatoes ( pre-packed bag-baby salad size) 99 centimos
Crisps (huge bag) €1
Mushrooms ( sliced in a pre-packed tray) 85 centimos
Tomatoes ( huge tin, did us for 2 breakfasts) 72 centimos
Toilet rolls (9) €2.50
Bread (Pan molde de rustico) €1.19
7UP pop (2 lts) €1
Gin (half bottle make Ginebra Barmon's) €3.89
Vino Blanco (bottle) €1.65
Cheese (in slices) €1.98
Onions (1 kg) 85 centimos
Spring Onions 75 centimos
Kitchen roll (x 2) 99 centimos
Yoghurts x 4 (activia) €1.95
Carrots ( bag) 59 centimos
Cucumber 59 centimos
Lettuce ( 3 in a pack) 99 centimos
Fabric conditioner 99 centimos
5 lts water 57 centimos
Bacon (vacuum packed) €1.29
Heinz Baked beans were on offer for a few days at Supersol for 87 centimos per tin, so we treat ourselves to 6 tins.!
Sanji
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