The hotel Don Paquito if my memory serves me well, is situated near the beach, near the roundabout on the way to Playamar.
Too far from the train station to be dragging suitcases.
The nearest hotels to the train station....that I can recall ..is the Flamingo or the Cervantes.

besos xxx
sanJi

Has anyone stayed at the Don Paquito in Torremolinos and can tell me anything about it, particularly the location? We have no reviews on HT (yet ), but the reviews on another site were very good.

I would also be grateful for any suggestions of bars or places to visit at night, but nothing too late.

luci

THis hotel is a small spanish run gem!! It is situated a few yards away from the seafront in the classier end of Torremolinos. As a frequent visitor to Torremolinos I have to say that if your after abeach holiday this is definately the place to stay, there are numerous restaurants close to this hotel as well as the seafront Poseidon restaurant at the bottom of the road that the Hotel is on !!! Just order a coffee and watch the world and sea from its lovely terrace.
The town centre is a steep 10 to 15 minute walk(uphill) but well worth it for the numerous boutiques, restaurants and supermarkets.
If I was to choose to live in Torremolinos for the rest of my life the avenida de Lido where the Don Paquito is situated is definately the place to be!!!
Outside the Hotel there are numerous Almond Trees that make a stay in this area of Torremolinos Heavenly because lets face it this resort is not a very elegant place!!!! All in all a clean decent Hotel in a quiet area of Torremollinos close to the sea

Many thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

We are off there on Boxing Day and chose it after reading the good reviews. We were originally looking at the Siroco, but some of the reviews were horrendous.

I hope most of these bars and restaurants are open at this time of year.

luci

We stayed at the Don Paquito 26-31 December. The coach dropped us at the door, unlike those at the Don Pedro who had to walk a short distance as it's behind the Don Paquito.

The hotel is very small with only 66 rooms on 5 floors. There was a small reception area with a very friendly and helpful receptionist, Patricia. Check in only took a few minutes and we were allocated a room on the 2nd floor. The first thing we noticed was how clean the hotel was, it was spotless.

Our room was at the back of the hotel facing the pool and got the sun all day. The room was quite small, but spotless with twin beds pushed together. There were two bedside tables, double mirrored wardrobes which housed the safe and a dresser with four small drawers and a fridge. There was also a TV which got some satellite channels including Sky News. There was a small balcony with table and chairs and the room was air conditioned. I found the bed comfortable enough when I went to sleep, but woke every morning aching and with a sore neck which could last most of the day. It seemed a bit better after I put a folded blanket under the pillow.

The bathroom had a bath with shower over, sink toilet and bidet. The shower had a glass enclosure rather than a curtain and there was a hairdryer.

We were half board, but didn't like the food although it did improve a little on the last 2 nights.

The bar/lounge area was really nice and bright with poinsettias on every table and smoking was allowed, unlike the hotels Don Pedro and Don Pablo which had smoking areas away from the bar. We had toasted sandwiches and crisps which were €2 each, ½ litre of beer was €3.15, coffee €1.40, Smirnoff vodka €2.65 and a bottle of mixer €1.65, cocktails and long drinks were €4.50 and a glass of wine was €1.95. Happy hour was 5-6pm when all drinks were 2 for 1. The happy hour at the Don Pedro next door was 5.30-6.30pm and the Don Pablo next door to that was 5-6pm. The drinks were slightly more expensive at the other two hotels. Being a small hotel, there was no entertainment at night. We went to the entertainment at the Don Pablo one evening, but it was very amateurish so we didn't go back.

There were several restaurants and bars in the area, but many of them were closed for the holidays. We particularly liked La Paella restaurant on the beach and Pub Madison on the front which was only open in the evening.

The hotel was less than 2 minutes walk to the beach and 10-15 minutes uphill to the centre of Torremolinos or 10 minutes along the beach promenade to the steps at the bottom of Calle San Miguel, the main street in Torremolinos. From there you could either walk up the many steps to the top or take the lift which was 50c each.

We took the train east to Malaga and west to Fuengirola which were both €1.80 return each and took about 25 minutes. We also took the bus to Benalmadena which was €1.05.

The weather was partly cloudy the first 3 days and sunny the last 3 days with temperatures around 17-18 degrees

I found Torremolinos to be a bit dirty with a lot of graffiti which was especially noticeable from the train and there was a lot of dog mess. The beach however was beautiful, long and sandy.

Torremolinos was much more expensive than Fuengirola, eg chicken and chips was €8.50 in Torremolinos and €5.50 in Fuengirola. In Torremolinos we had to buy a drink and mixer separately at €4.30, in Fuengirola you could get a drink and mixer for €2.90. I had a small breakfast at the Crew Bar in Fuengirola for €4 including tea. A large breakfast was either €5 or 6. We also had a sirloin steak with mushroom sauce at the Scotsman in Fuengirola for €9.95 and a massive Knickerbocker Glory for €3.95 which came in a ½ litre glass. However we did have a 3 course meal at a Chinese restaurant at the bottom of Calle San Miguel in Torremolinos for €5.95 which was very nice; wine was €3 a glass.

We are going back to Torremolinos in 3 weeks time for a week AI at the Torremolinos Beach Club. For me Torremolinos is fine for a week's winter break, but I wouldn't go there for my main 2 week holiday.

luci