We recentley returned from a short stay at the Balmoral hotel in Benalmadena, for mid October the weather was fantastic, we were able to go in the pool and the sea. We spent three days in the area, one day we hired bikes and cycled along the coast as far as the outskirts of Malaga, another day we went up on the cable car and saw the birds of prey display which was really good as the presenter spoke really clear in both Spanish and English, and on the third day we caught the train to Fuengirola.

We caught the train from the airport to Arroyo and as it was a very pleasant evening and we had light luggage we walked down the hill to the Balmoral. The hotel was very quiet, we had the pool to ourselves when we used it. There were quite a few people on the promenades and beaches and around the marina during the day.

On the evenings we would walk up to Arroyo and wander round the tapas bars, some of the bars provided excellent tapas such as really nice salads or mini hamburgers with their cañas. A taxi back down the hill was 5.50 euro.

All in all a very enjoyable trip, we're flying to Malaga again in a few weeks time but will maybe hire a car from the airport and stay in Nerja from where we can visit the Sierra Nevada.

Andy