Marbella, Andalucía

When looking for somewhere to stay in Marbella, you're spoilt for choice. There are probably more hotel rooms here than anywhere else in Spain. There really is something for everyone, from the simplest accommodation of all to the most luxurious suite. You can spend as little as EUR11 per night to pitch your tent in Camping Cabopino, or splash out more than EUR450.75 per night for a fabulous suite in the delightful Kempinski in Estepona.

When only the best will do

To make the very most of your well-deserved vacation, chose a luxury hotel by the sea shore that offers all the extras you can imagine and where you'll be treated like royalty. Somewhere on the famous Milla de Oro (the golden mile), for example, like the world famous Marbella Club, owned by Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe and one of the most beautiful hotels on the Costa del Sol. Or, opt for the Puente Romano, which offers the most expansive range of facilities on the coast including: beach clubs, restaurants, beauty salons, outdoor pools, indoor pools and wonderful gardens.

In nearby Estepona, the impressive, four-star Atalaya Park is located right on the shores of the Mediterranean, and in Puerto de la Duquesa there's a gem of a hotel called Las Dunas. For those seeking tranquility and the opportunity to play some golf, the Gualdamina, in San Pedro de Alcántara, has been designed especially for you. Not far away is the enormous, Don Carlos, famous for its pristine beach and excellent restaurant, Los Naranjos.

Hotels in town

Fans of the Sol Meliá group will head straight for the Gran Meliá Don Pepe. It's named after the founder of the company and it's the hotel he likes the most. The Don Pepe offers the best of all worlds: luxury standards, services and facilities, right on the beach, at Playa de la Fontanilla, only minutes away from the centre of Marbella. El Fuerte, in the centre of town, is a typical Andalusian hotel that also prides itself on the number and quality of services it offers, including a fully-equipped sports centre.

Located away from all the hustle and bustle, the Hotel Don Miguel can accommodate more guests than any other hotel in town and it's set to become the most important conference centre in Marbella. It has 502 bedrooms, and its conference facilities can cater for 1,500 people. The hotel was recently awarded four-star status after being totally renovated.

The business traveler looking for a short stay would be wise to consider the Hotel San Cristóbal, which provides four-star service for three-star prices. The compact two-star Lima, 60 metres from the beach and only 30 metres from the town centre, has similar standards and even lower prices.

Hotels near Marbella

Only 5km from the center of Marbella, in the middle of a wealthy residential area, surrounded by tropical vegetation and alongside the Playa (beach) del Pinillo, is the wonderful four-star >Hotel Los Monteros. The four-star Las Chapas-Palacio del Sol is the perfect place to rest for a few days under swaying palms, play some golf and stroll along the golden sands. For apartment-style accommodation right at the hub of Estepona's marina, with views over the bay, try the Hotel Santa Marta or you can save some money and, at the same time, enjoy the atmosphere of Marbella's old town by choosing the comfortable Aguamarina.

Special places to stay

The Artola is a very special place, housed in an old inn surrounded by green space, only 300 metres from the beach and ideal for family holidays. Imagine how pleasant it would be to stay in a typical Andulasian village full of little whitewashed houses with colourful displays of flowers on their balconies. Well, you can. Such a village has been recreated in the Pueblo Andaluz, only 3km from Puerto Banús and 6km from the centre of Marbella.

The Costa del Sol truly caters for all types of lifestyles and that includes those who prefer to spend their holidays free from the burden of clothing in Costa Natura.

According to historians, the town of Marbella was founded around 1600 BC by colonists of Roman origin who set off from the ancient Mediterranean port of Tyre in the Near East. They called it Saldub, which means Salt City. Archeological remains from that period have been found nearby, including the Villa Romana de Río Verdeand the Bóvedas, in the area around San Pedro de Alcántara, along with the more recent early Christian basílica, dating from the 3rd century A.D.

Moors and Christians

Muslims arrived in this part of southern Spain in the first decade of the 6th century and they called the town Marbil-la. They built a fortress here in the style of the Damascus califate and a defensive wall to protect their settlement from attack by Christian forces. The Muslim town finally fell into the hands of the Catholic Monarchs—who were carrying out the Christian reconquest of Spain—in 1485, when King Fernando received the keys directly from the defeated calif, Mohamed Abuenza. From then onwards the town has been called Marbella. The original Muslim design of the old town is still evident today.

The slow course of history

In the 16th century, following the Christian reconquest, Marbella started to grow again—but slowly—by developing the surrounding farmland for agricultural production. New houses and residential districts started to be built around the nucleus of the ruined Muslim town. But, even as late as the end of the 18th century there were only 820 buildings in total, and many of them were empty or falling down.

In 1725 the San Luis fort was constructed to protect the inhabitants of Marbella from Mediterranean pirate raids. The fort was later destroyed by the French during their retreat at the end of the Peninsular War (1808-14). All that remains of it is a tower, now to be found in the gardens belonging to the hotel El Fuerte.

In the 19th century Marbella started to grow more rapidly, expanding beyond the historic old town to areas along side what is now the Parque Arroyo de la Represa. Public building works of the time included new bridges and roads. In this spirit of progress, modern machinery and new industries arrived. Private capital financed the creation of an iron foundry that employed over one thousand men who came from all over Andalucía to work here. People are often surprised to hear that the first blast furnaces in Spain were installed in this factory.

However, agriculture continued to be the mainstay of Marbella's economy throughout the 19th century. The Marqués de Duero's famous, experimental model farm dates from this period. It was the most important privately financed agricultural colony in Spain and was situated where Sampedrena is today.

In the middle of the 19th century Marbella received artificial light for the first time by means of a primitive reverberation system, but it had to wait until the end of the century for the arrival of electricity and light bulbs. From the early part of the 19th century a number of plans were made to build a modern fishing port, but they all came to nothing until the 1950's when the port we see today was finally completed.

Modern Marbella

The town eventually started to take its present shape after the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). But, it was not until the mid 1940's that tourists started to come here in large numbers, after entrepreneurs like Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe initiated the construction of hotels and apartment complexes. Then the rich and famous flocked to the resort and praised Marbella by word of mouth all over the world. So, in the space of just 50 years, what was once a little fishing and farming village has been transformed into an international tourist hot-spot, thanks mainly to its magnificent climate and golf courses.