Sunday 31 May 2009

The Apartment

This is as beachside as you can get. At 50m the apartment isn´t enormous, although it opens out onto an enormous patio...then you cross the road...then you´re on the beach!

Located on the groundfloor of a 4 storied apartment block, there are only 5 blocks in this exclusive bay and a newly opened 4star hotel 'Playa Cotobro'. jSo the bay is relatively quiet compared to the frontline in the centre of Almuñecar or any of the neighbouring towns. On the hill above, there are a number of private villas with swimming pools & tennis courts...there is also a public tennis club should the mood take you.

The apartment has everything you need to cook-clean-shower-sleep. There´s a flatscreen tv & hundreds of DVD´s to watch as well as cable tv with programmes in various languages, mostly English. There´s an ipod docking station. Wi-fi....the password is A1A1A1B1B1 in case you need it. An 18inch latex bed (large double-small queen). Comfortable leather couches, a massage chair. A sun lounger, outdoor tables & chairs. And lots of plants that need as much attention as you can possibly give them in my absence please. There´s also carparking and a spare bathroom in the block.

How To Get There

The nearest international airport is Malaga, just under an hour away by car. If your preferred airline doesn´t fly here or wants to charge you significantly more than you would expect to land in Spain for, then fly to Madrid or Barcelona - where you need to visit anyway! - and commute from there as detailed below.

There is also Granada airport which only services domestic flights and a growing number of European destinations. This is just over an hour away by car or an hour & a half by bus. Almeria airport is another alternative, about an hour and a half away by car.

There are loads of cheap rental cars to be had in the area, I suggest you google and stay away from the big guys (Hertz-Avis etc). It is good to have a car but by no means necessary. That said, there are a number of a-m-a-z-i-n-g beaches to visit that require a car, but plenty that don´t.

From any of the airports you can take a bus to the central bus station and then bus to Almuñecar.
www.alsa.es

From Madrid, you can also take a fast train to Malaga and bus from there. Like anywhere, there are discounts if you book in advance.
www.renfe.es

From Barcelona, it´s a much longer trek. You can still take the train - the overnight one has sleepers for about 68euros including dinner & breakfast. But I recommend using some of the local lowcost airlines:
www.vueling.com www.clickair.com

or one of the national carriers
www.iberia.com www.spanair.com www.aireuropa.com

Again, booking in advance is the way forward. It´s easy to pick up regional flights from as little as 30euros each way.

From anywhere within Europe, I suggest you use the site www.skyscanner.net to find your cheapest option. Be sure to check that there is a bus connection if you are flying in the evening to avoid needing to get a hotel for the night.

Lastly, you can always take a cab from Malaga or Granada. The price is around 90euros, however you can often bargain with the cab drivers and pay around 75.

Locally, there are plenty of buses between the towns and beaches. In Almuñecar itself, you can literally walk everywhere...though don´t forget your suncream....

The Area

The small but perfectly formed bay of Cotobro is located within the province of Granada on the Southern Coast of Spain in a small town (20,000) called Almuñecar.

The climate is subtropical with a median winter temperature of 16 and 25 in summer. Celsius that is!

The area is rich in history and there are many beautiful castle ruins, Roman Viaducts & the 40million year old Nerja Caves to name but a few of the sights you can visit nearby.

But enough of history! This area is all about lifestyle. A somewhat lazy lifestyle right next to the sea. The southern Spanish culture is all about work to live, not live to work. The entire country seems to take the whole of July & August for vacations and many of them migrate to the Andalucian beaches, swelling the population to triple that of its normal population. Fresh seafood, great wines, easy living. Everybody lives at the beach in summer and the beachbars (chirungitas) & clubs enjoy the influx of tourists that awaken the normally sleepy town and turn it into a beachside fiesta mecca for a few months of the year.