I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend the Pasarela Larios, the highlight of Málaga Fashion Week. I had plenty of notice, so was able to shop around for accommodation. Rather than stay for a long weekend, I decided that I would visit the Costa del Sol for seven nights. I have several friends in the area, so wanted an opportunity to catch up.
I selected Novotel Suites, an Accor group hotel. Situated on Calle San Jacinto, the building has an open aspect towards ecclesiastical buildings and a pedestrianised plaza. It is approximately ten minutes walking to the nearest commuter-train station and some fifteen minutes to Maria Zambrano, Málaga's main train-station. For shoppers, this is probably the nearest hotel to the famous El Corte Inglés department stores, which is spread over two interconnected buildings. Additionally, one is also just as close to Centro Comercial Málaga Plaza.
Many reviews on Tripadvisor suggest avoiding the hotel's expensive breakfast and heading for one of the local eateries. Having visited Málaga on many occasions, I did likewise. La Canasta is a favourite of mine - as I am extremely fond of cakes and pastries - and they also have an outside terrace where one can watch the world go by. (Be warned, though, that there is a surcharge on all prices for using it!)
During our stay, the old city - casco - was extremely humid, due to the closeness of its narrow streets. My carer and I were thus very grateful for the gentle breezes in the more open aspects around the hotel. Within five minutes, one can be in the old city; within fifteen one is on the Calle Marqués de Larios, the third most expensive street by rents in all of Spain.
On entering the hotel foyer, one is grateful for the coolness of air-conditioning. We were greeted cordially, as we were on every occasion we entered and departed. Due to my weird circulatory system I was worried that the air-conditioning in our room might not be functioning, after reading so many complaints on-line. However, I was advised to just let reception know and it would be sorted immediately. However, during the whole of our stay the air-con worked perfectly.
The hotel is listed as four-star. However, in our experience of travelling through Spain, we have found a great deal of variability and do not tend to trust the star ratings. In this instance, having discussed with my ever-faithful carer, we do consider it to be roughly equivalent to a UK four-star hotel minus a restaurant.
The most important aspect were the rooms and ours definitely warranted its four stars. Hopefully the photos (above) give some sense of the room, but unfortunately not of how spacious it felt.
The bathroom (image above) was spotless. It included a full-size bath-tub and a separate shower that could have fitted four. The only problem during our stay was the shower-tray blocking. It was dealt with immediately by the very efficient & professional manager.
Normally I do not stay in Málaga itself, but now I have found Novotel Suites, I shall be inclined to use it as a base for future visits and at the very least overnight stays when visiting chums in the city.
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