Frosty start - warm finish

I had to scrape ice off the car windscreen before we left home at 8:30am to catch our flight to Malaga at 11:30am.  A strong tail wind from the jet stream meant we arrived at the Costa del Sol 30 mins ahead of schedule and we were in our hotel by about 4:00pm. We were the only couple from our flight to be dropped off at the hotel by the shuttle bus. It was still 18deg and the last of the warm afternoon sun was catching our balcony on the 4th floor.


view from balcony
The Melia Costa del Sol is large with 540 rooms and is one of a chain of hotels. Apart from its small pool and terrace it is not a typical package holiday destination. With no facilities for children, the clients were mainly couples from northern Europe, a large group from Netherlands and some local business men.  It is also used as an overnight tour stop with several companies, doing Spanish tours, staying just one night. It is a convenient location to use to en-route to Gibraltar , Marbella, Seville and Granada amongst other places in Southern Spain. The main attraction for us was its claim to have an excellent restaurant which it certainly did.

We had a side view of the sea and a birds eye view of the pool area which was in the process of being refurbished and was a essentially a building site, concrete mixers and all.  Apart from that it is in a quiet spot on the sea front, no passing traffic and a convenient lift, or some killer steps, up to the old town of Torremolinos.

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