Hotel Guadalmina Spa & Golf Resort ★★★★

Hotel Guadalmina is everything you’d expect from a classy Spanish resort - rolling manicured lawns, a wide outdoor pool, metres from the warm waters of the Mediterranean and not one, but two excellent golf courses.

It’s time to escape the drizzle and the grey skies and head for the Spanish Costa del Sol, where the sun is rarely hidden for very long. This is the true meaning of a holiday.

Settle into your room, a spacious vanilla and cream affair with marble floors and columns and dark wood furniture, and admire the view your own private terrace. With so much on offer it’s hard to decide what you want to do first – hit the beach, lounge by the pool or play a round of golf – the choice is entirely up to you. So don your hats, shorts and bikinis, as this is the land of the eternal sun.

Perhaps begin with a dip in the ample swimming pool surrounded by plenty of sun loungers and places to relax. The kids even have their own pool too. For the adults, this could be followed by a cocktail from the Acqua Bar seated on the lively poolside terrace.

For lunch do as the Spanish do and enjoy your main meal in the middle of the day. The relaxed and calming Beach Club restaurant provides the perfect option, with plenty of traditional paellas and seafood and spectacular sea views. On Wednesdays and Sundays it also offers barbecue buffets. Continue as the Spanish do with an afternoon siesta following lunch, back in your luxurious room.

The afternoons at Guadalmina are perfect for a round of golf. Why not practice your swing before you start at the putting green? When you’ve perfected your technique head over to the two excellent courses – a 9 hole or an 18 hole, it’s your choice. Of course those who are not feeling very active can always head back to the pool or the vast sandy beach.

Other afternoons can be spent exploring the nearby area towns – Estepona with its pretty narrow streets and cute whitewashed buildings and Puerto Banus with its beautiful sandy beach and upmarket classy marina. Then there’s of course chic Marbella where you can rub shoulders with the rich and famous.

When its time to chill out and relax you’ll find nowhere more calming than the hotel’s spa. The thermal area provides a hydrotherapy pool with a Jacuzzi, massage jets, a footbath, sauna, Turkish bath and warm relaxing beds, giving you the perfect space in which to indulge and unwind leaving the stresses of work and everyday life far behind. There are also a number of treatment rooms offering a range of massages, wraps, body scrubs and facials, as well as beauty treatments.

For those that want to get in shape during their holiday too, you’ll find a fully equipped fitness centre and a comprehensive schedule of sporting activities such as Zumba, aqua aerobics, beach volleyball, football and Tai Chi.

When it come to eating you’ll be spoilt for choice, for as well as the light bites at the Acqua Bar and paellas at the Beach Club, there’s the Taray Restaurant and the Cocoa Restaurant to enjoy too. At the Taray Restaurant you can delight in a range of regional and international dishes while seated on the outdoor terrace, while the Cocoa Restaurant specialises in Mediterranean cuisine and offers views over the golf course and sea beyond. On Sundays you can enjoy a sumptuous buffet brunch at the Taray too.

However you choose to spend your days here, they’re guaranteed to be full of sun and plenty of fun. And when it’s time to return home you’ll definitely feel like you’ve had a ‘proper’ holiday.