Paradise Just Off the Costa del Sol
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This piece was going to be called Never Again, after visiting the Costa del Sol and only finding pollution and Peter Andre. But luck prevailed, and we found a jem of a place in Andalucia not far away from the maddening crowd - a luxury hotel that lives up to its claim.
You know all of those pseudo-fashionable places with lots of overdesigned bits and bobs and pools the size of a stamp? Where waiters who are really actors are far too precious to serve you and make you beg for a Martini? Where the rooms are so hyper-stuffed with toys you feel utterly inedquate because you can’t switch on your own TV?
Not so at the Finca Cortesin. Set on top of a huge plateau one-half hour's drive into the hills north of Estepona, this amazingly modern place built like a medieval castle really keeps its promises. A very low key but friendly reception ensures you are brought to your room immediately, and your jaw drops as you are led through a huge inner courtyard to your huge room.
The huge bathroom, a proper wet room, was equipped in the most thoughtful way I have ever seen. For example, they make sure you won't slip while the water pours down on you in the shower by putting non-slip marble on the floor. No hunting around for the tiny toiletries either - Penhaligon’s best is provided in neat little niches. I like people thinking ahead, and here that happens all the time.
Not only is there an Olympic-size pool beautifully decorated with shimmering sea green tiles, there are also two 35m pools for good measure. One is inside in case it gets cold, faced with enormous mirror walls, Versailles style. It couldn’t be more opulent. But the really wonderful thing was the spa. No gilded pseudo antiquery here; the spa was Zen-like with fabulous grey marble throughout.
Finca Cortesin also features two 18-hole golf courses on the old hunting grounds, a restaurant set in 2000-year old olive trees, and a destination restaurant by Shilon.
I can’t remember being thrilled by a place as much in years. The previous places in Marbella I was meant to review were five-star, but I’d rather give you the happy news about the Finca Cortesin than moan about the awful smells of the autostrada in Estepona that blight the Costa in even deluxe hotels.
But go soon, because Finca Cortesin is hosting the Volvo Golf Championship in late October, and at that point, it will officially be on the map.
- The Southbank Gourmande
Not so at the Finca Cortesin. Set on top of a huge plateau one-half hour's drive into the hills north of Estepona, this amazingly modern place built like a medieval castle really keeps its promises. A very low key but friendly reception ensures you are brought to your room immediately, and your jaw drops as you are led through a huge inner courtyard to your huge room.
The huge bathroom, a proper wet room, was equipped in the most thoughtful way I have ever seen. For example, they make sure you won't slip while the water pours down on you in the shower by putting non-slip marble on the floor. No hunting around for the tiny toiletries either - Penhaligon’s best is provided in neat little niches. I like people thinking ahead, and here that happens all the time.
Not only is there an Olympic-size pool beautifully decorated with shimmering sea green tiles, there are also two 35m pools for good measure. One is inside in case it gets cold, faced with enormous mirror walls, Versailles style. It couldn’t be more opulent. But the really wonderful thing was the spa. No gilded pseudo antiquery here; the spa was Zen-like with fabulous grey marble throughout.
Finca Cortesin also features two 18-hole golf courses on the old hunting grounds, a restaurant set in 2000-year old olive trees, and a destination restaurant by Shilon.
I can’t remember being thrilled by a place as much in years. The previous places in Marbella I was meant to review were five-star, but I’d rather give you the happy news about the Finca Cortesin than moan about the awful smells of the autostrada in Estepona that blight the Costa in even deluxe hotels.
But go soon, because Finca Cortesin is hosting the Volvo Golf Championship in late October, and at that point, it will officially be on the map.
- The Southbank Gourmande
