FEEL THE VIBE

Old Town Boutique Hotel offers the best of all worlds

MANY people choose Estepona as a place to visit for its charming old town as well as its kilometres of golden beaches.

While most of the town’s hotels offer the beaches as a standard attraction, they need a taxi or a long walk to reach a decent restaurant or enjoy the historic centre.

But the Old Town Boutique Hotel offers the best of both worlds.

As its name suggests, it is at the heart of old Estepona on Calle Caridad, one of the town’s prettiest streets. Not only are restaurants and the best of Spanish cafe culture just a step away, so is the beach at a five minute stroll.

The adults only hotel opened in 2021 after husband and wife duo Simone and Giusy undertook massive renovations on a once crumbling townhouse.

Their hard work certainly paid off. The selection of rooms - including a junior suite - have been thought- fully redesigned while keeping original details, including and Alucian geometric tiles, and has stunning artworks handpicked by the couple. Modern furnishings, enormous showers, bright white cotton sheets, Nespresso machines and cava in the mini bar all dial up the luxury feel.

And the hotel prides itself on being as environmentally sound as possible with no throwaway plastics used at all. They even supply plastic-free toiletries in the room, including toothbrushes to help keep a smile on your face.

And it is also the perfect place to enjoy a relaxing pre-dinner drink on their rooftop terrace lounge which has spectacular views of the historic old town - as do all the rooms.

For a more up-beat vibe they have a bar on lively Calle Caridad where you can soak up the Spanish atmosphere.

For more information or bookings, please call +34 673 713 032, email book@theoldtownestepona.com, search www. theoldtownestepona.com or visit us at Address 94 Calle Caridad

Estepona AN 29680 Spain sometimes music) is Take a Wine, in Plaza Manilva, which only opens in the evening.. A charming leafy square bedecked by orange trees and geraniums, it was set up by former Rioja businessman Anselmo, who combines his love of vino with music, particularly classical, an area he has worked for decades.

Also in the old town and great for lunch is Etcetera, run by expat business dynamo Alex and her mum, who’s one of the best cooks in town. Half way along Calle Real, it has a big range of international dishes, with excellent burgers and fabulous asparagus croquettes. In Plaza Ortiz,

REFRESH: Be sure to check out Palm Beach for a cocktail and spend the day luxuriating while (below) Take a wine look out for Sur, a brilliant Argentinian, where owner Juan is a hands-on and hard-working cook, who usually has much of his family around helping. Among other delicacies you are guaranteed superb juicy empanadas and lamb tagine. For fish, take your pick from El Pescador or La Rada, which are long-running rivals, but both have excellent wild fresh fish. For chiringuitos the best place to kick back and spend the day, hanging out on a sunbed, then enjoying cocktails at night is Palm Beach

A superb fish lunch with espeto skewers, it is run by friendly Dutchman Erwin, whose prawn pil pil samosas and crab spring rolls are legendary. Looking for good pasta? Up in the newer part of town look out for the excellent Italian La Carbonara where they make their own pasta fresh in the kitchens every day.

There are some excellent wines by the glass and always plenty of starters and mains off the menu.

La Alcaria de Ramos may be out of the way but it’s worth seeking it out, somewhere between the two famous golf courses of El Paraiso and Atalaya.

An ancient coaching inn, it is charm personified with some amazing Spanish tourist posters and has wonderful views of the coasts sitting up in an enviable position. And for something completely different head for the coolest spot by far on the Estepona coast… the La Catalina restaurant and beer factory.

This is fast becoming one of the hippest places to hang out on a Friday night and over the weekend when there are a string of live events taking place. But the food is also excellent and the beer and wine is hard to beat, being local and organic.