costablog.com

The Andalusian hotel group Fuerte Hoteles just opened their seventh hotel, Fuerte Estepona Suites, on July 30th. The four star resort is located front line beach just 200m away from the sea front, just two kilometer from Estepona and about 20 minutes drive from Puerto Banus. In addition to the great situation, the strength of the hotel are the dimensions of spaces. The resort is surrounded by 25,000 square meters gardens, it has four swimming pools of which  two pools are well defined as a pool for couples and another one for families, a spa, a supermarket, a lobby bar lounge, pool bar and several courts to play tennis, paddle, beach-volleyball and shuffleboard. Inside, the hotel has 210 suites of one, two and three bedrooms between 45 and 190 square meters. Read more »

After a few month of crisis hotel occupancy of the Costa del Sol has increased about 5 % in July in comparison with 2009, as tourism reemerges in the region. The city of Malaga itself sees an even bigger increase with an estimated 8 %. Several leaders in the tourism sector say they are very happy with these figures, as August looks to see an even larger increase than July. Owners of restaurants and bars also indicate that 2010 will be a better year than 2009 even if many tourists stay in their rented apartments and have dinner there. The increase of tourists to the Costa del Sol is by German, French, Italian and Spanish visitors, the Irish and British tourists are still on the decline.

The US first lady Michelle Obama is planning to visit Spain and the Costa del Sol with her youngest daughter Shasa (7) in the first week of August from the 4th to the 8th of August. There are rumors that even Barrack Obama himself will be there to celebrate his 49th birthday which is on the 4th of August, but this has been declined by the White House. The stay in Marbella is not really in Marbella, it’s more in the area of Estepona, it will be in the famous five star Hotel Villa Padierna, which belongs to the Ritz-Carlton Group and is said to be the best hotel in Spain. Villa Padierna features 129 exquisitely appointed guest rooms, suites and villas and is surrounded by three 18 hole golf course, including the famed Los Flamingos Golf Course (par 71), Alferini (par 73) and Tramores (par 71). It has a Thermae Spa with eight themed baths and steam rooms with two saunas with more than 2.000 square meters. From the hotel Villa Padierna on a clear day you can see the coastline of Africa and every night the sunsets are more spectacular than the last. The first ladies visit will also include a trip to the Royal Palace in Mallorca to meet with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.