Los Monteros Hotel & Spa ★★★★★ GL

It is worth discarding any notion that Marbella is all about cheap package deals and tacky celebrities. Recently, it has attracted many classier guests (including VeryChic customers of course!), notably the first lady Michelle Obama and her daughters. “If it’s good enough for the Obamas, then it’s good enough for us!” we decided, and so we packed up the family and headed out to the Costa del Sol. A family holiday may not be the first thing to come to your head when you picture Marbella, but I assure you it was most certainly a success. Besides, Los Monteros Hotel enjoys a privileged location just outside the town, enjoying all the same beaches, sunshine and people-watching, with less of the champagne-fuelled boat parties, Rolls Royce’s and Ferrari’s, and thumping club music.

Open since 1962, Los Monteros has made history in various ways. The Cabâne beach club was the first on the Costa del Sol, it was among the first exclusive hotels to start attracting big names and jet-setters to Marbella, and it was even the first place in Spain to start serving fish with a fish slice! Essentially, one of the first places where the old Marbella began to meet the new Marbella, where a sleepy fishing town first began to transform into a luxurious and world-renowned resort. Since its inception, it has welcomed the likes of the Queen of Denmark, Michael Jackson, Julio Iglesias, Antonio Banderas, Sean Connery and many more through its doors.

While the kids splashed and played in the pool, and my wife made the most of the spa’s heated pool, thermal circuit and beauty treatments, I made the most of my opportunity to emulate Connery, my favourite Bond of all time. I ordered a vodka martini (stopping short of demanding it ‘shaken not stirred’ from the poor waiter, who was so friendly and attentive), which promptly sent me into a gloriously lazy afternoon snooze under the sweltering Andalusian sun.

We were at La Cabâne beach club, just down the road by the coast, and perhaps the most famous part of this illustrious hotel. With the Mediterranean twinkling just below, the water of the swimming pool is an idyllic spot to keep refreshed, gloriously warmed by the unrelenting sun. Just in case that fails to do the job, the staff are delighted to bring you drinks and snacks as you lay back on a sun lounger or beneath the canopies of a four-poster ‘Balinese’ bed.

If you have worked up a substantial appetite with your lengths of the pool, the lunchtime feast available at La Cabâne restaurant is a benchmark for buffets, attracting people from far and wide to the beach club. A huge array of fresh seafood and other local specialities, it is as much a treat for the eyes as the taste buds. Great for families, as there is sure to be something for everyone, and great for grownups, since you can try a staggering variety of exquisite food. It is also worthwhile saving yourself some days for dinner at El Corzo Restaurant, for some refined and delicious Mediterranean fare.

There is, of course, an outdoor swimming pool in the hotel itself; in fact there are two! The adult pool sits just beside the Bar Azul for a lovely afternoon of swimming, sunbathing, snacking and sipping cocktails, while the children play in the kids club. It is lucky that there is a big clock adorning the wall of one of the surrounding buildings, because we found that we could while away hours around here without even noticing. Then there is the children’s pool, set amidst the shady gardens, where the peace and seclusion is broken only by the splashing of water and children’s laughter.

After afternoons spent enjoying our respective pools, children and parents alike would trudge away as the sun began to descend. We would head back inside and skirt around a typically colourful Andalusian courtyard, resplendent with flowers, fine mosaics and white columns, on our way back to the suite. Spacious enough to house the whole family, our newly-renovated suite was comfortable and elegantly designed, equipped with all the amenities you would expect from a five-star grand luxury hotel. Once suitably dried off and refreshed, it was out to dinner, and a drink on the terrace of the poolside Bar Azul, illuminated by candlelight and boasting a fabulous atmosphere with live music.

While we might not have quite been living the clichéd champagne lifestyle associated with Marbella, we did not forgo it entirely. The sumptuous breakfast buffet went down a treat accompanied by a bubbling glass of champagne, and then it was off to the town centre or Puerto Banús marina to gaze at the super-yachts, supercars and supermodels, if not to do some sightseeing in the old town. This is the beauty of Marbella, there is a real range of things to do and something for the whole family, while it would also work for a romantic, cultural, or nightlife-orientated break. Every day left us with so many happy memories, and my only regret was failing to get out onto the region’s legendary golf courses, three of which are dotted just around the hotel. I suppose it is always good to have something to come back for…