Marriott's Playa Andaluza resort - Realistic Road Trips and City Breaks

Holiday Ratings
Recommended days	7
Budget	£
Difficulty	Easy

Where’s Andalucia?

We stayed at Marriott’s Playa Andaluza resort, located in Andalucia. Andalucia is a scenic and historically rich area of southern Spain with sunshine and beaches too. Superb for travel photography and sightseeing. Andalusia comes from the Moorish name Al-Andalus, their name for either the Vandals or Visigoths – the previous inhabitants of the region that they conquered.

The kingdom the Moors founded lasted from 711 until 1492 and gave us UNESCO monuments in Seville, Cordoba, Granada including the world famous Alhambra. For several hundred years Cordoba was the largest city in Europe, easily overshadowing London and Paris.

Marriott Resort

Marriott’s Playa Andaluza resort is situated between Marbella and Estapona and is the usual excellent Marriott quality. There is plenty of underground parking, lots of activities, gym, pool, beach, wifi etc. We have visited quite a few times, usually using it as a base to go exploring but this time I was ill so it was an excellent place to relax in the sunshine.

Baelo Claudia

I have been told I need to ‘relax’ so, with teeth grinding, I forced myself to stay on the resort most of the time. I would really rather be at work – there is so much to see and do in this area and we only had one real day trip and a couple of very brief local excursions.

Our first visit was to Baelo Claudia – a nearby Roman town that was abandoned 1700 years ago. There wasn’t a huge amount left but it was a proper town with industry rather than the glam of Pompeii. The site museum was very good with plenty of information about the excavated site and its history.

Estepona and Marbella

We also had brief ventures to Estepona and Marbella, both about 5 miles away, for a wander round the streets and seafront. We’d been to Estepona on a previous visit and just loved the ambience.

Estepona is a very pretty little town with lots of underground parking by the beach, lovely cobbled streets and plenty of squares with orange trees and cafes. It is a lot less developed than some of the coastal towns and has a lovely character.

Marbella is thought of as a touristy party place but we found it lovely to walk around. The old town has a great castle and walls and narrow streets that open up on to shaded squares. The promenade (Paseo Marítimo) is very pleasant to walk along and the Parque La Alameda that runs parallel to part of it offers welcome shade. Definitely a nice town for a pleasant amble.

Cordoba

The main trip was to Cordoba, one of my favourite cities. This time we also visited Madinat Al-Zahra, the Umayyad palace that only lasted 80 years before being sacked by Moslem extremists from North Africa (sound familiar?!).

The town of Cordoba itself is beautiful, as well as the Mezquita we also walked part of the city walls (modern dog toilet) and the old Jewish quarter – still so much to see in the city and surroundings though.

Relaxing

Not being able to do what you want is all part of life’s rich experience and it allowed Deb to get some sunbathing in, rather than me dragging her from ruin to castle to mosque! The gym at Marriott’s Playa Andaluza resort was good so I started running again a little each day until the chest infection has gone. I also did some yoga and Tai Chi, table tennis and swimming but it is no substitute for being out and taking pics of new things.

Ah well, Athens next weekend and that will be manic!

Conclusion

The resort is a fabulous base for exploring Andalucia’s rich cultural heritage if you choose to do so, or you could just enjoy the beach and pool. The area is fantastic and even a 20 minute drive inland takes you to a very different country compared to the built up glam of the beach resorts.

Marriott’s Playa Andaluza resort