"The three of us arrived here after a fraught and stressful 48 hours. We had travelled in the hot sun for 5 hours, accepting lifts back to civilisation from strangers met in petrol stations. Hiring cars at the last minute, trying to follow silent sat navs. We had luggage packed for an entirely different holiday after having to leave our planned retreat venue at short notice.
We arrived, hot, overwhelmed and exhausted. We were put instantly at ease by wonderful Francois who took care of parking the car and somehow made our luggage look elegant on a trolley like you see in films.
Marta welcomed us and sorted us out, as we nibbled on the complementary nuts, fruit and mini muffins and sipped on the very much needed cool cucumber water.
In our haste, we had booked the wrong day!
Marta dealt with everything and made us feel like old friends.
She booked us into a junior suite on the ‘Essence’ floor, where the free drinks and snacks are available all day and night, plus an exclusive terrace just for essence floor guests.
The room was beautiful, spacious and comfortable. The main bed upstairs was enormous, plus a comfortable sofa bed made up downstairs. Powerful easy to use air con, electric blinds on the velux skylights. We were brought additional towels, robes and pillows without needing to ask. Pagui brought us a steamer when we needed to iron our clothes and showed me how to operate the hair dryer. She was very friendly and had a warmth in her smile.
In the bathroom the Clarins toiletries, complemented the stylish grey decor with gold accents. A hair dryer with diffuser and GHD hair straighteners, were provided along with the robes & slippers and a selection of everything you could possibly need- toothbrushes, combs, shoe shine laid out.
Nothing was too much trouble for the staff and the little touches made the whole stay exquisite!
The basket to use for swimming towels in our room was a nice touch. A travel adaptor was loaned to me when my own rather unfortunately, tripped the power on the whole floor- my bad! With thanks to both Javier for fixing the power so quickly and to Juan, the twinkly eyed ‘colleague of the night’ for fetching us duvets when we had set the air con too low.
The roof top pool area was thoughtfully designed with showers, a toilet, a glass balustrade overlooking the rooftops and some much needed shaded areas. The power outlets by the sun loungers were super useful. There was even a bottle of sunblock to be used by guests!
Gorgeous Marina looked horrified as my friend pretended to drink from the fake/demonstration cocktail for a photo, thinking she was going to poison herself! She flashed the widest smile once she realised what we were up to.
We ate in the restaurant on the first evening and the food was delicious, reasonably priced and felt made with love. The staff were attentive but not intrusive.
The salads from the pool-side bar were also delicious.
But the breakfast, now that was something else!
The selection of foods and drinks! Oh my! Everything was catered for! Soy milk, gluten free options, all looking as appealing and appetising as the fresh fruit, meats, fresh churros and waffles. Plus the usual breakfast items - bacon, sausages, eggs etc. the omelette maker was unexpected! The poached eggs and avocado we ordered from our table were brought quickly and were very good.
The essence snack table and fridge was replenished multiple times a day with cakes, fruit, pastries, yogurts and fresh fruit salads in cute glass jars in the fridge along side the beers and wine. Crockery, cutlery and glassware were all provided & good quality.
A fancy coffee machine (with thanks to Diana for her help operating it!) and jars of sweets and bags of popcorn. Plus cured meats in the daytime.
But my favourite thing, was the cool, light, calm library where I was able to sit, and write, unhurried & unbothered.
Lovely Miguel showing me how I could switch off the gentle music if I needed to and offering me the latest magazines.
Again the library had cute touches, such as the little bowls of sweets, the pens, paper and highlighters dotted around. I was able to rest and recover from everyday life while chatting to Valentina and Inma on reception about their subtle tattoos.
Our room was clean and very quiet- with the exception of the moments after Spain beat France in the World Cup semi final when the city erupted with joyous exuberance which could probably have been heard in Gibraltar!
Celia kindly gave us a tour of some other rooms on the forth floor when we told her at check out that we intended to visit again. (I would move in if I could!)
The hotel its self was beautiful, cool, spacious and luxurious, but the staff themselves were the jewel in the crown. They were, without exception friendly, efficient, warm, professional and made us feel so welcome. You should be so proud of yourselves for providing such a gorgeous environment for us. You cannot underestimate how much we needed this little slice of paradise and how grateful we are to you all.
I will return to your beautiful city and to your utterly extraordinary hotel! Thank you!"
