Although it was the off-season and a few things (the restaurant) were closed for upgrades, this was a wonderful resort. Very family friendly with lots for the kids to do alone or as a family. The bucket of sand toys by the beach entrance was a great touch. We were traveling with an infant and were quite surprised to find a pop-up crib in the closet when we arrived (we had not requested one and it appeared this is permanently kept in the room). Our room was immaculate and had a good ocean view. Kitchen was well stocked and the gas grills in the "picnic" area made for some great inexpensive meals. Easy day trips to Ronda, Gibraltar, and Morocco. Concierges were very helpful with very accurate directions that skipped tolls and helped us book a trip to Morocco. The Morocco excursion is a quick no frills trip that hits the highlights of Tangiers. The trip could be done for less $, but it was convenient to be picked up at the hotel and have all of the arrangements taken care of for us. Only downside of the trip was that there was no time to really shop at any of the market stands, just a pre-set "carpet shop" that had all the prices marked up.

We had a greate two week trip to this well run resort. The rooms are all very spacious and well maintained (place was immaculate every day). The furnishings and the kitchen equipment looked brand new. The rooms wired internet and you can 'borrow' a wireless router for free. If you are a technophobe they'll even set it up for you. The flat was very large and came complete with all mod cons.

Over Christmas only the main pool was open but even then for the first week of our stay we practically had the pool to ourselves. The water is nice and warm to teach a four year old to swim although on Christmas week the pool could get busy between 17:00 and 18:00. Outside of that we had it back to ourselves and there are three four jacuzzis to jump in if you need a relaxing break.

There is a large outdoor playground on the hotels grounds completed with a climbing wall and outdoor barbecue area. There is a an active kids club which my daughter loved and the staff are definitely geared up to dealing with small children. Marriott have not built all the accomodation that they originally planned and the advantage of that is that kids have loads to do and loads of space to do it in.

We have been to this part of Spain several times and if you staying more than a couple of days a car is an absolute must. The on site store is a little pricey but there are several large supermarkets nearby including a Super Sol in walking distance

Great place for families with young kids - we have already booked to go back.

We had a wonderful trip to this beautiful country! The Marriott was terrific (as an owner you know what you are going to get- and this didn't disappoint)! The staff, particularly Tomas the conceriege was wonderful. He helped fine tune my plans, offering suggestions and tips that really enhanced our travels (restaurants, parking areas, towns, attractions). We rented a car so we were able to visit many areas.. We spent Christmas Eve day in Ronda (breathtaking!)--drove fromt there to Malaga for dinner (on the road via Coin- which I do not recommend!), Christmas Day was spent in Mijas (where things were actually open- including a bullfight. All guides I read said there would be none anywhere this week), We drove to Sevilla and Cordoba (which were quite a distance, so it made sense to spend the night in Sevilla then travel to Cordoba). Both are wonderful towns and the drive between the two was beautiful (filled with rolling hills of olive farms). We also went to Benihavis for dinner (very close to the resort but up in the mountains about 7km. Evidently, this town is in the Guiness Book for having the most restaurants in a square mile (or something like that!). Also had dinner in Malaga one evening (La Gallo). Drove to Gilbraltar and then on to Tarifa (where you have wonderful views of Africa). Did the cable car up to the top of the rock, where the kids hung out with the "wild" Barbary Apes. This was the highlight for the boys. Also went to the Balcona de Europa, Nirja and the while village of Firmigliana (at Tomas' suggestion). Lovely.
We never made it to Granada as I did not know that you would need to buy tickets months in advance for the Alhambra. We did not have any trouble getting into any other historical sites that required tickets.
We rented our car from Malagacar.com, and that worked out well for us. We needed a big van (as there were six of us) and they were one of the few companies that could accomodate us at a reasonable price.
I would recommend this trip highly, particularly if you are an adventurous driver as the roads are very curvy- no matter where you are going- the speed limit is fast (120 km)- and there are many tunnels and bridges. The highway system isn't as bad as France, and we learned our way around pretty quickly.
Bring a good dictionary- since not many people outside the resort speak English. We managed though-- it was part of the fun.
Finally, our weather was wonderful for sightseeing- low to mid 60's all week.
Safe travels.

We stayed here on an exhange from our timeshare. We liked the central location to be able to have one home base, and be able to do day trips to Grenada, Seville, Gibralter, and Morocco. We were very pleased with our 2 bedroom apartment. We visited during the slow season, so we knew there would not be a lot of activities going on, which was OK by us. We usualy prefer to do our own thing anyhow. The hotel was able to accomodate our day trips though the concierge desk, and a travel company that they contract with. We had a rental car, but did not want to try an navigate the bigger cities on our own.
It was too cold to get much use out of the beach, other than having a picnic, and going down to watch the beautiful sunsets. Even if it would have been warm, the beach is a bit rocky and would have likely required water shoes, but we knew this in advance. It is a European beach, not a Carribean beach!
The resteraunt on property was OK. Decent food, but way pricey!!
Would return to this location again.