I've just come back from a week at the Acacias and really thought it was a blueprint for how small hotels should be. Stylishly decorated, spotlessly clean and friendly but discreet service from the staff.

The hotel is a 19th century villa set in a walled garden full of lemon trees. Its interior is welcomingly dark and cool, red and ochre washed walls, rich parquet floors and old wooden shutters on the windows. Our room was large, high ceilinged and airy, with crisp white linen on the bed and a sparkling mosaic tiled bathroom. There are deckchairs and parasols on the aforementioned garden where you can chill out with a beer or soft drink later in the day (breakfast can be had outside too).

Breakfast was standard continental (sweet) but none the worse for that. We didn't try the garden restaurant but heard it was pretty good. The staff were really nice, most spoke some English and if not they did their level best!

My only gripe was that the aircon was a bit erratic - we were frozen on cooler evenings and roasted during hot nights. Not sure why that was.

Great as a place to spend a week kicking back or as a base for exploration. Pedregalajo beach is 5mins walk away - it's a bit scrubby but fine and there are lots of seafood restaurants and bars to keep you fed and watered. Some good cocktail joints too. Most people were locals or Spanish tourists. If a picnic is more your thing, there's a good supermarket called Super Sol quite close to the hotel.

Malaga centre is a 20min bus ride away - take the number 11. It has loads of great tapas joints and the old Juderia district around the cathedral is a very evocative whirl of narrow winding streets and alleys. I'd also recommend a visit to the hammam - it's a wonderfully atmospheric building and very reviving experience. Also worth a visit is the Alcazaba - maybe a little underwhelming if you've been to the Alhambra but less thronged, interesting in its own right and boasts some fantastic views over the city. A rather sweaty 20min walk takes you from there to the top of the Gibralfaro (even more fabulous views - Morocco on a clear day) but you can recover with a mint tea in scented gardens full of honeysuckle and jasmine.

Great little hotel and a lovely, very underrated town. I could easily have whiled away two weeks if not more.