Visiting Torremolinos
Torremolinos is one of the easiest places to describe: Beach and sea, and sea and beach.
Near them some hotels, punctuated with shops, and several hundred reddish people moving from them to the beach and vice-versa.
Enjoy the Beach
A long stripe of sand, with less people then expected, calm warm water, and the hotel just across the street. What else do I need for a relaxing week? Carihuela, Bajondillo, Playamar are just names for the different areas of the long sequence of beaches, almost until Malaga.
It’s good to forget the car!
Even lunch can be in the beach, in one of the many stalls that line it.
Beaches
Bajondillo
The centre of Torremolinos has two good beaches – La Carihuela and Bajondillo. The only visible difference is… location, side by side. The first time we stayed in Bajondillo, and, by commodity or by the first good impression, it was my natural preference in the second visit.
It is wide, safe, and the restaurants in the sand a good place to eat.
La Carihuela
City Centre
In a world where local commerce is fading, strangled by the big malls, it was a surprise to see the many shops surviving in the central area of Torremolinos. Of course, tourism is the main reason, but it doesn’t explain everything, because most shops offer general articles, denouncing a large residential community.
Torremolinos is, nowadays, much more than a long beach gathering pale people from north of Europe.
Torre Molinos
Torremolinos got the name from the many disappeared water mills (molinos) along the coast, and the tower than can still be seen in S. Miguel, built around 1300 by the Arabs ruling Malaga.
Old quarter
Despite its growth towards touristy exploitation, Torremolinos still keeps some few details from its origin. Too much commerce around, too much modern adding, but… there is still something.
Not much, and to be honest, people don’t care – beach is everything.
San Miguel street
The main commercial area in town is the pedestrian street of san Miguel and the same name square, dominated by the church.
It is a Neo-classical simple structure, with the typical white walls used in Andalucia.
Navajas palace
Once more in Torremolinos, to confirm that it has not much to see and do besides beach and nightlife. Well, not exactly – behind my hotel there’s a handsome building that was declared Historic Landmark in 1991 by the Andalusian Government.
Though showing a Moorish look, it is a pastiche built in 1925 for Antonio Navajas Ruiz imitating mudejar style.
Ok, it is not ugly, and… it is different, being used, nowadays by the local council.
The entrance is free, though a donation will be welcome.
Sand constructions
Statues
Plaza Europa
Ciau Bella
Ciau Bella
Extremely kind
We arrived in Torremolinos by dinner time, but I didn’t want to eat before finding a room.
The girl at the door pointed the restaurant when I asked her for a cybercafe, and we entered. After choosing Tortellini (very good) I asked for the computers and… there was none – the restaurant had wireless access, but useless without a computer.
I cancelled the meal and announced that I would look elsewhere.
Immediately the cook (boss?) exited the kitchen and told me that he would lend me his own computer.
Noticing that Fernanda was not eating (she was sick, and the only thing that she could try to eat was a soup – absent in the menu) he decided:
– I will make a soup for you.
He went out (shopping?) an came with a few ingredients to prepare the soup.
Well… it was great, and deserved the good tip that I left.
Los Pescadores
Just across the street
Among the many stalls in the sand, this was the one that pleased more this time. They all share the “universal” recipes, they all use the tricks of fast food (French fries, salad, and… something else that makes the difference) but this one seemed to have the best price-quality ratio.
We used it three times, without remarks.
Address: On Bajondillo beach
El Marques
El Marques
Good impression
This the only restaurant that we tried, in the centre of Torremolinos, but we did it twice. In the first visit the service was gentle and efficient, the food was good, and the price very reasonable. Overall, a very positive impression.
A few days later we decided to try another place, but everything was so crowded, so confuse, that, when patience got lost, we returned to this already know place. Well, they suffered also the confusion of a exceptionally busy day, and the service was much slower than in the first visit, however, that was the only visible difference. I think that we were served by the owner himself, really trying his best to face the unexpected rush. Another positive point.
Address: In S. Miguel square
Heladaria Magui
Heladaria Magui
Nice service
We ate in a restaurant nearby, and moved here to the desert. Ice cream, of course. Good ice cream, gentle service, nice price.In a single appreciation, a good first impression.
Address: Calle Antonio Navajas Ruiz 2 Local 7
Directions: Near Paseo Maritim in Bajondillo
El Velero
Good image
This restaurant has the best external image of all restaurants in the sand that we saw in Bajondillo beach. We had just a lunch there, and it was a good meal… at a price. Nothing to complaint, but not suitable for each day meal if budget counts.
Favorite Dish: ParrilladaPaella
Address: On the beach of Bajondillo
Pizzeria NaturaSur
Pizzeria NaturaSurBad experience
My first meal in Torremolinos this year was pizza and lasagna bought in this restaurant to take away. Lasagna was reasonable, but pizza could be much better. And, for two weeks we skipped this restaurant several times.The strength of a single bad experience…
Address: Calle de Antonio Navajas Ruiz, 3 Local 1
Price Comparison: less expensive than average
Directions: Between Navajas palace and Paseo Maritim
Price: less than US$10
Andaluz
Carambuco
Carambuco
La Rumba
Macarena
Bistrot Europa
Pizzeria La Bruschetta
El Dorado
Krystal hotel
Krystal hotel
In comercial area
Driving back home from La Manga del Mar Menor, we decided to stop in Torremolinos. It was August, a Saturday, and having no reserve, getting a room should be difficult, admitting that all hotels in Torremolinos should be full.
Upon arrival I borrowed a computer and in Booking I found a double room in this hotel for… 40 €.
I booked it, of course.
Well, the hotel is a reasonable three stars, with a problem – it is hard to reach, in a pedestrian and interior street, with no parking facilities.
We had no meal in the hotel (breakfast was not included, as expected – the regular price indicated in the room’s door was… 140€ and not the excepcional price that we paid).
Address: Calle Cauce s/n, Torremolinos, Costa del Sol, 29620, Spain
Phone: +34 952 37 16 77
Website: Krystal
Bajondillo apartments
Bajondillo apartments
Excellent location
The first impression was bad – there was no hot water in the room. The desk offered to get us another room, or to fix it later, if we could wait. We decided to wait, the problem was solved, and nothing else happened until the last day.
The location of the hotel is excellent, the rooms look old but are functional, there is no kitchen but the stove and fridge were useful, as it was a self-service laundry.
We only had breakfast in the restaurant in the first day – for 9 € it was not expensive, and the service was acceptable, but we had to pay also the 9 € for a 3 years old child, that only had a glass of milk.
Since then our breakfast started to be in the room, where all the family could eat well for less than 9 €, buying the goods in the facing supermarket.
We only had a dinner there, very affordable, with a fixed menu but well served. The problem is that the menu didn’t change much day after day, inviting us to try elsewhere (and there were hundreds of alternatives).
We enjoyed the animation of the hotel, with reasonable shows.
Parking is free, but only serves about 10% of the clients, so, they managed to provide free use of a parking uptown. It’s more than 2 km driving there, but only a few hundred walking through the stairs or using the lift.
To use it, we must make a deposit of 10€ to receive back against the delivery of the card to the free entrance.
When I did, I noticed that the desk was out of change, and they “forgot” to return the deposit. When I mentioned it, rapidly they went searching the money that was only two meters aside.
Address: Paseo Maritimo 5, Torremolinos, Costa del Sol, 29620, Spain
Phone: +34 952 38 24 22
Website: Bajondillo
Marconfort Beach Club
I went there very suspicious, because the hotel seemed too big and too cheap, suggesting problems with service. No reason for that! We had a perfect stay with the advantage for the men and children that the commercial area is a little bit distant.
Of course, if you are looking for the Spanish “movida” then you’d better stay everywhere else, where movement and noise are the rule.
However, if you want to rest, and specially with kids, that’s a good place.
PS – Someone asked me some additional information, calling my attention for the fact that the hotel changed name and administration and is now sold under “all-inclusive” base. So, you better forget the prices I paid.
Address: Calle Pontinental, 2, Torremolinos, Andalucía 29620
Phone: +34 971 783 303
Website: Not working. It seems that the hotel is changing hands. Again!
Fénix hotel
Fénix hotel
Curiousity
I didn’t stay there.
I didn’t even enter it, but I was curious with its location.
Torremolinos unfolds in two main levels, uptown, where the commerce and nightlife is mainly concentrated, and the sea level, with the beaches and related equipment and shops.
We spent all week using the elevator up and sometimes down (alternating with the stairs).
Behind our hotel, Fenix hotel showed a curious solution: it is built in the slope, so, the main entrance is in the upper level, in the centre of town, but it has also a door in the back at sea level.
Wise solution!
Address: C/ Las Mercedes 22, Torremolinos, Costa del Sol, 29620, Spain
Phone: +34 952 37 52 68
Lively nights all year round
Torremolinos is one of the liveliest beaches in Spain, which means… in the world.
Everywhere we may see people strolling by night, specially by the seaside, with the many restaurants and clubs trying their best to convince the dwellers that theirs would be “the” place to enter.
Ugly Beaches
I must confess that I found all the beaches in Torremolinos area very common, even ugly. Dark sand, artificial beaches, heavy construction, are negative details. In the positive side I may list the temperature in the water, the professionalism of Spanish hotels, the distance from Portugal and the competitive prices.
Good animation
The competition to keep the tourists inside the hotels is strong and wild, with advantages to the customers. Spanish hotels developed a standard of activities that cover all the areas, with each hotel concentrated in its dominant area of customers.
So, either if you travel with children or not, this is a point you must consider when booking your hotel.
Chinatown
Do you believe that Torremolinos is full of Chinese shops?
Do you believe that they sell there exactly the same trash that they sell everywhere?
Do you believe that, even so, there is still some people who can’t skip them?
Yes, you may believe!
Trendy business
The use of fish to treat feet is becoming widespread.
I admit that the effectiveness of the treatment is debatable but sitting for a few minutes with your feet soaking on a hot night must be a pleasure. Maybe that’s why it was in Torremolinos that I saw the only store exclusively dedicated to ichthyotherapy.
Seeing the fish eating is a simple but nice show.
Torremolinos lift for the steep hills
The commercial part of Torremolinos is located apart from the beaches, in a very steep hill.
Somewhat hidden there’s a useful and cheap lift that eases covering the distance.
