Hotel Sultan

The Sultan Club occupies the centre of Marbella, some 10 minutes on foot from the historical centre, and a little more than 3 mi from Puerto Banus, a seaside resort with a marina, pretty young faces, luxury yachts, and boutiques. A 5 minute stroll should take you to Plaza del Mar shopping mall with its numerous clothes boutiques, cinemas, and cafés. The Congress Hall of Marbella is also at a short walking distance. As for the sea, it's only 200m from the hotel.

Golfing enthusiasts will be absolutely thrilled by the fact that the establishment offers special golfing rates to its guests. It also provides all the necessary information concerning the sport, such as the location of the closest courses (Los Arqueros, La quina, Dama de Noche, Río Real, among others), the rates, and the means of transport available to get to them. Bear in mind that this is an apartment-hotel and so the rooms include fully-equipped kitchens. The hotel offers free towels to its guests for use in the indoor air conditioned swimming pool. Smoking rooms are available and there is a special lounge area reserved for smokers next to the café that serves breakfast. The Sultan Club has underground parking for the exclusive use of its guests, but it will cost them £8.5 per day. However, there are some services that you can enjoy for free, such as 2 jacuzzis and a fitness centre. If you have children, bear in mind there are no playgrounds or any sources of entertainment for them. However, the region surrounding the Sultan Club has numerous activities on offer, such as summertime entertainment, public playgrounds, etc. The establishment also offers a babysitting service for a fee. The activities for adults are only put on during the summer and are limited to musical entertainment, mainly performed by duos.

The hotel opened in 1996 and immediately received a 4 star rating. Several refurbishments have taken place over the years, as is standard practice in any hotel of this category. It has 6 floors and 76 rooms, each with the amenities that are the norm in an apartment hotel, such as the equipped kitchen. Another detail, which you'll find in nearly all the rooms, is a large terrace. Some even include a table, some chairs, a line to hang your laundry, and 2 deckchairs for a tanning session. Some of the communal areas are decorated in the manner of a sultan's palace, with wall and ceiling frescoes depicting beautifully trimmed gardens. The numerous paintings of Moorish scenes and jalousie windows add to the refined atmosphere. You will also be pleasantly surprised by the welcoming entrance hall. It's a vast space divided into 2 parts, with comfortable sofas and free newspapers (local, English, and Italian press). Don't forget to visit the Sultan Club spa one level below the entrance hall where you can enjoy many services, such as manicures, pedicures, a sauna, UVA rays, hair removal, massages, a Vichy shower, a water circuit, and Pilates sessions. The layout of the hotel has been carefully thought out: a narrow garden surrounds the building and becomes a bit wider around the outdoor swimming pools (one for adults, the other for children). During high season, things tend get a bit crowded (in terms of space and number of deckchairs).

The rooms and kitchens at the Sultan offer a full range of amenities: refrigerator, toaster, dishwasher, oven, washing machine, dryer, glass ceramic stove, microwave oven (only on the fourth floor), coffee machine, etc. In the bedroom, there is air conditioning and heating, a phone, a safe (for a fee), a hair dryer, a TV set, and a walk-in closet. The rooms are spacious and well lit, and they boast modern and cosy interior decorating, with salmon-pink flower patterns on the wall. The rooms look out on the small town of Marbella, with the sea visible in the distance. Depending on which floor you're on, the rooms also afford a view of the garden or neighbouring buildings. The accommodation units are comfortable and well equipped, but the lack of detail that you come to expect from a 4 star hotel is regrettable, such as the absence of bathrobes or a plasma screen TV. The bathrooms are also a bit too quaint.

Breakfast isn't a copious affair in high season, as it lacks variety (the buffet is only 4m long) and quality. The fruit juice is artificial and the pastries are industrially made. There's a simple reason for this: most guests prefer to have their breakfast in their room since the hotel is close to numerous supermarkets and grocery stores and the kitchen is fully equipped.

The closest beach to the Sultan Club is only 200m away and there is a quiet alley that leads down to it, passing by several shops. As is the case all year long with nearly all of the beaches at Marbella, the dark sand is generally clean, as is the water. The space available depends a lot on the season... the best way to get a good spot is to wake up early. The hotel doesn't have any deckchairs or hammocks on the beach, but if you look around, you're sure to find somewhere to hire such equipment.