Parador de Málaga Gibralfaro

When we arrived we were allocated Room 103. It was a dump, at ground level with security grills on the door to the veranda. It looked like a jail cell. I refused to accept the room. After making a fuss, I was allocated Room 301 on the third floor. This met my expectations. The room was adequate, clean but with a relatively small bathroom but had a good sized veranda with a superb view over the city of Malaga.

The Parador’s position high above the city provides a magnificent backdrop to hotel activities. The facilities are up-to-date, when not outright modern, and provide comfort and ease of use. The panoramic roof-top swimming pool is magnificent. But pride of place, in any review, should go to bed rest and dining. Absolutely marvellous on all counts! The rooms are well maintained and clean, the beds are supremely comfortable and the bathroom provides top notch amenities. And the restaurant — fantastic! Great menu and wine list offering the best of local produce; a brilliant kitchen brigade to provide well presented and excellently prepared dishes plus a first class table team offering a fine dining experience. Best of all: the staff from reception and throughout the stay are professional, caring, hospitable, and amiable without being over-friendly. I want to go back — both for the experience and to explore the menu better.

The hotel is a typical Parador-- very comfortable in a wonderfully restored old building. It has incredible views and is close to the centre (though at the top of a hill, so many guests will want to get a taxi back late at night).

Anyone that has visited this hotel simply for a drink and the iconic views will know that it occupies a privileged position that the new wave of Málaga hotels can only dream about. The rooms are large, comfortably furnished in a traditional Spanish style, with spacious bathrooms and I believe every room has balcony with a table and chairs. The well-stocked bar is popular with locals as well as residents and the restaurant offers inventive twists on the Spanish classics. With fantastic views of the city, the superyacht-laden port and the coastline - in both directions - it really is the perfect base from which to explore the city and its hundreds (thousands?) of bars and restaurants and many cultural attractions. The hotel also offers free parking but for those without transport, the heart of the city is a gentle stroll down hill on the scenic path past the Gibralfaro castle and the Alcazaba (somewhat like a mini Alhambra). If the thought of walking back up to the hotel is too much to contemplate after dinner, there is a regular bus service which stops at the entrance to the hotel, while night owls will find Uber competitive. In short, almost the perfect hotel.

Superb location high above the city, next to the Gibralfaro castle, with great views. All the rooms, as far as I can tell, have the same view of the port and old city. Bedroom was large and very well appointed, with chairs and table on a small private terrace; roof-top pool; large bar with inside and outside sitting areas; very good breakfast choice. For what you get, it's decent value too.