Hi!
we will spend the first two weeks of August in Spain (tickets booked to Seville) and would love to spend 1 week on a nice beach in Costa de la Luz. So far we haven't been able to find anything available for that period, but we also found that there were not a lot of sites our there for Costa de la Luz (we were also considering Nerja on Costa del Sol - and for Nerja, even though August is so busy, there are plenty of sites at least to pick from). So... here is our question: what is the best way to find accomodation (pref. apartments, or hotels) on the Costa de la Luz? Also, if some of you have stayed in places there and can give some recommendations, that would be terrific! cheers, Katherine

Hi, Katharine!

You have picked one of my favourite areas. It's not as touristy as the Costa del Sol, and has access to inland areas that are more authentically andalusian than those near the Costa del Sol. Like the beautiful white village of Vejer de la Frontera, perched on a hill with views all the way to Africa from some points.
The beaches in this area will be crowded with spaniards, however, like the rest of southern Spain, specially in August-prime vacation time here in Spain- and that makes it hard to find lodging.Most hotels and apartments will ask for a week minimum stay and rates will start at about 150 dollars a night.
Check www.solmelia.com, they have a 219 plus tax rate in half board (breakfast and dinner included)for the Tryp Sancti Petri apartments in the beautiful Barrosa/Sancti Petri beach and 170 plus tax at Tryp La Caleta in the seafront of Cadiz.
Also at www.hotel-reservations-spain.com you can find in Cadiz city the Playa Victoria hotel at 193 and in Rota the Playa de la Luz at 140 with breakfast (this last one is a great hotel).

Good luck and let me know if you need more help in deciding.

One more thing, if you still decide to go to Costa del Sol, in www.riu.com you can book a room at the Riu Monica hotel -right on the beach and in the middle of Nerja- at 195 dollars a night in half board.

One more idea,
ww.sleepinspain.com has online availability at the beautiful Monasterio de San Miguel hotel, a 4 star establishment in a beautiful historic building, at about 160 dolars a night including breakfast. Their minimum stay is just 3 days. It is located in the middle of El Puerto de Santa Maria a coastal city that is a tourist attraction in its own right, with great seafood restaurants, important wineries and a very neat little castle. The city is in an estuary, so you do have to drive or take a local bus to go to the beaches -about 10 minutes drive away-. The hotel has a charming garden with a pool, though. Some of the best bullfighters will perform at El Puerto around this time, ask the hotel for details if you are into this sort of thing.

Olga - many thanks for all your advice!! I will have a look at these sites. Our situation is that we travel with our son who is 17, so we try to rent apartments rather than staying in hotels, because in the latter case we always take 2 rooms (they really want privacy at that age...) and at the rates I saw this may turn out a pretty expensive holiday. We usually spend 130 - 200 euros for 2 rooms a night... any idea for hotels in that category which are still "nice"? or for apartment rentals?
muchas gracias ya!

Try Los Jandalos apartments in Puerto de Santa Maria (Cadiz), check them out at the www.jpmoser.com , but they will probably be fully booked.

Another option: for 200 Euros plus 7%tax per night, you can splurge in 2 rooms at a 5 star resort in Jerez, with beautiful beaches within 1/2 drive, like Rota and Puerto de Santa Maria. This is through the www.bancotel.com voucher system so often mentioned in this site. You can pick between the Montecastillo, outside of Jerez or the brand new Gran Hotel Palmera Plaza in downtown Jerez, next to the Royal Riding School.
The beautiful white villages of Arcos, Zahara de la Sierra and Grazalema are also good daytrips from here.

Olga,

we really loved Los Jandalos - but you were right, fully booked for August already, except for rooms (210 eur. mas IVA each). We will continue looking. Again, thanks so much for your advice - its amazing , where do you get all this knowledge from?
I also saw another thread from you (I think) about a Riu hotel on the border to Portugal.... do you still recommend dit? It sounded a bit "resort-like" - am I wrong? Maybe we can get something there. I will check it out.

Sorry Los Jandalos was full! It does look nice, doesn't it?
I did check the Riu.com site for Riu Atlantico and Riu Canela, the 2 neighbour hotels by Ayamonte in the border with Portugal, but both were full for that time or above the budget you are looking at.
I'll keep an eye out and let you know if I see something else.
Thanks for your kind comments! I work in the hotel industry and it is also my hobby, so everytime I can I take a weekend break from Seville and do some "scouting".
Good luck!

You might try the Parador in Mazagon (Huelva). The only time we visit in 'high' season we stay with relatives near there.
In el Puerto de Santa Maria I usually stay at (3-star) Hotel Santa Maria [email protected]
You can walk down to the beach (500m) or it has a rooftop swimming pool.

It's on the riverfront and the ferry to Cadiz is across the parking lot.

Dear Katherine,

Paste this URL on your browser, you could contact them and see if this apartment is still available. The location is wonderful, on La Barrosa beach, near Chiclana.

http://www.costavacations.com/apartm...cv105.htm#form

The same website has apartments in Nerja also.

This one in Zahara de los Atunes, probably the best beach in Andalucia.

http://www.solinmobiliaria.com/ingles/index.html

Another one:
http://www.canela-island.com/
This one is in Isla Canela, near Portugal, and has a special offer for
1520 Euros you get an apartment, a weeks rental car from Seville's airport and green fees at several golf courses. They have a 4 people minimum, but for that price you can say you are 4, it doesn't matter (and you get a 2 bedroom apartment). The website is great!

Olga and Nedsireland, thanks a lot for all the recommendations! Our favourite - the apartment on Barossa beach - is... yes, you guessed right, fully booked for August! I will have a look at the others as well. In the meantime, seeing the aggravated challenge with Costa de la Luz, my DH suggested we might do 1 week in Spain but "city" (Sevilla, Cadiz, Jerez - where his family is originally from before they immigrated to Argentina) and then do the 1 week we had imagined for beach across the border, on the Algarve. We did look into that last night on the web til well after midnight, and secured a reservation in a small hotel in Lagos for which we had seen good reviews and that seems to fit the kind of place we like (not big conference hotels, we have that both all the time through our jobs, but something with character...): the Solar de Mos (amazing 80 Euros for a dble room w breakfast and 60 for the single, both rooms with balcony. they have only 15 rooms, and a nice swimming pool). its not a beach location, but 10 min walk to beach and 10 min walk to the center. So, all in all, at least we found something not to bad AND available. We also found available rooms at the Vila Gale in Tavira (a nice, not too big 4 star hotel, 110 for dble and 80 euros for sgle, via www.hrs.com) but decided against it because of the ferry that takes you to the beach in Tavira. Except if somebody here would find that Tavira absolutely tops Lagos as location?

Now we will look at the city trips... I'm sure I will find a wealth of information in your answers to hotel questions for the three Andalusian cities - you may here more from me soon! Many thanks again for all your wonderful help! (you seem to have been so lucky as to combine your hobby with your job!)
K.