La Barracuda Hotel

Located at the Southern end of Carihuela, the hotel grounds and gate are literally 5m away from the huge flat fantastic beach. A good sized pool, plenty of loungers and fixed umbrellas, grassy garden area around the pool, pool bar. Pretty much everything you could want for a holiday in the sun.

The hotel itself is deffo 3*. Well maintained, clean and cool. 9 floors of accommodation with the 10th floor being the rooftop bar with great views of the beach towards Benelmadena marina, the town behind and Málaga and mountains to the North. A nice chilled area. Open from 7pm at night, when the hottest part of the sun had gone but it was till toasty up there. Very nice place to start or end your evening with a couple drinks, which we did.

The rooms are pretty basic but well maintained. The beds are firm but comfortable. A bath/shower rather than walk in. A decent sized balcony (ours was South facing with great views over the pool towards the marina). The air-con worked great and was very welcome in July. Just about enough wardrobe space for two people for two weeks.

Slight downside is you have to hire a kettle and the safe boxes are down in the hotel lobby, which again you have to hire, and not quite as convenient as in your room. Neither is expensive so not a great drama.

The pool is a great size, 1.50m deep at max, and was never too crowded. Thoroughly cleaned and maintained each morning. It opens at 10am which allows a leisurely breakfast before your first dip. There are games and events a couple times a day which plenty people enjoyed and the friendly enthusiastic staff made them fun to watch for those not taking part, and many people did take part. The guys played music throughout the day which mostly had a Latin vibe and just gave a good atmosphere.

This is a relaxed yet vibrant pool area, with everyone behaving themselves. There were plenty kids there but not once were they overwhelming or annoying. Exactly as it should be , they were just there having fun and they added to the relaxed feel. There is a good mix of nationalities with many Spanish people and this mix just made it more enjoyable.

Only one group had maybe misjudged the hotel vibe and were a few beers more and a bit louder than this hotel caters for. Nothing particularly bad, but a noticeable difference to the majority. I think the staff may have pointed this out and the next day they were still louder than most but not quite as boisterous.

The area around the pool is mixed patio and lawn. There are a good number of loungers and especially good was the fact there is not a mass stampede to book them in the morning. A few people did get the towels down before breakfast and dad stood guard, but if you arrived before lunch there was a good chance that you would get one. The staff were pretty reasonable in policing them. You could disappear for a while and have lunch or a dip in the sea etc for an hour, but he did regular checks and if anybody took the mick and disappeared for a few hours without at least one of the group using them then he would remove towels etc to allow other people the use, this was carried out especially when it was a bit busier and people were looking , but would be a bit more lenient if it was quiet. Overall the policing was very fair.

The pool bar opened at 11:30 and is reasonably priced, with plenty choice and friendly staff. Nice area to grab some shade for a half hour with a drink or snacks (hot or cold) while being able to keep an eye on the pool or loungers. We used it pretty much every day. There is entertainment most nights and this seemed well attended and received, even though we didn't use it.

Overall we really enjoyed our stay at the hotel and is definitely worth considering and we will again

The situation at South Carihuela is great. Directly on a great wide promenade that goes unbroken for miles, and is flat and well used, giving great walking access to the whole beach area. There are bars, restaurants, and beach club / chiringuitos along it's length that cater for every taste and budget. You will find something that suits. All the staff we met were friendly, helpful and spoke English. There is a lovely tiled avenue on the backside of the promenade buildings that has even more bars , restaurants etc. You could be here a month and not eat in the same place twice. Gets busier about 21:30 , and some places advise booking in advance, but you will get a seat somewhere within a few steps.

In amongst the eateries are loads of beach shops selling everything you could want for the beach, and gifts (tat). There are also more normal shops that sell groceries, clothing, gifts etc. Plenty to rummage if that is your thing.

This extends to Benelmadena too, past the Marina, which itself is a hive of activity and more lively than Carihuela

One street back you get plenty Supermercado which are slightly cheaper than the beach front, and if you are willing to walk 10mins then there LIDL, ALDI, Carrefour etc which have normal supermarket prices

There are plenty of the more opportunities vendors selling fake goods, t-shirts, hats, bags, trainers mostly. They are to be found on the promenade with their stuff layed out on sheets or wandering by , including bars restaurants. They will ask politely and just walk on if you politely say no thanks, only a couple tried to push a little bit and chance their arm but even then they were not oppressive. Plenty people but from them and they have a lookout system to give a warning when the local beach police patrols are coming. Although technically illegal the police do not seem heavy handed, they are polite and organised and plenty people were buying from them, so maybe a reasonable balance has been agreed. Wasn't our thing but if you like to barter then give it a go and you might get a decent bargain. It's all fake or stolen but all looked decent.

This is just a "brief" summary of the local area and being a pretty big conurbation there is plenty more to explore

We enjoyed it very much and will be back

Fairly average I would say, possibly a bit overpriced for a three star. My biggest concern was the lack of sunbeds, even as early as 10am there clearly aren’t enough for the number of people staying here. I can see from previous posts that the hotel used to be very proactive in removing towels from sunbeds not being used, unfortunately this is no longer the case. We saw numerous beds with towels on for the whole day and not being used. When we asked the pool guy for assistance he said to find an empty sunbed and put a towel on it to reserve it! The very thing they claim to discourage - or purchase the Bali beds at €20 per day which were available. They need to reduce the number of paid-for Bali beds and increase the number of sunbeds. Surprised there was no water in the rooms, also the cleaners never touched the glasses we had used the day before, a little odd. Food was ok, location superb. Not sure if I’d return but was nice to visit this part of Spain