Salobrena - A Holiday with Problems

The pool and Salobrena

I'm sure everyone has at least once in their life planned a holiday only to have it go horribly wrong. Travel journalists aren't exempt!

In 2012 my trip to Bath was soggy, in Edinburgh I was plagued with chronic back ache (fault of prescription pills - now back on over-the-counter ones) and Spain in December joined the club.

Salobrena is not the best location for someone with a back problem - I should have done my research before booking. But that wasn't the main problem. Without one of the other problems that cropped up I could probably have managed okay.

As the flight out was horrendously early it meant an overnight at an airport hotel. I should have known when the train pulled out of the station and I realized that I had left my overnight bag at home that this was a fated holiday. On arrival at London Gatwick it was a trip to Boots for toiletries. No cosmetics in that branch. I had to wait until the next morning after going through Security before I could buy the face paint and make myself look human.

Knowing that at that time of the year the hotel would be almost empty I hoped they had good PR and would allocate me a decent room. Not one of those awful European single rooms - the width of 2 beds, a bathroom in which you can barely move, no view and located in noisy and/or smelly area. As this was a Best Western hotel I handed over my card with my passport only to have it returned to me with a grumpy, "Bring it back later I don't have time now." There were only two couples to check in after me! I was handed my card key and told the room number - 102. Yup. Had to be a single didn't it? Over the front door with a view of a flat roof and the side of another building. No way!

I hot footed it back to reception where the last couple were checking in and as soon as they cleared the desk I put my Best Western card and press card on the counter and told the receptionist (possibly manager?) in no uncertain terms that I wanted a better room. That as a regular user of Best Western hotels I expected some consideration. She, two other receptionists and the Saga rep were gob-smacked. Well, I had said it all in Spanish! I got my other room - on the third floor, a double with balcony overlooking the pool and a splendid view. As they say, it pays to complain!

The excuse? There was a problem as it was a late booking. Eh? I had paid in full three months earlier - not exactly a late booking.

One of the things I enjoy about holidaying by myself is that I can do and see what I want without having to consider anyone else. I hate sightseeing or shopping with someone tagging along as I cannot then concentrate. That being the case I try to avoid those nice people who think I want to spend time with them. Mind you, some of them are just plain nosy! On the coach from the airport I had spotted some whom I needed to avoid but, would you believe it, I got caught. Most unexpectedly.

The first evening before dinner I went to the bar for a drink and ended up sitting with a married couple. The next morning at the information meeting the wife came into the room and sat beside me. Okay so far. After the meeting we and the rep. went on the hotel bus into Salobrena for a familiarisation tour. In the town we left the bus and followed along like good children taking in the information being imparted about local buses, locations of various places of interest etc. Then the rep left us to do whatever we wanted to do. A voice beside me said, "My husband hasn't come because he said I could stay with you so that I don't get lost."

What can you say? He didn't come on either of the included trips, not even to Granada, but the pair did use the hotel bus to go into Salobrena. I didn't get to go there again as every time I thought I might be able to jump on the bus, his wife was sitting in reception - probably waiting to see if I would go. I did fool them once. After they left on the hotel bus I got onto the tour bus to Almunecar and found that it is a far better location for someone who has problems coping with hills. There is a lovely long flat promenade with plenty of benches on which to sit and enjoy the views - or read, of course - and I discovered a delightful small park.



One of the roads in Frigiliana



Have you heard of Frigiliana? This is a pretty village that we visited. It is filled with white-washed houses that are decorated with wrought-iron balconies - all very Andalucian. And it is hilly. Some people in our group took the 'high' road while the rest of us (including my attachment) continued strolling along the lower road as far as the church square. I thoroughly enjoyed the stroll, stopping to look in shop windows and, on the way back, popping into some of the shops for a browse.

I may not have been able to do exactly what I wanted to in Granada but I did persuade my shadow to come into a restaurant and share a fabulous dish of paella.

I'm off to Croatia in just over a week. Keep your fingers crossed that this time I am hanger-on free! After all, I will be there for two weeks.