If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR272.73), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Shoulders have been known to lower and cares blow away with the sea breeze on arrival at La Zambra, just outside Mijas. Spacious, light-filled rooms curated with artisanal Andalusian details set the tone for a restful, romantic escape. In the 1980s, this was Byblos Hotel, and – taking a leaf out of its predecessor’s bohemian playbook – this overhauled retreat gives you the freedom to set your own tempo: exchange leisurely volleys on the tennis court, check into the expansive spa for an indulgent timeout, or linger over low-key Mediterranean suppers. For days out and about, set the metronome to andante: perhaps a hike into the Andalusian hills, a meander around a whitewashed town, or lo-fi loafing by the pool. There is always time for siesta…
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £260.47 (€300), including tax at 10 per cent.
More details
Rates include breakfast.
Also
The hotel has six accessible rooms suitable for wheelchair-users.
At the hotel
Gym, tennis and paddle courts, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: air-conditioning, TV with Chromecast, premium linens, minibar, free bottled water, free tea and coffee, a beach bag, bathrobes, and BelArt bath products.
Our favourite rooms
The open-plan Signature Suite has a convivial free-flowing layout, shades-of-cream detailing, and a spacious, furnished terrace made for sundowners.
Poolside
There are three pools at La Zambra, including adults-only and family friendly options. There’s a heated indoor pool at the spa, which is open from 10am–8pm for over-16s only; an outdoor, unheated pool, kid friendly pool with lifeguard; and La Bartola’s outdoor, unheated and kid-friendly pool. From April-October the lifeguard-served pool is open from 10am to 8pm, while the rest of the year it closes at 6pm.
Spa
Mood Spa occupies a bright, relaxing and plant-dotted space, framed by archways: tucked into its cosseting quarters are 12 treatment rooms (choose from one of five spa ‘journeys’ before commencing your spa day). Mood Spa is open to hotel residents and day guests; those staying in junior suites and above get free access to the spa’s water circuit and hot areas. After a sauna/steam, take a dip in the pool or a whirl in the Jacuzzi, then head out to the spa’s terrace to relax. Sign up to a yoga class (adaptable to all levels and held daily) in a light-drenched 500-square-metre studio or head to the 24-hour gym kitted out with Technogym machines. There are also tennis and paddle courts on-site (from €25 an hour).
Packing tips
Swimwear and cover-ups are de rigueur… Take sports kit for runs in the sun and games of paddle tennis; outdoorsy threads for foothill forays; Flamenco-inspired glamour for balmy Andalusian nights.
Also
One-to-one as well as private group yoga classes are available on request.
Pet‐friendly
Dogs up to eight kilogrammes of weight are allowed, though not in certain areas of the hotel. There’s a €75 charge a night for each dog (no more than one dog in each room). See more pet-friendly hotels in Málaga.
Children
Bienvenido! Cots are available on request, there are two-bedroom family suites and interconnecting-room options. In high season, there are day clubs for babies and kids up to 10 years old. Only the spa is off-limits to little Smiths.
Best for
Kids of all ages.
Recommended rooms
King Rooms with a terrace sleep up to three. Two-bedroom Family Suites come with special amenities for little Smiths. There are connecting room options, too. Cots are available upon request.
Crèche
Open all year round, from 10am to 6pm, and included with your stay, the Baby Club, for infants aged from six months up to three years old, is overseen by specially trained staff and focuses on developmental play. For children aged four to 10, the Kids Club provides daytime entertainment, equipped with indoor and outdoor play areas and a choice of structured activities, including those with a focus on nature such as gardening, outdoor treasure hunts and eco-themed crafts.
Activities
The sandy shores along this stretch of the Costa del Sol are your beachy playground. Picasso’s art is visually striking enough to provide a family-friendly culture fix, so head to the museum in Málaga. Marbella’s marina is excellent for yacht-spotting (and lined with cafés), and check whether the donkeys are around for evening cart rides in Mijas Pueblo.
Swimming pool
Take a dip in the outdoor swimming pool dedicated to families, which is staffed by a lifeguard in high season.
Meals
Palmito’s children’s menu spans penne Bolognese to battered, boneless hake fillet with chips. And for dessert: a trio of ice-creams.
Babysitting
Available for a charge; two days’ notice required.
A seat at Palmito, in view of the Eliurpi hat wall installation – shop while you snack… Under the pergola is another sought-after spot.
Dress Code
Light layers and fringed accoutrements.
Hotel restaurant
hoose from a quartet of restaurants at La Zambra. Mediterranean-minded brasserie Palmito is an all-day all-rounder: kickstart the morning with a buffet breakfast, or choose from a selection of cooked-to-order hot dishes. The lunch menu features grilled meat, fish, and seafood (plus veggie options), while things get a little more formal by evening – order the confit leeks and hand-cut steak tartare to start, taking a seat in either the verdant dining room or on the wattle-roof terrace. Buzzy Picador, which comprises a dining room and terrace, is open for lunch and dinner: the neo-taverna’s menu is based on Málaga’s cuisine; a Spanish cheese board and a medley of tapas is a strong starting point, paired with a weighty red or a cold beer. The beach-bar vibes at pool-adjacent La Bartola make it a popular lunchtime spot in high season – as is Bamboleo, a relaxed bar space open year round for glazed Iberian bacon bao and seabass carpaccio toast served from lunch through to dinner and generous pours.
Hotel bar
Open daily from 10am until midnight (1am on Friday and Saturday nights), Bamboleo serves snacks (try the seabass carpaccio toast), flatbreads and pizzas, and fresh, beach-inspired pours (such as the caipiriña de pomelo). Take a seat on the snaking terrace come aperitivo hour. In summer, you can also sample seafood tapas and fresh smoothies (or jugs of Sangria) by the pool at La Bartola.
Last orders
Palimto is open from 7.30am till 10.30pm (closing between mealtimes); Picador opens at 1pm (Thursday to Sunday) and then from 6.30pm to 10.30pm, Monday to Saturday. La Bartola is open in high season. Meanwhile, Bamboleo stays open until midnight.
Room service
A tray charge of €10 is applied to all room service orders. During high season, room service is available 24/7, while low season may incur some restriction on service hours.
Where the Mijas hills tumble towards the Costa del Sol, you’ll find La Zambra – a coastal stay between Málaga and Marbella.
Planes
The nearest airport is Málaga (AGP), which is approximately a 30-minute drive from the hotel. Private transfers can be arranged for a €70 one-way fee.
Trains
Fuengirola train station is a 15-minute drive from the hotel; private transfers are available from €10 each way.
Automobiles
You can park your wheels for free at the hotel’s outside car park.
Worth getting out of bed for
Set off from La Zambra to the hillside village of Mijas Pueblo, a 20-minute drive away. Once here, ramble around its snaking, whitewashed streets, stopping at craft shops when something glazed takes your fancy (donkey-drawn carriage rides on summer nights – optional). Málaga is an easy day trip, less than an hour away by road and enticing with culture fixes such as. the Picasso Museum, the cathedral, and palm-dotted historic fortress, the Alcazaba. Head back down the coast for a round of golf at Mijas Golf, which neighbours the hotel.
Local restaurants
For sustainable gastronomy (well, actually gastro-aquaponics) done right, try Sollo, a starred restaurant in Fuengirola: pay a visit to their R&D laboratory before tucking into a five-course tasting menu, which starts with a Sábalo smoked meringue and concludes with a selection of sweets from the chef’s childhood. A 25-minute car ride from the hotel, Restaurante El Lago Marbella plates up seasonal, Andalusian cuisine – the most in-demand tables are those on the summer terrace. For dining with a side of culture in Málaga, try El Pimpi, a traditional wine cellar with multiple halls and patios (and vinos) to explore. Sign up to their ‘Picasso lives in El Pimpi’ experience, which ends in their winery with a tasting of one of their seasonal menus.
Local bars
Olivia's La Cala in Mijas Costa is a lively seaside tapas bar. Marbella’s Pangea Club is no less energetic, with a portside location and a reputation for memorable late-night rooftop parties.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this legendary Costa del Sol stay and unpacked their hand-painted ceramics and bottle of sherry vinegar, a full account of their coastal break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside La Zambra in Malága Province…
As you meander west along the Costa del Sol – Málaga and Torremolinos behind you – some fairly unforgivable 1970s architecture is given respite by the blue-tiled turrets of upscale coastal stay La Zambra. You may know this new Hyatt address from its legendary past life as the Byblos Hotel – a coastal resort that had quite the hedonistic heyday in the 1980s. Now, the revamped,197-key La Zambra (named after a flamenco dance) has guests all aflutter once more with its pared-back pastoral-meets-modern interiors, which spotlight Andalusian craftsmanship against a backdrop of soft seascape hues and sculptural furniture (admire woven wall hangings fashioned as headboards and a coterie of organic-shaped ceramics from your high-thread-count spot on the bed). The bohemia of Byblos now comes with 21st-century polish…
Thoroughly modern frills include an assembly of restaurants reachable via imposing archways; paddle and tennis courts, plus an impressive, light-filled yoga studio, and a noteworthy kids’ club. Should the hotel’s trio of pools fail to sate the urge to dip (the arch-framed pool at state-of-the-art Mood Spa is quite a looker), Fuengirola beach is only a 15-minute drive away.
