Landmark hotels


Las torres in Playamar were subject of lengthy legal battles with residents wanting the 'eyesores' demolished. As the picture (taken July 2012) shows, they appear exactly as when I moved there with my family in 1975ish.


It is impossible to understand the town’s modern history without knowing about its hotels and apartment buildings.
These serve as physical markers around to which the various stages of Torremolinos’ past are tied.
Most of the landmark hotels and apartment buildings which stand today were built before the 1980s.
Playamar, Bajondillo, with la roca and carihuela beyond.
Think of the coastline of Torremolinos from Benalmadena to the Rock which cuts the coastline in two and it is still hard to ignore the impressive Aloha Puerto Sol and Sol Timor next to it; the luxury Gran Hotel Nautilus (1963); the singular Pez Espada (1959)  with its ugly blueish-white neighbours the Pez Espada Residential Complex.
Next to this eyesore remains the Tropicana Hotel (1961) and its legendary beach club, the latter no longer any different to the other chiringuitos.
In the land where the 1950s place-to-be was the Club El Remo was once located, the El Remo Apartment building has stood since 1966 overlooking the square by the same name.

I walked into the gardens of this building hoping to find out about the famous Club, and was saddened to see that the 20 o 30 people sat around the pool were probably 30 plus years older than me. They looked at me as if a visitor from another planet. I felt as if I was visiting a relative at an old people’s home.
And who could ignore the ageing yellowness of the Eurosol complex built in 1963 straddling the main road either side of the Calle Pez Espada. I lived in Eurosol’s building 109 (there are a dozen or so buildings despite the ambitious numeration) from around 1983 to 1987.
Pez Espada opened in 1959.

Speaking to the gardener recently I discovered the Eurosol owners’ association had later sold the only swimming pool, grounds and bar belonging to the community to a foreigner. He could not remember the motive for the purchase nor the justification for selling it “Who sells the community pool?” asked the gardener, rhetorically.
This where I would spend much of my summers, playing with friends, throwing stones to the bottom of the pool which we would race to pick up.
I remember watching my father in his minute Speedo trunks attempting to use the diving board, inevitably performing an ungraceful belly flop instead.
The diving board remains, and once again stones lay at the bottom, but for many years now the pool area has remained closed, unused, and unloved, and  young boys will no longer dive in to remove those stones.
A car tire sits at the bottom of the empty pool surrounded by debris, as the overgrown gardens that surround it hide the tragic embarrassment which it has become.
The unattractive but imposing Aloha 6 (1969) or Aloha 7 buildings still stand tall above La Carihuela, near the Hotel Carihuela Palace (1960) by the main road in Montemar where the 70s disco scene had once exploded.
Perched on ‘the rock’ is the rotting, but still dramatic-looking Hotel Castillo de Santa Clara (1975), which opened next to the earlier apartment building La Roca (1942). In the town centre are the once impressive La Nogalera apartment buildings (1966) now in desperate need for some tlc.
La Nogalera circa 1969
For years, one of the premier hotels in the town centre was the 4-star Hotel Cervantes, built in 1973 next to Calle San Miguel.
Up from calle San Miguel, the largely ignored first high rise buildings for locals, the distinctive grey Las Tres Torres (the three towers) were inaugurated on the Avenida Manantiales in December 1969.
On the other side of the rock, in the Bajondillo, still stands the Melia Costa del Sol (1976), but the unequivocal sight as one looks east toward Malaga City are the Playamar Towers which were built in the early 60s and were involved in fierce legal battles to stop their demolition until the 70s.
The towers seem to have stood the test of time and have retained much of their appeal to the locals who still see them as an up-market complex.
A couple of kilometres from Playamar, up by the main road to Malaga are the Apartamentos La Colina which were built in February 1962.
Others have been demolished, are about to or have closed. 
More of this to follow...

Anything not right or want to add something? Post a comment or email me 

YouTube Video about the Pez Espada and the famous Frank Sinatra incident



INAUGURATION DATES:

Hotel Lloyd in Montemar opened in 1964 and has been closed for 2 years. A 'to rent' sign now hangs on its entrance

1934 – Carlota Alessandri converts her cortijo de Cucazorra into the Parador de Montemar.
1942 – Enrique Bolín Bidwell opens the no frills Hotel La Roca.
1952 - Miami.
1954 - Casablanca.
1956 - La Marina.
1955 – Los Nidos.
1957 - De France, Bristol.
1958 - Las Mercedes, Copenhaguen, El Pinar, Tarik (before hotel Don Martín), Los Arcos.
1959 - Costa del Sol, Pez Espada, El Tiburón.
1960 – Tropicana, France, Carihuela Palace, Santa Mónica, Edén, Casa Arkadia, Playa Montemar, Los Geranios del Pinar, Guadalupe, Loreto.
1961 – Tritón, Saint-Tropez, Los Nidos.
1962 – Tres Carabelas (later Meliá Torremolinos), Plata, Fragata, Aparta Luna, Sol y Sol, Don Pedro, Guillot.
1963 – Jorge V, El Panorama, Torremora, Plata, Casablanca, Nautilus, Mar y Sol, El Pozo, Escandinavia, Sola, Parador Nacional del Golf, El Cortijuelo.
1964 – Al Andalus, Tarik, Torremora, Aloha Montemar, Lloyd, San Miguel, Europa, Marloy, Los Riscos.
1965 - Blasón, Don Juan, Piscis, Colombo, Domingo, Pizarro, Tres Coronas, Montesol.
1966 – Azor, Los Jazmines, Beatriz.
1967 – Pramelinos, Mayte, Stella Polaris, Las Palomas, Torre de la Roca, Salamanca, Villa Ana.
1968 – Altavista, La Caracola, Las Palomas, Montemar, Victoria.
1969 - Amaragua, San Antonio, Samba, Cabello.
1970 – Cervantes, Isabel, Pontinental, Coral, El Colegial.
1971 – Castillo de Santa Clara, Lago Rojo, Flamingo, Flor Blanco, Minerva, Flores.
1972 - Tres Torres.
1973 – Las Estrellas, La Palmera


list courtesy of TorremolinosChic.com

58 comments:

  1. Some hotel trivia for you. Before moving in the early 70s to the US where their famous tennis player daughter Jennifer was born, the Capriatis lived at the Aloha Towers (what Aloha 6/7 were known as then) where Stefano was the tennis pro. They lived in one of the bungalows around the (then) new pool near the tennis courts that can still be seen in the Google Earth photos of the complex.

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    1. Tha Capriatis moved to Playamar in the 70's. I used to know both of Jennifer's parents, and watched Jennifer play on the Playamar tennis courts.

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  2. Excellent,m thanks for the feedback. Keep it coming

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    1. i am looking for a old hotel that was white stucco on a old thin lane about 6 blocks from the beach in was called casa suarta or something this was in 1984. do u know where it is? in tormalinos spain.

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    2. Casa Suecia http://www.casasuecia.com/

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    3. i really want to thankyou very much for putting this link on for me . it means alot big time i been trying to find this place for over 25 years. this place is haunted and i have stayed here before long time ago. its amasing that the video is the exact apartment that i stayed it unbeleiveble how did u find this?

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  3. I remember camping at a little place just east of Torremolinos 40 years ago (maybe a mile or so?). Between that place and the beach was the tall Hotel Azore. Just for kicks we asked how much it cost to stay there and found out it was about $3/night. We didn't camp after that!

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    1. my family and I stayed at the Azor summer 1968 with Lunn Poly holidays from heathrow - we had a great time but it was remote - there was anew hotel on the beach in front the amaragua?
      we also went that year to Rota the playa de la luz
      is the azor still there?
      i stayed in 1975 at the Las Palomas with swans tours that was 4 star posh!

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  4. I found your memories of Torremolinos very interesting. I have just returned and I looked for Hotel Samba which I visited in 1969. Do you know if it has changed its name or been demolished? It has very happy memories for me. It was somewhere near La Colina. Sue

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    1. Memories of Torremolinos17 November 2012 at 01:06

      Aparently it is now called Hotel Club Playa Flores

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    2. my family and I stayed at the Azor summer 1968 with Lunn Poly holidays from heathrow - we had a great time but it was remote - there was anew hotel on the beach in front the amaragua?
      we also went that year to Rota the playa de la luz
      is the azor still there?
      i stayed in 1975 at the Las Palomas with swans tours that was 4 star posh!

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  5. RE The Hotel Samba question. I don't know, but I found a photo so have posted it on our facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/MemoriesOfTorremolinos ) asking for others to comment. Will let you know!

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  6. Regarding the Saltillo Alto apartments in El Pinillo was this building originally a hotel.

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  7. I just found an old postcard that I picked up while spending a night at The Gran Hotel Nautilus on July 31, 1965. On the back of the card I had written that is cost a little over $11.00 for the night for my husband and me. It was a great hotel. Is it now the Riu Hotel?

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  8. Back in the mid-80s we as a family had a fantastic holiday at the Hotel Azore (Los Alamos) Torremolinos.

    Does anyone remember this hotel and know what happened to it? or have any photos or memories please? I remember that you could pick up a train which would take you into Torremolinos one way and Malaga the other. Fantastic memories of a great hotel!!!

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    1. We stayed at the Azor in 78 and have fond memories of the hotel and a bar restaurant nearby called Monte Rosa or Casa Rosa. Azor is now called the Royal Costa I believe and still in business.

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  9. We stayed at the Hotel Eden in 1961 or '62 - there was a LOT of building going on at the time! We walked along a path, lined with cane (bamboo or sugar??) to the beach. I seem to remember the hotel looked like a single, or 2-storey building from the road at reception, then was built down on the hill to maybe 6 or 7 levels - could that be right? Flew to Gibraltar and took a taxi from there....

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    1. I stayed at that hotel where you entered at the top and took the elevator down to the rooms. It was called El Panorama. We still have a map of the area from 1975.

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    2. I also stayed at the hotel Eden , twice . It was a single story building when you entered from the street , the reception was on the right .
      You had to take the elevator down to the rooms , because it was built down a steep hill . All the way down you had a small garden with the pool .
      The vieuw over the sea was spectacular from the top floor when you had breakfast , or at sunset in the evening when it was used as a diningroom .
      You also had a "panorama" room/bar where they served drinks and played music in the afternoon .
      There were no facilities on the beach , no boulevard , no clubs , no terraces , nothing . Just a sandy path lined with sugarcane to this almost empty beach .
      The following year they were already building just in front of the hotel , very tall flats , which sadly blocked a lot of the vieuw .
      I wonder ; is it still there or was it demolished long time ago ?
      And if so , when what that ?

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  10. Funny what we look back on. Having come into Malaga from Morocco, I spent a week at the Eden in the fall of 1973. Mostly English clientele but a few other Americans. Lived on roast chicken and beer because they were the only things I could order in Spanish.

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  11. Spent my honeymoon in Torremolinos in March 1962. I seem to remember there was only one high rise hotel there just a few meters away from the main street. My wife and I were down with foood poisoning after 3 days after dining at a small cafe on the main street. We were so very glad to return to Gibraltar when we were well enough to travel. Such happy days !!!! ROFL.

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  12. In 1974 I visited Torremolinos and stayed at The Universal Hotel what happened to it and whatever became of The Boga-Boga night club (also in Torremolinos)

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  13. Hello, do you have this in Red?

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  14. Je suis à la recherche de photo du restaurent le KOALA qui se trouvée en 1973 à torremolinos quartier de la nogalera Merci
    Mon adresse mail valerie45@free.fr

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  15. Je suis à la recherche de photo du restaurent le KOALA qui se trouvée en 1973 à torremolinos quartier de la nogalera Merci
    valerie45@free.fr

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  16. Je suis à la recherche de photo du restaurent le KOALA qui se trouvée en 1973 à torremolinos quartier de la nogalera Merci
    Mon adresse mail valerie45@free.fr

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  17. I really liked the information you have mentioned here
    Thank you for sharing

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  19. Hi,
    I have a friend, who spent holidays on Torremolinos in 1975 and he stayed at Hotel La Caracola.
    I have search on google earth for this hotel, but I can't find it. Nowdays, it stills exist with other name?
    Best regards to all.

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  20. Hi Olhos,are you saying Hotel Azor in Torremolinos is under another name ?

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    1. HI again Olhos,or were you talking about Hotel La Caracola.Im trying to find out about Hotel Azor Torremolinos.I stayed there in 1970 any help would be grateful.

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    2. HI again Olhos,or were you talking about Hotel La Caracola.Im trying to find out about Hotel Azor Torremolinos.I stayed there in 1970 any help would be grateful.

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    4. my family and I stayed at the Azor summer 1968 with Lunn Poly holidays from heathrow - we had a great time but it was remote - there was a new hotel on the beach in front
      we also went that year to Rota the playa de la luz
      is the azor still there?
      i stayed in 1975 at the Las Palomas with swans tours that was 4 star posh!

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    5. i think the azor is now the royal costa hotel

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    6. Dear Stephen Walsh, today, I talk with my friend again about the holidays he spent in Torremolinos and he confirm to me, that the Hotel was La Caracola.

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  21. I stayed at the Gran Hotel Nautilus in 1981 and I know it is now been refurbed as the Hotel Riu Nautilus. Would love to see old photos of the hotel - can't find any.

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  23. I wanna thanks to a great extent for providing such informative and qualitative material therefore often.

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  24. I was in Spain in the early 70s and was one of the first guests at the new Torremolinos Hotel, this hotel housed 100s of high school students from Ontario, Canada. I had a wonderful time and this holiday is still one of the best vacations I have ever had. Just wondering if anyone else was there for the March break, one great memory and if you were there you will remember The BOGA BOGA DISC directly across the street from the hotel. Cheers from Harvey

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    1. I went to Torremolinos in 1975 on a trip with my high school Spanish club. There was hundreds of kids from many different high schools. I am trying to remember the name of the hotel. I don’t recall if it was Torremolinos Hotel, but I do remember stone steps leading to a set of large glass doors at the entrance. The dining room was huge and formal with what we all thought was crappy food. Does this sound familiar?
      I know there was a disco close by that we all went to every night. Boga, Boga sounds familiar...
      Chuck G

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  25. I was the Australian sports instructor at the Hotel Gran Nautilus in 1966, teaching tennis, swimming & water-skiing. Morning exercise classes in summer by the pool.The hotel also had an indoor heated pool so swimming was possible all year, Herr Gruter was the tough manager! All staff were provided with lunch free of charge. My mate was the swimming instructor at the Pez Espada.

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  26. someone knows that, what was the hotel name of the "La Torre" building?
    It was a hotel before they sold it then people buy the rooms as flat for living.
    The building located in Torremolinos, La Colina, the building name is La Torre.

    Thank you for help :)

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    1. Do you mean Hotel Torremora? It was on the opposite side of a dual carriageway to La Colina Hotel. Torremora was still a hotel when we first visited there in 1980 (from memory, I was 6), but my parents then bought one of the appartments. Many great family holidays were had there year after year :)

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  27. i went on an 18 to 30s Holiday to Torremolinos in 1982 i think we stayed at a hotel called Sol but not sure looked remarkably the Blue cervantes but not that posh obviously.Did anyone visit the same hotel and remember its Name ?

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  28. Thank you for taking the time to publish this information very useful!
    boca chica

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  29. My uncle- Enrique Bolin Bidwell built and ran the La Roca for many years- then sold it- my cousin Enrique Bolin Perez Argemi was the mayor of Benalmadena for many years and had a lot to do with building and improving Benalmadena.

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  30. Torremolinos was Heaven in the 70s.The discos were fantastic like Tiffanys, Pipers, BogaBoga, and all the others...

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  31. Thank you for this blog. I have had a fascination with the Costa del Sol and Torremolinos since childhood (now 47) and have been coming here since the early 90's. I love the nostalgia and fell in love with the retro feel of the place. I have now finally purchased an apartment in the Alegranza complex of Arroyo de la Miel (2 miles away) and fascinated to find some old 1960's images of it online. Anyway, the reason for this post is that whilst I was renovating this apartment, I had the pleasure of staying in an AirBnB apartment in what was originally Carihuela Palace Hotel. My goodness, the out of use reception area has been left as it was and not touched since the 60's, as are the threadbare original paisley carpets upstairs in the halls! It was like stepping back in time. I took lots of photos if you want them to post up? Let me know your contact details if you would like them as the access to the old hotel is reserved only for key-holders.

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  32. Visited the Azor with mum , step father and sister in 81, I was 16
    Returned in 82 as sister was dating a DJ , ended up staying the Azor again for over 2 weeks, ended up winning Mr Azor on cabaret night, which made me popular with the ladies
    Made a few friends and stayed in touch for a few years.
    Went to tivoli world on the train , from just outside the hotel
    I have since travel to many places , hotel Azor will always have a special memory.
    Great to see it is still standing under a different name

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  33. As a kid I remember the first family trip to Spain. I don't know the exact year but it was in the beginning of the 1970's and we travelled from Copenhagen, Denmark and we stayed at a hotel called La Colina. In February I'm coming back to Torremolinos for the first time in 50 years and I would love to find the hotel where we stayed if that is possible. Does any of you know where La Colina was situated and if it still exists? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks, Peter

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    1. is this it peter - http://hikersbay.com/europe/spain/hotel/es/costa-del-sol-torremolinos-seaview-apartment-la-colina.html?lang=en

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  34. I'm writing a book about a time in July, 1971 when I visited Torromolinos with my 7 year old daughter. We hung around Harry's Bar. The bartender's name was Julio and there was an American guy with red hair that we hung with, named Mike. Any memories of this time?

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  35. Hi I want to find out about the previous owners of the Hotel Don Pablo and Don Pedro from the late 70's early 80's. His name was Alex Turpot(Sp on the last name is iffy) and her's was Cynthia.

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  36. Thomas Turner4 May 2023 at 09:31

    Do you (or anyone else) remember the very large "Hotel Torremolinos Universal"?
    It was under construction from around 1972 - 1975 but may have changed ownership then because of all the political turmoil.
    Thanks!

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  37. Yes was very good memory, my husband and I we still going to Torremolinos. To The Meliá torremolinos.
    I remember Pez de Espada and the Santa Clara hotel in torremolinos. 1974.
    No very good memory Los girasoles, 50años ago
    My husband my son my sister brother ❤️ torremolinos

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  38. I holidayed with my parents at La Colina around 1974 I was about11.
    On the first morning around 8AM, my brother and I were playing in the pool, he kept grabbing my ankle and pulling me down, I panicked and kicked and kicked , when I surfaced, there was a man lying at the bottom of the pool, HE had grabbed my ankle, we alerted the pool bar staff who were setting up, they dived in and got him out but it was too late. He was a young man from Ireland who had jumped in after a night out fully clothed. I'm back in Torremolinos today for the first time I am 60 this year! J G Lawrance.

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  39. I stayed in The Sirocco Hotel in 1973. is it still there under a different name?

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