# Central Marbella



## mindxb (Jul 10, 2011)

Hi There

How does central Marbella stack up as a place to live? How would you describe the restaurant/cafe scene..? Is there a sophistacated/trendy type of market or is it more traditional.

Thanks


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

mindxb said:


> Hi There
> 
> How does central Marbella stack up as a place to live? How would you describe the restaurant/cafe scene..? Is there a sophistacated/trendy type of market or is it more traditional.
> 
> Thanks


It depends where you'd call central Marbella - its a big place. The old part of Marbella seems to be the hub, but I found it very touristy and Personally, it wouldnt appeal to me, noisy, loud and busy. I would imagine either expensive to live, but then I prefer the quiet life, with a bit of "life" round the corner, rather than livng in the thick of things. 

Jo xxx


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Well, I think there is only maybe one contributor here who actually lives in Marbella, so I hope he may respond to your post.

My daughter is just in the process of moving to central Marbella, so I can only offer "first impressions."

As jojo says Marbella is a pretty big town, so you will find a bit of everything - traditional and modern.

The old town is very pretty, with lots of shops and bars/ restaurants - and does of course attract tourists- the beach promenade area is the same, but there certainly doesn't seem to be teeming masses, or riotous drunk parties. All very civilised - at least what we've seen so far - my daughter is desperate to find out where the clubbing is! 

As with any big town it is quite busy and noisy, but it's easy to find quieter areas on the outskirts - and even in the very centre. In fact it's all quite higgledy piggledy, very pretty houses mixed in with less attractive apartment blocks.

Buses are good and cheap, but driving looks a nightmare unless you are very good at reverse parking. Every one is parked nose to tail, and a little shunting of the car behind seems to be very common to get into a space! 

I found shopping limited for a place of this size. In the old town and main street, there's an awful lot of banks, opticians, baby shops, shoe shops and some very expensive designer shops. There are a few smallish Mercadona supermarkets here and there, one Lidl, expensive Open Cors and one hypermarket, Al Campo. Other supermarkets such as Carrefour or Iceland are a car ride away. There is an average sort of shopping centre, La Canada, with the supermarket, DIY store, clothes shops, fast food, etc. More designer shops further out in P Banus - we did not study these - well out of our league!

Based on our very limited experience, the main piece of advice I'd offer, on choosing a place to live, would be make sure that the street/ apartment, etc has a high proportion of permanent residents. We viewed some, albeit in nicer areas, but they were quite ghostly with many empty properties around - some used only as holiday/ temporary accomodation; some maybe empty due to the recession?? In the end we chose a place in a less pretty area but it felt much nicer having neighbours to chat to, passer-bys who greet you, the butcher at one and of the street urging you to buy more meat and the guy from the tiny tapas bar waving as you pass.

Pretty much the same as anywhere really - you either like to be in the middle of a large town/ city, or on the edge of the town/ suburbs, or in a village or rural area. Whatever suits your lifestyle and circumstances.


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## mindxb (Jul 10, 2011)

brocher said:


> Well, I think there is only maybe one contributor here who actually lives in Marbella, so I hope he may respond to your post.
> 
> My daughter is just in the process of moving to central Marbella, so I can only offer "first impressions."
> 
> ...


Thanks for your detailed reply... and apologies for the late response.

I haven't been to Marbella for over 20 years and have no idea how big it is... or has got - so that's interesting.

I think I'd like the idea of the buzz just up the road, but not plonking myself right in it. 

What I was curious about... are there cafes/restaurants that are very popular with expats/locals that are more international in their feel, as opposed to a local type of Spanish bar?

We have definite 'meeting places' here, and I just wondered if the expat community is drawn to these types of places around Marbella/CDS too?

Thanks again


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Yes, I think for a family, the "outskirts" is probably the most common choice - places like P Banus, Neuva Andalucia, Elvira, Las Chapas, are popular - I think! Remember we're new to the area, too!

The very centre seemed the best choice to start for my daughter - easy access to work, getting home easily after nights out, etc!

I would rank Marbella, in terms of noise and business, as a big town - not city scale, and not that noisy away from the most central few streets.

I'm sure many bars, etc are quite international but as far as I know there is no particular expat community/ meeting place scene. Some people will tend towards the likes of the Irish bars, I suppose. Maybe others in the CdS could expand on this? Perhaps it's not really as necessary as it is in your current location. More a case of making friends when you meet people in day to day life - school gates, work, etc but I think then you would socialise more freely rather than in "set" places. Of course, there is a very rich, jet set, international party scene, too - but that is out of our league!!

And if anyone reads this has any info


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Ooops, disrupted in mid flow, there!

....if anyone reading this knows about the nightlife around Marbella on a *normal* budget - not the jet set - we'd like to hear about that, too, please as my daughter will have some friends over before she has much time to discover it all!


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

brocher said:


> Ooops, disrupted in mid flow, there!
> 
> ....if anyone reading this knows about the nightlife around Marbella on a *normal* budget - not the jet set - we'd like to hear about that, too, please as my daughter will have some friends over before she has much time to discover it all!


I dont think its all expensive down there. My son went with his friends a while ago. I must ask him where they went. 

Jo xxx


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

jojo said:


> I dont think its all expensive down there. My son went with his friends a while ago. I must ask him where they went.
> 
> Jo xxx


That'd be great Jo. I know there's some really expensive places in Banus and we've only seen quieter bars in Marbella - not exciting enough for her and her friends!!


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## Guest (Jul 26, 2011)

Firstly bear in mind that Marbella is about to change significantly with the building of a €400m luxury port in the East side of town (currently the more industrial/slummy/cheap end of Marbella)

The only really noisy place to live in Central Marbella is on the main road through (Ricardo Soriano) if you move one line either side then it is significantly quieter

Central Marbella is virtually only apartments (mainly 2 beds) and a few townhouses in the old town, very few with parking and some with pools

Frontline beach apartments would be like living in a ghost town until April through to September and even then there are more for sale than occupied as the Spanish tend to favour things away from the beach

Central Marbella is not an expat town, it is predominantly Spanish and mainly the old school rich (new money/neuevo rich tend to hang out in Nueva Andalucia/Puerto Banus). A lot of properties are second/third homes for people in Madrid/Barcelona who descend on the place in their millions in August making it unbearable - to the extent that most people living there go on holiday away from the place

There is a small Scandie and Irish contingent with appropriate bars/restaurants. My favourite proper pub is an Irish bar just off Ricardo Soriano, pool and beer till 4am on a Sat night with a bunch of locals speaking a language I fail to understand 

You couldn't pick a better place for restaurants: traditional tapas, high-end Spanish, Asturian, Galician, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Indian, Thai, Lebanese, French, South American, Fusion, Kebab shops, etc, etc. There is even one lonely place to get an English breakfast on the paseo. All walking distance from anywhere if you stick to living in town

Bars include gin & tonic joints, wine bars, cocktail joints, sports bars, irish bars (massively popular with the Spanish) as well as 100s of your typical locals only spit and sawdust places with bullfighting on the TV

There are a few clubs but don't really start until 2am, most people stick to the livelier bars (such as Tanquito in the old town, Mombasa by Marbella Cafe) and then move on to the main club which is Buddha del Sol on the Alameda Park (where the Dali statues are). Spanish nightclubs might not meet your expectations with more high-end super clubs as the music is diverse to say the least but at least you are only paying 3-4€ for a drink rather than 15€ as you would in Banus. Main tip would be to not leave the house till midnight, then follow the crowds of Spanish

Add to that a massive selection of shops, banks, hairdressers, 24hr chemist and you have a real mini-city that doesn't really sleep - which either floats your boat or not

In terms of location, old town is very quaint but totally impractical as virtually all pedestrianised apart from a slightly rugged, bit run down suburb that I imagine would give you a proper taste of the "real" Spain

East side of town, at least until the port is finished, is cheaper but slightly undesirable with a scattering of drunks and less salubrious people

From Ricardo Soriano toward the beach is significantly more expensive but more upper class

From Ricardo Soriano back is cheaper, more for your money but a bit noisy as only one road

If you move even more up the hill, toward the bus station/La Cañada then it is significantly cheaper (all relative of course) but means that it is quite a slog back from town so you would need to drive (hardly any parking when you are there) or buy a scooter and nip down and park anywhere

As you move toward Banus, along the Golden Mile, there are some lovely properties and even townhouses but these are normally wallet stretching

As soon as you move out to the urbanisations surrounding Marbella Town (Neuva Andalucia, El Rosario, Las Chapas, Elviria, etc) then you are in a different world where there is no heart, nothing to do and everything requires a cab or drive to visit anything other than a local expensive expat style shops


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## brocher (Mar 21, 2011)

Thanks - those bars will get them started!

Haven't heard about the new port - how do you think this will affect the town?


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## toffeeboy (Jan 14, 2011)

*Marbella night life*

As suggested stay in Marbella town, great place to be if you want lively bars and quite a cosmopolitan street life culture but not really a clubbers paradise.

If you do venture down to the Port for the clubs tell them to take plenty of money with them, the ONLY way to drink there is to buy a bottle of spirit from the bar and share otherwise the price of a round of drinks will frighten most (10-12 euros for a beer, 12+ for a spirit and mixer). Bhuda is nice but again expensive.

Hope this helps


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