Hotel Alay spreads across two buildings, both overlooking the marina and beach, with 240 guest rooms in total. Every room comes with a private balcony, air conditioning, hairdryer, telephone and satellite TV. The décor is bright and modern, with enough space to unpack properly and settle in for a few nights. Rooms are clean, comfortable and designed for ease rather than luxury, exactly what you need when you're spending most of your day on the course.
The two outdoor pools are a real plus in the warmer months, especially if you're playing morning golf and want to cool off afterwards. There's plenty of space around the pool area, with gardens that give you a bit of shade when the sun's properly doing its thing. In my opinion, it's one of the better poolside setups in Benalmádena if you're after a quiet spot to read the scorecard and work out where you dropped those three shots on the back nine.
The hotel's restaurant serves breakfast and dinner, with a buffet-style setup that covers the basics well. Breakfast is generous, with hot and cold options, fresh fruit, pastries and strong coffee to set you up before an early tee time. Dinner is varied enough for a few nights, though many guests head down to the marina for tapas, seafood and a bit more atmosphere. Bar Americano, the hotel's cocktail bar, is worth a visit for a pre-dinner drink or a nightcap.
For golfers, the hotel ticks the right boxes: a location that puts you within easy reach of courses across Málaga province and a setup that lets you play a different layout every day without spending half your holiday in a hire car. The beach is less than five minutes on foot, and the promenade walk into Puerto Marina takes about the same, so you've got options for downtime that don't involve sitting by the pool.
Needless to say, if you want to build a simple, great-value Costa del Sol golf break around Benalmádena, Hotel Alay makes a very sensible base.
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