We spent a lovely five nights and six days in the picturesque area of Duquesa Regent, Manilva. Our flight was an early one from Gatwick so we decided to treat ourselves to an overnight stay at the Sofitel hotel. With easy meet-and-greet parking directly outside, we made our way into the grand lobby that smelt like fresh linen with two exposed glass lifts whizzing up and down.
Our room overlooked the runway and the bed was incredibly comfortable with big soft pillows. We were able to connect to Wi-Fi for free and our room had a Freeview TV, a bath and a shower, a mini fridge, plus tea and coffee making facilities. It was a great start to the holiday. We had dinner in the bar downstairs as the restaurants had waiting times of 30 mins+ and we were starving! The drinks were pretty pricey but the food was reasonable and I went for a 'char-broiled cheeseburger' which hit the spot.
After getting up at 4 am, we made the two minute walk to check-in for our flight and then somehow only managed to get to the gate just minutes before it closed! No duty free for us. We flew with easyJet and touched down in Gibraltar to sunny views of the great rock.
We spent most of our days at the beach or by the pool and did a lot of day drinking, eating and sunbathing. I enjoyed a full body massage on the beach one morning which lasted over an hour and was just 30 euros - probably the best money I've spent in a long time. We also took a boat trip out from the marina one day which offered free champagne and sangria—I caught a great tan.
One evening we took a taxi up to Mijas to visit the Olivia's La Cala restaurant owned by the lovely TOWIE member Elliott Wright. It was certainly worth the hour's drive. The food, service and views were faultless and we had a great time dancing into the night. Elliott and Sadie made us feel very welcome and the staff couldn't do enough for us. When the sun went down, they came round with freshly washed fleece blankets for the ladies - a really lovely touch.
After leaving Olivia's, we went out-out for the night in Puerto Banús and didn't get home until 7 am! The night flew by as we had such a laugh. We partied in Newscafe, Pangea and Mirage to name a few. The next day was a sleep-on-a-sunlounger one and we spent the night indoors with a film from one of the looky looky men.
All in all, we had a great time and I was sad to come home. I actually got made redundant while I was out there so holiday blues have never been so bad! I'm spending my days at home now job-hunting and editing my CV for the 29th time.
Gatwick Sofitel
Lobby
The Rock of Gibraltar
Olivia's
Fine dining
Boat trip
