Enjoying Marbella without Breaking the Bank

You know a place is held in some seriously high esteem if more than one documentary has been made about it and that immediately drives up the perceived value of it, which spills over into the prices for just about everything to do with that place. Marbella on the just-as-famous Costa del Sol is one such destination, perhaps made even more popular by the fact that it’s a favourite among some of the wealthiest people in Europe and the Middle East. If you closed your eyes and were dropped in Marbella, there’d only be a few things which would have you telling it apart from the likes of Monaco. It’s definitely a popular playground for the rich (and some famous as well), which would naturally then account for some of the highest costs of entertainment and everything else in the prestigious and glamorous locale.

I swear, back in around 2010 there was a shop exclusively selling handbags — branded handbags carrying the name of a famous designer it must be said, but they were ugly to say the least and cost €15,000 – €20,000 each! Drive a few hundred metres inwards from the famous Golden Mile and you might have trouble getting into some rather exclusive estates, many of which are gated and a good distance away from each other. You need to know somebody to get in and that somebody must be whomever you’re visiting who owns one of these exclusive properties, the cheapest of which was selling for around £20 million back in 2010. It gets even more ridiculous though — most of these houses are empty more than 300 days per year, but rent out for about €15,000 to €20,000 per day — about the same as you’d get for those hideous branded handbags!

So with everything clearly proving to be so expensive in Marbella, how is it that hundreds if not thousands of working-class Brits head there for a regular taste of all flavours of hedonism? I mean you’d assume that they save up a lot of their money really diligently, but the truth is there is something for all kinds of budgets in Marbella. You just have to know where and how to look if you do indeed want to get your taste of what Marbella has to offer without breaking the bank.

Ambling down one of those rather dodgy-looking alleys (they’re not that dodgy though) is perhaps the perfect demonstration of what it means to know where and how to look. On just one side of the alley you could pay up at least €1,000 for a bottle of champagne you can get much cheaper at a bar or club sitting directly opposite to the expensive one.

This same principle applies to the property market in Marbella. Holidayvillage- Costadelsol will save you a lot of money by way of accommodation as opposed to say lodging at one of those millionaires’ (or billionaires’) houses which lie empty for most of the year.

Avoid the fanciest restaurants and clubs which are right on the coastline as well and you can truly enjoy Marbella without breaking the bank.