Good morning , arrived back yesterday around 3pm managed a cup of tea and then I had to go for a sleep , body was crying out for my bed ...12 hours later I wake ! that was one awesome holiday.

Ok let's rewind back to friday afternoon I was a bag of nerves revising all the way to Cheetham hill . I was on my way for a second stab at a very difficult exam . Why are test centers so hot ? bless the girl that understood my power flushes and supplied me with a massive fan , oh thats better I thought . It was as difficult as I expected but not as bad as the first attempt ( I thought I was going to internally combust at that one )so this time I managed an 86% pass . Yipeeeeeeeeeeeee nice start to my hols.

Met up with Browny at the Fort and had a nice glass of wine in celebration and a few slices of pizza !

We had a 8am flight from Manchester which went very smoothly , first time I have walked to a check in and never had to wait in line. We were ahead of the speedy borders ! ( theres is a comedy frame there begging to be written) Speedy borders indeed.

Arrived in Malaga around 12.00 , it was a tad cloudy but felt very warm , picked the hire car up and proceeded
to drive to Benalmadina.

It felt ever so wierd being on the other side of the road I kept thinking we were going to mount the pavement.

The Base / the Food


Room wasn't quite ready so we went into the bar for a drink , saw a crowd with Sam and sat and caught up with them whilst we waited. First shocker was the price of drinks but second shocker was the mix of drinks you got a trebble every time ! so the price balanced itself really cause you were getting three for the price of one. Only trouble is your body get used to drinking strong drinks and being very tipsy after two.

We staggered to our room and thought this is a good start The room was amazing , well it was an apartment really , it was so nicely put togther , it had a feeling of space and had excellent facilities containing all that you needed within it . A balcony facing sea and pools with the most amazing views at day and night when the marina further down the coast sparkled at night.

Services

There were two dining areas within the hotel one for the day and one for the night , all serviced by the same staff and chef/kitchen. Both near the pool area , one outside and one inside the hotel .The food was superb , even if you had a humble burger it was so lovingly prepared for you , everything was home made and delicious. Large amounts too so you never left the table hungry. Breakfast was enormous every combination be it full english or continental hams and cheeses , pastries, fruit , you name it it was there.

I will mention they also have super market within the hotel this is useful if you are on a tight budget and want to cook your own meals. We were amazed to find Wrights pies in the freezer !

Also you have a hairdressers a gym a sauna , indoor swimming pool to keep you busy if the weather turned or if you just wanted to keep fit.

Also room service provides you with fresh towels every day and generally make beds and empty bins.

Weather

The sun blazed from day two right through to the end of our time there , it was fabulous average temp was around 24 degrees , it was 27 the day we left !

Entertainment

Through the day a gathering was available at a special soulies bar at the side of the main pool , where you could sit on loungers have a few drinks and listen to soul , also take part in a daily soul quiz which was very well organised and conducted by Dave Eveson . We had lots laughs with alternative answers and extreme anoraks arguing the points , poor Evo he was questioned so many times on the questions lol


Soul at night

The hotel had it's own night club which was also superb a great room with a marble floor which was so easy to dance on. Air conditioned too , it was bliss to dance on. The music policy was varied and Dj's tried to accomodate as many requests in that they could. So my greatest fear of needing to reach out for something different in private never happened. Because I never felt bombarded with the same tunes.

I found the mix of club soul stax NY disco , motown and modern mixed with general northern was a great combination. At the end of the day this is a holiday and it's nice to hear those sounds that first prompted you to take the soul road with all it's little tangents on route. Dancing to Aretha's respect was such fun along with Sam & Dave and Otis.

I did hear one guy grumble that not enough motown was played , funny thing is when it was played he never danced ? And on the nights you were assured of more motown than normal because Chris King had arrived ... the guy wasn't there ? eeeeeeem did make me wonder what that was all about ?

The club was open from 9pm to 3am everynight , so you could have soul entertainment on tap every night if you wished.I loved the relaxed policy , you never felt it was in your face , it was a nice and easy vibe.

This coastline is so lovely, there so much to enjoy, we found people didn't do the soul thing every night because they were mixing in sun bathing with trips to other parts, generally enjoying being in a different environment. So some nights they were tired and the room didn't have too many numbers in, but then we expected that because this is primarily a pre christmas holdiay break with soul mixed in if you want it.

We visited the Marina , which is awesome , pictures to follow.

Also Porta Benus where the idle rich have every designer shop on their doorstep with very plush restaurants and a great beach where you may feel more comfey about going topless away from soulsters you see every other week Marbella is nice too and there is another place I want to get to next time called Mijas , plus a trip into torromolenos is in easy distance , also Gibralter is an hour away . So you can see there is plenty on tap to do. The bus service is excellent it basically covers all the coastal resorts /towns along this coast. And the stop is just outside the hotel !

We did have a bit of a treck around Fuerengarola trying to find a massive market which appears to have moved I managed to pick on couple to ask who unfortunatley were deaf ! after a few gestures we established they were looking for it too lol At one point Browny was saying lets follow that guy with the see through green carrier bag .... we ended up underneath a flyover lol ..oh well getting lost is all part of the fun in the sun.

So for me the the main attraction for a soul event abroad is the fact you can do lots of other things as well as the "soul" thing , this event ticked all my boxes and far exceeded my expectations.

I would go back to this event with no hesitation next year it will be a nice event to look forward to and aim for in 2010 .

I want to thank Goldsoul for getting it right , picking the most superb location and facilities , you really have found a Spanish pearl in the location of this event .

Thanks also for to the people/friends that made it so much fun.