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Playing golf in your room or using a private elevator are luxuries few of us can afford. Only the rich can enjoy a night in a hotel costing 3,750 euros a day.

JUST over a year ago, the King and Queen of Sweden visited Marbella for a party organised by their friend Gunilla von Bismarck. They have no embassy on the Costa del Sol to stay in, of course, so they opted for the next best thing: one of the many “grand luxury” five-star hotels in the Marbella area. Their choice was a private villa in the Marbella Club, the first luxury hotel in the municipality, each with its own private swimming pool, five bedrooms and 300 square metres of private living space set in semi-tropical gardens. This is hotel accommodation fit for a king.

It does not come cheap. At 3,750 euros a night, one needs to have a royal salary to stay there. Or to be Pierce Brosnan or Lenny Kravitz, who like to stay in this type of hotel while on the Costa del Sol because it is also a safe refuge from the paparazzi photographers.

Marbella continues to be synonymous with luxury in Spain, and its outward expression is in its luxury hotels. Cost is the key element here: one can stay in the new five-star hotel designed by famous architect Frank Gehry for the Marqués de Riscal wine company in Alavés, considered one of the most exclusive in the country, for three times less than in some hotels in the Marbella area.

If one is not entirely happy with the exquisite service in the Marbella Club, one can head down the Golden Mile to the Gran Melía Don Pepe Hotel, where a night will cost 2,800 euros in one of the presidential suites. Here one can relax in presidential luxury looking out over the Mediterranean, or soak in the jacuzzi, have a drink in the private bar followed by a siesta in the Balinese bed on the private terrace or play a round of mini-golf without leaving the suite.

Or one might have decided to stop along the way and drop into the Puente Romano Hotel instead, to take a private elevator up to the Imperial Suite. This overlooks the beach, and has a hall, sitting rooms, bedroom and private terrace. The decoration is Mediterranean in style, with high ceilings reminiscent of classic Greece, and touches of chic that make the price of the room a bargain at only 2,600 euros a night. Among the many rich and famous personalities to have stayed here are Italian film actress Gina Lollobrigida, French actor Alain Delon, Elizabeth Taylor and singer Tom Jones.

There are less expensive places to stay in Marbella, without skimping too much on luxury, and one of them is the Los Monteros Hotel. Here one can stay in the Ambassador Suite, for example, which measures 89 square metres and costs only 1,010 euros a night, or one could go down-market and opt for the Spa Suite at 750 euros for the night. This has pressure showers, a hydro-massage bath and a Turkish bath, all very necessary to relieve the stress of not being able to afford anything better.

Story from surinenglish.com