Five-star Two MICHELIN Keys Golden Mile, Marbella
Marbella Club Hotel
A family finca of figs and pines that became a hotel in 1954, with twenty bedrooms in the old farmhouse. The Golden Mile grew up around it.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- MICHELIN
- Two Keys
- Rooms
- 113 rooms and suites, and 16 villas
- Opened
- 1954
- From the airport
- About 60 km from Málaga
The hotel
The finca that started the Golden Mile.
In 1946 Prince Max von Hohenlohe drove south in his Rolls-Royce and stopped for a picnic in a pine wood by the sea. A year later his son Alfonso came back and bought Santa Margarita, an old finca of figs and pines. In 1954 it opened as the Marbella Club, with twenty bedrooms, a dining room and a bar in the farmhouse.
Count Rudi, Alfonso's cousin, became assistant manager in 1957. The Champagne Room followed in 1962, and the jet set followed that. Today the rooms and villas are spread through tropical gardens running down to the beach, each with a terrace or balcony, and the hotel has changed less than the town around it.
- The Kids Club About 5,000 square metres of open-air play space, reworked in 2013 for younger children.
- Thalassotherapy A spa built around seawater treatments, with a holistic studio in the botanic gardens.
- Golf The hotel has its own golf course, reached by a scheduled shuttle, with lessons on request.
Rooms & suites
Rooms in the garden, villas of their own.
Low buildings set apart in the gardens hold 35 rooms and 78 suites. Every one has a terrace or balcony.
- Rooms Double Resort and Deluxe Room The entry categories, in the garden buildings, each with a terrace or balcony.
- Suites Garden Suite and MC Suite More space and a sitting room. Family MC Suites suit parents travelling with children.
- Villas Villa del Mar and Villa Casabel Sixteen villas in all, with their own gardens and pools. A deposit is taken at booking.
Dining
Nine places to eat and drink.
Venues as listed by the hotel through Leading Hotels of the World. Some open by season. Shown for information.
- Beach Club Mediterranean, by the sea Under a thatched roof on the promenade
- MC Beach Fish and seafood After the old seafood shacks of Málaga
- El Grill Grill Cooking over an open fire
- El Olivar by Chef Andrés Plant-led, from the hotel gardens Andrés Ruiz; residents aged 16 and over
- El Patio Mediterranean Coffee, lunch and cocktails under the vines
- Rudi's Champagne and cocktails Named for Count Rudi; October to May
Recognition
Distinctions.
- Two MICHELIN Keys Current selection
- The Leading Hotels of the World Member since the 1980s
Good to know
Before you go.
- Arrival Check-in from 3 pm, check-out by noon.
- Children Welcome, with a kids' club of about 5,000 square metres. El Olivar and its pool are for guests aged 16 and over.
- Pets Sources differ. The MICHELIN Guide says no pets; Leading Hotels of the World lists the hotel as pet friendly under conditions. We confirm with the hotel before booking.
Getting there
Flying to Marbella.
Málaga airport is about 60 kilometres east along the coast motorway, so allow about 45 minutes by car, our estimate. Private jets use the general aviation terminal at Málaga; Gibraltar, 79 kilometres west, is the other option.
- Madrid 0 h 55
- Geneva 2 h 10
- Paris 2 h 15
- London 2 h 35
- Dubai 7 h 55 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How many MICHELIN Keys does the Marbella Club Hotel have?
- Two, the highest distinction held by any hotel in Marbella.
- When did the Marbella Club open?
- In 1954, when Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe turned his family's finca into a hotel of twenty bedrooms.
- How far is the Marbella Club from Málaga airport?
- About 60 kilometres by road, roughly 45 minutes by car by our estimate.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Marbella?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Marbella, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Marbella
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Puente Romano Marbella A village of low white buildings in subtropical gardens, named for the Roman bridge in its grounds.
- Nobu Hotel Marbella For adults only, around the plaza of Puente Romano and its restaurants.
- Hotel Don Pepe Gran Meliá A beachfront resort at the town end of the Golden Mile, with gardens down to the sand.
- La Fonda Heritage Hotel A Relais & Châteaux house on a small square of the old town.
- El Fuerte Marbella On the seafront below the old town, raised to five stars after its 2022 to 2023 renovation.
- Kimpton Los Monteros East of the town among the pines, reopened under the Kimpton name in 2025.
- Boho Club Low bungalows in landscaped grounds on the inland side of the Golden Mile.
- Don Carlos Marbella In gardens behind the dunes and the beach, reopened in 2025 after a three-year renovation.
- Gran Hotel Guadalpín Banús On the beach, within walking distance of the marina.
-
Finca Cortesín Sixty-seven suites beside an 18-hole course laid out by Cabell B. Robinson, a mile inland from the sea.
- Anantara Villa Padierna Palace Benahavís Marbella Resort Built like a Tuscan villa among three golf courses, with a Roman-style amphitheatre and more than 1,200 works of art.
-
La Zambra Resort The old Byblos hotel of 1986, restored around courtyards and stone fountains, with three pools and four restaurants.
- Grand Hotel Las Dunas, Autograph Collection Fifty-one rooms on the beach, the Serena Spa and the Casa Calma restaurants.
- The Westin La Quinta Golf Resort & Spa In the valley the coast calls the Valley of Golf: 170 rooms by three nine-hole courses designed by Manuel Piñero.
- Elba Estepona Gran Hotel & Thalasso Spa Built around a thalassotherapy centre on the seafront at the edge of Estepona.
- Senator Banús Spa Hotel Recommended for adults, in a building whose lines borrow from a cruise liner, with its own spa.
- ME Marbella Directly on the beach, with tacos at La Neta in the gardens and the Oasis Pool Club open from midday until sunset.
- Hacienda del Mar Meliá Collection A new opening between Estepona and Marbella, with a kids' club and the Neguri beach club.
- Vincci Selección Estrella del Mar Its beach club stands on the sand, and El Mercado de Baraka cooks over the coals at night.
Staying at Marbella Club Hotel?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Marbella, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.