i have been to a lot of fantastic 5 star hotels but this is my favorite hotel in the world. Why? In short, its charm, beauty, architecture and extensive landscaping.The ambiance is exraordinary. When I arrived I noticed the sound of water everywhere because they have slow moving creeks located throughout the premises. I was soothed by the sights and smells of the flowers, old trees and beautiful landscaping that broke up the southern Spain sunshine enough to create a perfect shade that reveals rays of glimmering sun light. I don't think I can explain the experience properly but here are a few words and phrases that come to mind... beautiful, intimate, unique, thoughtful, warm, comfortable, interesting, accommodating, extraordinary landscaping and flowers with winding paths and waterways that creates an organic mystic. I discovered this hotel when I first met Ana, my girlfriend from Spain at the time. I heard it was one of the "Leading Hotels of the World" so I gave it a shot. I fell in love at first site with ana and the hotel. Four years later I chose their patio to ask my girlfriend Ana to marry me. She said yes, we got married in Malaga where her parents live and we spent a few nights of our honeymoon at the Marbella Club and now, 11 years later, we have 4 children. We have returned every year for a few nights when we visit Ana's family. Last Tuesday we went for only one night, to have a romantic get away, as our kids stayed with her parents in Malaga Spain, 30 minutes away. When we were there we discovered a new "kids club" they created in the center of the hotels vast campus. After seeing this kids club we decided to stay longer and bring our kids. We upgraded to one of their villas that have multiple rooms and a private pool and brought in our 4 kids, ranging from 3-9. So why would a "kids club" inspire us to want to spend more time and money at the hotel? First of all, this is no "kids club". This is an Experiential Learning Lab for kids and their parents. They transformed the original home of the founder of the Marbella Club, which is beautiful, into a learning lab and activity center for kids. The kids club has a lake-like pool, soccer and basketball area and a group of learning labs where the kids learn different things by experiencing them with learning leaders who provide instruction and facilitation. For example, they have an art room, music and media room, aroma room where they can make perfume, computer and library room, yoga and dance studio where they can learn flamenco and yoga with their parents, a garden and working kitchen where they learn how to cook Spanish staples like gaspacho and paella. The center is staffed with certified educators and learning leaders who were passionate about helping our kids learn through discovery. Frankly i think the name "kids club" sounds like the typical place where you can drop off your kids to be baby sat by video games and movies, led by uninterested teenagers. For this reason i call it the "Learning Lab for Kids"... and their parents. As a parent of 4, we had our best day of vacation at this unique place that combines practicall learning function with extraordinary design. First class all the way. By the way, I don't write reviews often, only when i see greatness and i can't help myself... and that is what happened. read more