We stayed in Casa Aurelio towards the end of June 2003. The villa was in excellent condition. It had great views of the valley (see our photos below), a clean pool, outdoor BBQ, sun loungers, and outdoor table and chairs. We spent much of our time at the Villa. It was a great place to sunbathe, read, eat, drink and swim.

The villa has houses either side of it, but they are built so that your villa is completely private, and only looks out into the valley below. The villa is cool inside and has screens to keep out mossies so you can leave the windows open at night.

The villa is somewhat remote but that's it's beauty. At dusk the automatic pool lights make the villa a really atmospheric place. You can see all the stars. Everything you could want is provided in the Kitchen (sieve's, pans, cafetiere, toaster, microwave etc..). There were also, eggs, bread, mineral water, tea etc...for when we arrived to keep us going until we went shopping. We left some expensive olive oil there for the next guest!

The coast is about half an hour drive away down a windy mountain road. We went to an excellent beach in the nearest coastal town, Nerja. This town is very pretty and not too cheesy touristy. An enormous supermarket is at Vélez Málaga a short drive along the coast towards Malaga.

A small and very pretty white village called Cómpeta is a 15 minute walk away. This has some restaurants and small shops none of which we tried as we spent most of our time in the villa!

During our stay we went to the Alhambra. This is a beautiful palace with amazing buildings and gardens set on a hill (see photo, with Lexi, on right). It was an hour and a half drive away in Granada. This was really worth visiting and easy to get to (well signed).

We hired a small car (Fiesta1.4) with air con. from holiday autos for £80 for the week. The air conditioning was essential.

It was a really relaxingholiday.

Bill Cockerill