I went to the Dubai-like hotel resort in Spain with huge swimming pool and ‘sunloungers for days’

MENTION Marbella to TV- loving millennials and you will conjure up visions of no-carb pre-hol diets, lots of fake tan and those big beach bags the original Towie cast had, with their faces painted on the side. But my recent trip to the famous Spanish coastal town could not have been more different, from the moment I walked into my very zen hotel lobby to discover a huge tree growing inside and fancy cocktails. This was no Towie “Marbs”.

This is the Dubai version of Marbella. The Mett Hotel & Beach Resort Marbella is the new offering by the UAE -based Mett hospitality group. It’s now branching out into Spain , with a second Mett hotel planned for Ibiza next year.

Also, it’s “Marbella” in the loosest geographical terms — it’s on the beach down the coast in Estepona, so it would take you around an hour to walk to the lively seaside town. Despite its 249 rooms, the five-star hotel has a boutique vibe — and you never feel like there are more than 100 guests at any given time, possibly down to the fact this is a resort with plenty of zones — one for every mood. Just ten minutes after checking in, we were lounging by the 52m-long pool (no chance of a sunbed war here — there were loungers for days), ordering sushi and yet another cocktail while listening to ambient Ibiza tunes sunset-style playing over the pool speakers.

That night, we switched up with tomato carpaccio, burrata and some of the best pasta I’ve ever eaten at flagship Italian restaurant Isola. Th.