Last updated: May 2003
AGUILAS: hotel EL PASO, c/ Cartagena 13, 30880 Aguilas.
Phone: 0034 968 44 71 25. Rooms with air conditioning, good regional cuisine.
Prices according to the size of the rooms and the season: between 38 and 85 euros per night, breakfast and V.A.T. included. Their web page is here: http://www.hotelelpasoaguilas.com (opens in a new window).
Recommended to me by a friend telling me (after experience) it is the best in Aguilas, this is where I am staying when I go to Lorca. Hotels in the latter city may be very good, but... much more expensive. On another hand, Lorca city centre is located only about 35 minutes away (35 km. - 22 miles), accessed by a low mountain motor way. Eventually, at night, there is not much to do in Lorca, whereas Aguilas is a tourist resort as well as a fishing harbour. The only inconvenient with this hotel is the proximity of a RENFE railway maintenance workshop, whose siren is calling the workers every morning at a half past seven. Since I am not going there to sleep all the morning, it does not matter so much, as far as I am concerned.
Access: by the end of the motor way, when you arrive in Aguilas, there is a wide roundabout. Follow the signpost CALABARDINA and drive away exactly three kilometers, a bit less than two miles. On your way you will cross a few roundabouts (two or three, they are building more right now), go straight on. After those three kilometers, you will arrive to another roundabout; turn right and come back toward the centre. The hotel is exactly one kilometer - a bit more than half a mile away from the last roundabout.
Beware: when you arrive by the end of the motor way, do not try to go through the Aguilas city centre. Works in progress + one way roads = sure nervous breakdown.
And in the case you get lost: the hotel (with a large luminous signpost on the roof, which can be seen from far away) is located near to the railway station. Do not worry about the noise, there are three trains per day.
Worth the visit on the spot: the railway wharf in El Hornillo, where the trains were delivering their load directly into the ships, the fishing harbour, the Town Hall Place (Plaza del Ayuntamiento) and, if you have some strength left, you can climb to the castle dominating the town.
For sociologists and historians, Aguilas represents an interesting topic: the locals are specially proud of their railway history, initiated by a British Company in the 19th century. On the “Paseo Marítimo” (the walk along the beach), there where you normally would find the statue of a former king, you will find… a locomotive.
BACK to the hotels on the Costa Blanca
BACK to the general informations about Spain