I recently needed an airport hotel in Malaga (I had an early morning flight that would take me to Mexico City via Madrid). Researching online, I was surprised to see that Malaga doesn’t have an “airport hotel” per se – it has a bunch of hotels in proximity to the airport but none where you can just easily walk out of the door of the hotel and saunter over to the airport.
After researching the various hotels, I booked the Holiday Inn Express Malaga Airport. First of all, it’s the closest hotel to the airport (0.8 km according to Google). Secondly, although there is no official way to walk there, I found reviews from people saying that it is possible to walk between the airport and hotel. Thirdly, I got a good price on booking.com – 60 Euros a night (by the way, the “board” rate at the hotel is 120 Euros. It’s not worth that).
I did a video on Youtube reviewing my stay and, more importantly, showing you how to walk between the airport and the hotel (for those of you who don’t like watching Youtube videos I’ll give a quick summary of everything below)
Pros and Cons of the Holiday Inn Express Malaga Airport
Pros
– The proximity to the airport (if you take a taxi it’ll get you there in 3 minutes)
– The clean, comfortable and modern rooms
– You can open the windows to your room (I love that. Many hotels have sealed rooms)
– There’s a restaurant downstairs
– There’s a breakfast buffet included (but service starts at 7 am. I left to early…)
Cons
– WIFI. Horrible. How can a modern hotel have such horrible internet? The biggest negative.
– The food from the restaurant. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t that good either – and was way overpriced. My wife, watching the video, thought it looked gross. But I’ve learned never to expect much from food in airport hotels…
– They really should have a shuttle service. But the walking distance (despite it being convoluted) is why I chose this hotel.
Note: a taxi to the hotel would cost you 15 Euros because the drivers (ie. the taxi mafia) set a minimum price. Reminds me of a year ago when we had to get between terminals in Barajas airport (in Madrid) and had to pay the same 15 Euros minimum. I blew a casket.
Overall I give the hotel a 6.5/10. It’s ok. I wouldn’t rule against staying here again but would only do it because: a) it’s a good price on booking.com, b) if alone so I could walk to the airport. I don’t think my wife would be up for the convoluted walk.
Getting between the Holiday Inn Express and the Airport
From the airport to the hotel (reverse what I write below if going from hotel to airport):
This involves walking out past the taxi stand, through the long parking garage on the other side of it, then making your way to the side of the highway – and crossing to the other side just before the roundabout (this is the tricky part). Once on the other side, just follow the sidewalk which follows the entry “highway” to the airport and which eventually turns and goes under an overpass. That will bring you to the hotel. It should take you between 15 – 20 minutes.
Best to watch the video for clarity.
Getting to the Airport from downtown Malaga
I took a special city bus, Linea A (ie. Line A) from the bus station. It costs 4 Euros. When at the bus station, go to Gate 30. You can only buy your ticket on the bus.
The bus comes every 25 minutes, 24 hours a day. It takes about 20 minutes to get between the bus station and the airport. At the airport it drops you off right in front of the Terminal (I also show you where in the video).
Have you stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Malaga Airport?
Do you have other good or bad experiences staying at any of Malaga’s airport hotels?
An alternative: Reviewing Casual del Mar Malaga (a.k.a in search of the perfect airport hotel in Malaga)
Related: 24 Hours in Málaga (in Photos)
Leave a Reply