Recently, we were lucky to be able to escape the chaos of our renovation and have a night in Estepona, where we met an old Manchester friend, who was out visiting family. We’d only drive around Estepona before, and had only really seen any of it, on programmes like “A Place in the Sun”, so I assumed it was a resort town, much like Fuengirola or Torremolinos, and so not a huge amount to set it apart. Well, how wrong was I?

I saw a post on Instagram, showing a beautiful old town, which we did know existed, but which we assumed would be up in the hills above the newer, coastal part of town – not a street back, from a lovely beach. We’d booked a night in a little hotel called The Old Town Boutique Hotel, situated as we discovered, on the very pretty Calle Caridad, right in the heart of the old town, a three minute walk from the sea. There was only one room left because it was a last minute booking, and we were allocated what was described as a Comfort Room – and very comfy it was too, with a large walk-in shower and a really good size bed, with beautiful bedding. We were situated at the rear of the hotel, but our room had French doors, with typical Andalucian grilles, overlooking a really pretty, flower filled courtyard. The hotel also benefits from a sun drenched roof terrace, where a pretty substantial, eat as much as you like, buffet breakfast is served. We whiled away a very pleasant Monday morning up there, far away from hammering and drilling and painting.

Calle Caridad is a beautiful, typical Andalucian white washed street, full of little boutiques, townhouse hotels, interesting shops, cutesy bars and a real variety of restaurants. Huge banana trees and palm trees line the streets, with pots of greenery and colourful flowers, tumbling down from wrought iron balconies. Attention to detail, from all of the businesses and townhouses, is very much in evidence and gives the place a feel of the very beautiful Marbella old town.

Eating out is not difficult, in and around Calle Caridad, as there is so much choice, and from reading reviews of the various restaurants, some really excellent choice. We opted for a restaurant called Bada, which was every bit as good as the reviews suggested. And, a bit more. The menu isn’t huge, but there is a really good choice of vegetarian and non-vegeterian, covering dishes from Andalucia, wider Spain, Morocco and Asia. We opted to go tapas style and mixed our cuisines – gazpacho, chilli halloumi and spicy flatbreads, smashed potatoes with a minty yoghurt dip, Greek salad and the most delicious Lebanese pizza, with chargrilled chicken and hummus. All washed down with a very pleasant bottle of chilled, dry white wine. Much recommended.

Another thing to recommend Estepona, if you arrive by car, is that there is a large underground car park on Avenida Espana, the main thoroughfare which runs alongside the beach, so very handy for the old town, which is obviously mostly pedestrianised. We were hugely impressed with this coastal town, and as it’s now less than an hour from our house, we think we’ll definitely be getting to know it a whole lot more.