Marbella-Marina Robertson - Jet Set Life

INTERVIEW: MARINA ROBERTSON (MARBELLA)
Rob: Okay so today we got on the line Marina Robertson from Del Sol Packaged which I think is
a relocation specialist in Marbella. Is that right? Is that what you do?
Marina: Yes that is correct.
Rob: Give me a little bit of background about yourself and what Del Sol Packaging actually is
and what you guys do.
Marina: Well, basically it’s a company that my husband and myself opened in Costa Del Sol.
We decided to start a relocation agency here because when we moved here a couple of months
ago there was no one to help us and every other country where we were travelling we always
had a professional relocation agency so we saw the gap in the market so we said, “Go for it.”
Rob: Where are you guys from originally?
Marina: Well, my husband is originally from England, from Chester and I come from a small
country called Abkhazia which used to be a part of Soviet Union and it’s located on the Black
Sea coast and at the moment it is known only as the conflict zone but by 2014 it’ll be very well
known to the rest of the world because of the winter Olympic games that will take place next to
it so…
Rob: Wow, that’s really, really interesting. So you know what, I bet in your line of work now,
because there are so many Russians, with the downfall of communism and everything, there
are so many Russians who have so much more cash that are coming in to sunny places like
Marbella. I bet that your ability to speak the language is really helping.

Marina: Absolutely but it got so big that I couldn’t handle it so we just hired a personal
assistant who’s originally Russian and speak fluent English and Spanish so she needs to help us
here because it’s just too much work.
Rob: Well, what a nice problem to have, to have such a big business that you have to hire more
people to help you out in this crashing economy that we’re in.
Marina: Well, we’re planning to expand in the next few months. I mean, we’re brand new, the
company was launched 3 months ago. We just went on the internet 3 months ago and we’re
getting a lot of inquiries and we’ve already relocated some people in so yes, we’re busy
(laughs).
Rob: What does it mean to say Del Sol Packaged? I mean the Del Sol I assume is from the Costa
Del Sol as what that region is referred to, is that right?
Marina: Yup that’s correct.
Rob: And Package means “we put it all together for you”?
Marina: Absolutely. Straight to the point, anything you need we can get. Any way you want to
go to, we can get you there.
Rob: The type of person who would use your service would be somebody who says, “Hey, I’m
in cold, dark England.” Or “I’m in Wisconsin. I went to Marbella for a trip and I love it. Is there a
place that you can find for me close to the beach for this amount of money?” That kind of thing.
Marina: Absolutely but it could be not just a person, it could be a family moving in. There’s a
lot of businesses that are moving down to Gibralta and the families don’t exactly want to live on

the rock, they want to live in sunny Spain so we help them. Normally they don’t speak Spanish
as well so that’s a big issue.
Rob: Okay, did you come directly from Russia or were you living in England at that time?
Marina: I left home 15 years ago. I was working for United Nations Peacekeeping operations. I
was in Africa, Central America, in Europe, in the Middle East and the last place where we were
living, our family, was Sweden.
Rob: Okay, and what brought you specifically to Marbella other than the obvious? (laughs)
Well, for the obvious we’ll get more into that. So let’s talk about Marbella. Would you describe
for me the Spanish culture and the personality?
Marina: You know what to describe it I would have to go a little bit further back in history
because everybody knows Marbella as it is now. I need to say a few more things that would
take us a few centuries back. For example the Spanish culture was marked by Roman influences
especially in the areas of language and region as well as Spanish language borrowed some
words and accents from Arabic during Muslim influence. After defeat of Muslims and Jews
during Christians re-­‐conquest Spain became Roman Catholic country. That’s what we are today.
Spanish region is really, really unique. It’s divided in different provinces and each of them is
unique as well and each province has a list of their own traditions and customs and it’s so long
you can’t really describe it. Things that Spain is really well known for is the most controversial
probably for everyone is bull fighting but it is most respected and admired by Spaniards
throughout the country. Then another thing is the siesta which is a break between 2 and 5 in
the afternoon but it is a very important tradition. Visitors should be aware about it when they
come here because all the Spanish businesses and schools will close so the workers and
children can go home and have lunch together because family bonds are really strong and very
important here. And another very important custom, Spaniards love to stand for hours at their
topless bars (laughs). You’ve probably seen that, by having beers, chat with friends and the bars
would be packed but the tables will be either empty or filled with tourists. And Spaniards,
they’re probably the happiest and most lovely people I ever met personally. They all have
different personalities, depending on the regions. Down in Andaucia, they’re just happy go

lucky people and don’t feel strange when you meet them. They just give you two kisses right
away like they’ve known you for a long time.
Rob: Yes, very, very warm. They’re very close to Italians in that way.
Marina: I lived in the south of Italy for awhile as well and they’re very similar actually.
Rob: So what would you say is a big, major difference between all of the areas in the Riviera?
What makes Marbella so much different than France or Italy?
Marina: I’d say luxury and high class combined with simplicity and happiness, you know,
different backgrounds, different income. It’s all mixed together here and nobody point fingers
at each other and nobody feels uncomfortable. They all live in small Marbella which is a really,
really small place to be honest.
Rob: Right, you know, something like St. Tropez is all about, million dollar yachts, champagne
spraying and all that and Marbella has all of that. I know it does for sure. I’ve been a part of it,
but there’s also the simplicity there of just real good, down to earth folks.
Marina: And they’re real. They’re absolutely real people.
Rob: They are. So when is the time to go? I was there during the summer, in the height of all of
it and it was just poppin’. I mean the place was unbelievable. Parties everywhere, I didn’t get to
bed until 3 or 4, not one night and in fact one of the things that was shocking to me was how
late the sun went down. I mean it seemed like it was 11 o’clock and the sun was still out. What
would you say is the high season? In other words, when does it begin and when does it end and
what’s the difference between those seasons?

Marina: Well, I say the high season as you described, the party season, will be between June
and August and right now we’re having last parties here and last parties there. This Sunday
we’ll be going to Dreamer’s Club, I don’t know if you’ve been there or not. Tiesto is playing
there and there’ll be another champagne party this Sunday so everything is happening the last
week of August basically. Come September, October it all slows down. The best time to go
weather wise, I can say you can start travelling in April, you can stay here until October because
then you can also enjoy some local parties like festivals and Semana Santa (Holy Week) during
the Easter and other fairs just happening throughout the summer. Travelling during the low
season also have some advantage because there are smaller crowds and lower prices even in
place like Puerto Banus. In winter you get special residence rate in local pubs.
Rob: That’s interesting. So what would you say is the different type of traveler that comes in at
different times of the year? For example, I know the Italians they tour in August, is that right?
Marina: I may say so and Arabs as well.
Rob: The Arabs as well. Okay so the Italians and the Arabs are in August and is there another
domination where there’s a whole, big country that comes in, let’s say in June, July?
Marina: Absolutely, if you didn’t hear until now, Marbella seems to be built for Brits (laughs).
Rob: You know what, it’s very interesting you said that. You know what I learned? You saw this
in my video, I learned what a pub crawl was. I guess I’m living in the wrong era but I’ve never
heard the term pub crawling until I went there and there are Brits everywhere. Everywhere. So
is there a special time of the year that they come do they maybe use it like we, in America, in
the East Coast, we go to South Beach in Miami when we need to get some sunshine. Is that the
kind of thing that the Brits do? They kind of just jet off to Marbella, a quick flight for them?
Marina: Well, I’d say they come here for Easter that’s for sure, for a week in Easter and when
the schools break and the kids are on holidays which is probably mid July and a lot of them
come for Christmas as well.

Rob: Okay, so let’s talk about the weather a little bit. When I was there, I was there for about
three weeks and there was no humidity. It was just perfect. I mean, I was there in July, for
almost the whole month of July and it was blue sky, no clouds, 70 degrees Farenheit and it was
just perfect. Is that generally what your summers are like or was that unusual?
Marina: Normally Marbella has got an amazing climate and the season of Marbella is often
referred to as California of Europe. It’s very, very pleasant and that’s why a lot of Saudi Royals
come here during summer. The climate remains mostly the same throughout the year and used
to be until the last two years I’d say. It’s sunny for more than 320 days a year. And the average
annual temperature would be 66 Farenheit. I did the conversion (laughs). And the summer
temperature where everybody else is would rise above 110 Farenheit inland. In Marbella Coast
you wouldn’t go more than 86.
Rob: And what about the humidity?
Marina: Very low.
Rob: Very, very low. Okay that was my experience too.
Marina: It’s not zero because I used to live in countries where there is zero humidity. It takes
time to get used to it but it’s really low so it’s very pleasant.
Rob: So it’s very similar to California so there’s an advantage. A lot of people here in America
would love to move to California because it’s called “California dreaming” for a reason. It’s
sunny and 70 and perfect but in Europe you have an opportunity to have that same kind of
climate with Marbella but that’s not typical of the rest of Spain, right? That’s just a micro
climate.

Marina: Only specific area of Marbella is surrounded by hills and it’s right on the sea and there
were some researches done by institutions where they’re looking for an appropriate piece of
land to build their laboratory to. I can’t remember exactly the details but they identified only
two places and one was California and another one was Marbella.
Rob: I’ll tell you something interesting for me. It was fascinating just jumping in the car and
before I knew it I was very close to the boarder of the Arab countries there in Africa. How long
does it take to get to…I guess Tangier is probably the closest spot to you in Africa. How long
does it take to get to Africa from Marbella?
Marina: Well, if there is no wait from Marbella you’ll probably have to drive for about 20 to 30
minutes to get to the point where you can take a boat and it’ll take you about 40 minutes.
Rob: Okay so in roughly an hour to an hour and a half, somewhere in there?
Marina: No, less than that.
Rob: So let’s say an hour.
Marina: Yes.
Rob: so in about an hour you’re in Africa.
Marina: Absolutely, unless you hit a traffic jam.
Rob: (laughs) Unless you hit a traffic jam. I took that drive and I noticed all the windmills on top
of all the mountains there.

Marina: Yes, it’s an amazing sight if you’ve never seen them before.
Rob: Yeah, it really is. Okay, so let’s talk a little bit about how expensive it is to live in Marbella
because I know that this is sort of your area so let’s say that I said, “Marina I want to come out
there and I’m not going to be there all year long but I’d love to have a place in the ocean, a
simple place, maybe a couple of bedrooms either near or on the ocean. How much would it
cost me to rent and how much would it cost me to purchase?”
Marina: My first question to you would be, “What is your budget?”
Rob: So you got to ask it backwards, right? (laughs)
Marina: Absolutely (laughs). The range of properties available here is simply amazing. When
we get down to the most expensive areas, it’ll be anything between 5, 10, 15 thousand dollars a
month. So if we go for less expensive we can find something for a thousand dollars however
during the summer period it’s very hard to find a place to stay so if you decide to move here for
a year or two you better move in winter or spring because summer there are so many tourists,
landlords are just not willing to rent. They’re making as much money in 1 week as they would in
a month for the rest of the year.
Rob: Got it. Okay, so if I wanted to come down and I wanted to say, “I want to be on the beach
for a month, in some kind of villa. What’s the minimum I can expect to pay for something
decent?”
Marina: Summer time, definitely is a weekly rate. A Weekly rate would be around $2,000 or
$3,000 for a villa.
Rob: Okay, so for maybe $2,000 a week, roughly. And do they require any minimums? In other
words you have to have 1, 2, 3, 4 weeks or how does that generally work with villa rentals?

Marina: No, it’s rented per week.
Rob: And you do that kind of thing as well?
Marina: Yes, absolutely. That’s why I was asking you a question, “What is your budget?” It
answers the question, “What can I get?” it all depends on you and what you’re prepared to pay.
Rob: So it’s a big, wide range. You can go with a million dollar villa or you can go with
something smaller.
Marina: you can go with 20 million dollar villa here (laughs).
Rob: (laughs) Okay, it definitely answered my question.
Marina: I was just looking at one down the road. I can see from the terrace of the office and
there’s one villa that costs about $4,500 a night.
Rob: Wow. Okay, so the bottom line is it has it all. You can go with the low end, you can go
with the high end. Everything is available to all different budgets.
Marina: Absolutely.
Rob: Let’s talk a little bit about expats. That’s how we refer to Americans living abroad. Do you
have many expats that live in Marbella?

Marina: Absolutely and it’s a very, very diverse group in every way possible. Different
nationalities, different cultures, different economies, there’s already a lot of British nationals,
there are Irish, Nordic countries, Norway, Sweden, Germans, a lot of Russians, a lot of Latvians.
It’s very diverse. It’s a lot of them.
Rob: And everybody gets along and has a good time?
Marina: Absolutely.
Rob: So what kind of experiences can someone expect when they come? Most of the people
I’m sure would travel there during the high season but if you had to sort of describe to
somebody who’s never been there before, who’s going to spend a week or 2 there. What would
you say that they could expect as an experience there? Night life, beaches, things like that.
Marina: It could be above any expectations to be honest. Marbella is very famous for its
international jet set atmosphere as you know. Marbella is famed as an exclusive destination for
wealthy tourists. Area around Marbella is very popular for those that like golf. There are about
70 golf courses in Costa Del Sol. A lot of people call it Costa Del Golf.
Rob: (laughs) I’ve never heard that one. That’s good.
Marina: Yeah, it’s a very common thing (laughs)
Rob: I think that’s what I’m going to call this interview. Costa Del Golf. That’s great.
Marina: And Marbella also hosts tennis tournaments and the most recent one was in July, the
court finals Davis Cup between Germany and Spain. And I also have to mention something very
important is for the first time ever U.S Rodeo is coming to Marbella. American Rodeo show will
be here on the 2 nd of October.

Rob: Oh when you said Rodeo I didn’t understand. I was thinking Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
Marina: Oh sorry! (laughs)
Rob: Isn’t it funny how a little bit of an accent makes the word entirely different (laughs). I
happen to be in Atlanta, Georgia so I’ve got rodeo everywhere. That’s very interesting.
Marina: It’s very exciting for locals as well as expats. You know there are other nationalities,
not only Americans. It might be boring for you but it’s very exciting for everybody else.
Rob: Of course, of course. Okay so let’s talk about the specifics of actually getting there.
There’s one major airport to fly in to, is that correct?
Marina: Yeah, you could say one major airport but Marbella is situated between two airports.
It’s Malaga and Gibralta and they’re about 40 minutes either way.
Rob: Okay, so coming in from the States most people go into Malaga, is that right?
Marina: Yes and we would continue recommending to everyone. If you’re coming to Costa Del
Sol or Marbella you have to fly to Malaga because if you decide to fly through Gibralta you end
up crossing the end of the boarder so there’s two different customs and it just takes more time.
Rob: Okay so Malaga is the way to go. Now, when you get there should you rent a car if you’re
going to stay there, let’s say two weeks? I can’t get Americans to travel more than a week but
I’m working on it (laughs). If you can actually go and stay for two weeks, would you recommend
getting a car or would you recommend going around by taxi?

Marina: Well, I say if the person coming here has a specific destination in mind, doesn’t want
to go anywhere but down the road to the beach, he doesn’t need a car. However, if there’s
something more to his travel than getting a sun tan and going to Puerto Banus once or twice
then you can get a taxi. The only problem I’d say when you get a taxi from Marbella airport is
most of the taxi drivers only speak Spanish and then you have to pay your bill in Euro and even
if they have the credit card payment system, it normally doesn’t work.
Rob: How many languages do you speak personally?
Marina: Fluently, three.
Rob: Okay so you speak Russian, English and Spanish.
Marina: Yes.
Rob: Interesting. And with Spanish, you can probably speak Italian fairly well.
Marina: I used to speak Italian fluently when I lived there and I used to Speak French when I
used to live in Africa so I need a bit of practice and I’ll probably manage.
Rob: So what are the different areas in Marbella that we should consider? I know that we
talked about Puerto Banus and Fuengirola, did I remember that right?
Marina: I’ll tell you briefly about Costa Del Sol. From Malaga down to Gibralta. The places I
wouldn’t recommend to go unless you’re in a really low budget is Fuengirola, Torremolinos,
Benalmadena, they’re basically next to each other. Just drive through, get in a towboat, go to
Marbella.

Rob: Okay, got it. I appreciate it.
Marina: There are a few places worth seeing. Marbella district basically covers Marbella City,
Puerto Banus, San Pedro, Nueva Andalucia. And they’re all very beautiful, there are things to do
here, there are things to look at and there’s another place called Ronda which is a beautiful
town in the mountains and it’s probably 40 minutes drive from Marbella and that particular
town is worth visiting because it’s got the oldest bull ring in Spain. Here in Spain you want to
see something special. This monument was built in the 16 th century and it was meant for the
Royal Cavalry of Ronda but then it was converted to a bull ring in the 18 th century so if you go to
Ronda, it’s worth seeing.
Rob: Which of the areas that if somebody’s going to stay, you know our market is interested in
where the jet setters are hanging out, where all the action is, where the party is, we’re looking
for a place to blow off some steam. Where is the place to stay? During the day you’ve got the
beaches and it’s beautiful and the shopping and at night its fantastic restaurants. Where is that
central area that you should find a hotel if you want that kind of environment?
Marina: Okay, when we talk about hotels, the best hotels are The Marbella Club Hotel Golf
Resort, is the premium resort, everybody knows about it, it’s probably one of the most
luxurious hotels in the area. Another one which is a sister hotel is Puente Romano, built on the
actual Roman bridge, it’s a small bridge but it’s very beautiful and there’s one hotel which is not
in Marbella but you’ve been in the area, it’s not far from Laguna Village, it’s in Estepona, it’s
called The Kempinski Hotel. Have you seen it?
Rob: Yeah. I’ve seen it. That’s part of the…that’s a Russian collection, is that right?
Marina: Swiss
Rob: Swiss, okay.

Rob: We’ve visited after the recent refurbishment. There are a couple of businesses were
invited there for an open day and the refurbishment costs about 10 million dollars. The most
impressive part of the hotel is the Imperial Suite. To make the story short if you’re a sheikh and
a multi millionaire, you happen to be a privileged occupant of nearly 8,000 square feet Imperial
Suite. You’ll be transported there by the helicopter, get the service of a private butler and use
of any top care requested throughout your stay so you can request any car and it will be
available to you and it’ll cost you approximately just over $35,000 a night so if you stay there
for a week it’s only quarter of a million (laughs).
Rob: Not bad, not bad. Okay, so now if we come down from Mars and we come back to the
rest of the world (laughs), where is the place that someone can stay? I tell you, I looked at it
personally, I had a really tough time with this because if I went and looked at the Marbella Club
and you know honestly there is this fine line between what you just described and I learned by
the way what the word “sheikh” means, it’s actually the guy with the…what do we call it?
Turban? What’s on the top of the head there?
Marina: (laughs) Turban. It’s the royalty.
Rob: Turban, okay. It’s the royalty. Now from America we don’t have access to a lot of that so
we don’t actually understand what that is but I had a great time. I actually wound up meeting
the 3 rd richest guy in the world at Nikki Beach one day. You know, so there’s everything from
that end but when you look at something that’s on the Golden Mile like the Marbella Beach
Club, there’s that element of stuffiness and sheikhness that sometimes a little off putting if you
want to be around something that’s hip and sexy and sheikh and boutiquey, which one comes
to mind when I describe that to you?
Marina: I found one that probably would be the closest thing yet not exactly what you’re
looking for, well, it’s different from the rest, it’s still a 5 star hotel and it’s very small and in the
Marbella old town. Basically what happen, when they refurbished the 17 th century mansion in
the city of Marbella and they brought together a wonderful décor in the 21 st century comfort in
the same building so they didn’t spare any money on that. It took them about 5 years of work
and what they’ve got they got this seven stylish rooms with flat screen Tvs, Ipods, play stations

and the rest. It’s very small, very nicely decorated. It’s got a roof terrace where you can have
your Sunday lunch and enjoy the view of rooftops of Marbella.
Rob: And what was the name of it?
Marina: The name is Claude Hotel.
Rob: Okay, maybe it’s somebody’s name.
Marina: Probably. Yeah, I think it’s someone from the family I believe because it’s a family
hotel and the price is around $260 a night.
Rob: US or Euros?
Marina: I am talking US. I converted everything (laughs)
Rob: Oh thank you, thank you. Okay so about $260. Now, let’s compare that to what you might
spend at the Golden Mile at the Marbella Beach Club.
Marina: In Marbella Beach Club, if you’re going for a normal, average room, high season it will
probably start around about $400 and if you want the villa, the biggest villas they’ve got is 5
bedrooms with a pool, it gets to $7000. There’s a mid range there, you can get a suite during
high season between $600 and $3,500.
Rob: Okay so let’s say that we’ve got on the high end the Marbella Beach Club, on the
boutiquey kind of end we’ve got The Claude and what if somebody is just starting out in life and
you know, there are baby jet setter and they’re on their way and maybe they’re in their late

20’s or their early 30’s and they just don’t have the budget for it but they want to be there.
Which is the one that you would recommend on the lower end that’s maybe, you know, a
couple of hundred dollars a night?
Marina: Well, I can do better than that as a recently renovated Hotel Locrima. It’s 3 star but it’s
really nice and it’s only $180 a night and it’s right opposite Puerto Banus, it’s on the other side
of the road, it’s a walking distance and it’s really nice.
Rob: Perfect. Okay, let’s talk about food. I love the food in Spain. Let’s talk about dinner. What
would you say is your favorite, favorite place just for food? It doesn’t have to be for ambience,
it doesn’t have to be for party, just for the quality of the food.
Marina: That’s a difficult question because I have a favorite restaurant which is Los Bandidos in
Puerto Banus and I go there every time I come to Spain because I used to come here for a
couple of years before I moved but it’s probably not exactly the type you’re describing.
Rob: Well I actually happen to eat… I had a dinner there at Los Bandidos, I made the grave
mistake of not knowing anything about it, walking in and saying, “Can I have a table for two.”
And he looked at me like I was nuts. It was actually fairly early for Spain too. It’s maybe you
know 8 o’clock, 9 o’clock and he said, “How long are you here?” and I said, “I’m here for a
month.” He said, “How about three weeks?” So it was kind of funny, we actually wound up
getting in like five days later but you’re correct. It was probably, in terms of food and of all the
restaurants we went to, it was probably the best I had. So that was spot on.
Marina: I was just lucky we got here in winter, the first time I walked in and the rest was half
empty and we got the table and second time it was a bit more difficult because they didn’t have
any tables available until the next weekend (laughs), so we learned the hard way as well.
Rob: Yes, you learned. I mean it’s tough because a lot of times when we travel, you know, we
travel all over the world constantly and we’re in this market so a lot of times, like in St. Tropez
for example, there are a lot of restaurants we went to that was so tough to get in like Los

Bandidos and we got in and we’re like, “yeah, you know what, it wasn’t that great.” You know
sometimes the reputation doesn’t actually mean it but with Los Bandidos, it did. So that’s great.
Okay, what about for scene? Let’s say that you want to go out with your lady or your husband,
have some cocktails and you want to be in a nice scene and have some dinner with maybe
some music playing in the background? What’s your favorite?
Marina: I think I will get you back to The Locrima Hotel I mentioned earlier.
Rob: Okay, they have a restaurant there?
Marina: There is a new restaurant that has opened in Spring, it’s called Novelli’s Restaurant. It
was opened by a French chef Jean-­‐Cristophe Novelli. It was a big thing, all the women were
going crazy, they’re all booking cooking lessons with him, probably because he’s good looking. I
don’t know (laughs).
Rob: It probably has something to do with it.
Marina: Yeah, the food is great, the prices are acceptable and I can say that it’s a hot spot. It
was one of the venues for Tito Jackson when he was recently visiting Marbella. I happen to be
there and I said, “Well, okay, it’s not bad.”
Rob: Yeah, that’s fun. Okay, let’s say outdoor. Let’s say you want to be outside, maybe on a
terrace, it could be a rooftop terrace, it could be out of the beach, just anything out. What’s
your favorite in that category?
Marina: You know what, I would recommend that they just walk around the area and see
what’s the best place, what they fancy more and they just make their choice because basically,
what views are there if you are in Puerto Banus , it’s the front line, it’s the marina. If you’re on
Golden Mile there’s not much view but the main road unless you’re overlooking the sea. One
particular restaurant that I could recommend it’s actually hidden off the Golden Mile, it’s called

Villa Tiberio. It’s again, top of the range, sorry (laughs), but it’s in the middle of gardens which
are in square feet, it’s about 65,000 sq ft of gardens, Italian gardens with statues and waterfalls
so it’s an outdoor restaurant.
Rob: Wow, that sounds really interesting.
Marina: It’s really peaceful, really quiet, it’s almost therapeutic and it’s 18 year old so it’s very
well established, got high standard, faultless service and the most amazing thing about it I find,
is 3,000 top quality Spanish, French and Italian wine in the wine list.
Rob: Wow, that’s interesting. What’s your personal favorite? What do you love? If I said,
“Here’s 200 Euros, just put it in your pocket, on me, go to any restaurant you want to go to.”
Which one would you go? Maybe I need to give you 300.
Marina: There is this restaurant on the way from Malaga and it’s hard to spot it. From Malaga
to Marbella, you have to take a right exit, I can’t remember the kilometer now and it’s opposite
a place called Benalmadena. It’s got the most amazing view you can imagine. It’s just on top of
the rock and you see nothing but that wonderful view. The set up is gorgeous, it’s like an
authentic, old Spanish restaurant but it’s really, really nice. It’s out of the way. It’s not exactly in
Marbella.
Rob: I have dinner at 6 o’clock in America. What time do you have dinner?
Marina: If I’m at home I have it around the same time. If we’re going out it’s not until ten.
Rob: Unbelievable. 10 o’clock at night, if you show up at a restaurant at 8, somebody is
sweeping the floors, they’re not even open.

Marina: They’re not open. I’ll tell you what happened to us when we arrived here. It was
December 30 of last year and we have three kids so we live in Sweden, dinner is normally 5, 6
o’clock and by 4 o’clock our kids are getting hungry, we’re just settling down so we don’t
exactly have food in the fridge at home so we decided to get then in the car, go out and have a
mean. Guess what, even Mc Donald’s was close.
Rob: Oh my God (laughs)
Marina: I don’t believe it. We had to go to the supermarket, buy some bread and ham and
cheese and go home.
Rob: Unbelievable, and is it that way all year long or is it just seasoned?
Marina: No, but that’s exactly the season when you come here. If you come off season, late
autumn, winter, spring, it’ll be dead. You will not recognize this place. You’ll be walking in the
same streets as you walk in summer and you will not find people. You’ll have a couple of
drunken Brits stumbling around and singing hen’s parties songs and that would be it. It’s
horrible.
Rob: Now you just used the term I learned there too, a hen party. Can you tell me what a hen
party is?
Marina: (laughs) Ah it’s hard to describe. Basically when a girl decides to get married, she
thinks, she believes she deserves another crazy adventure before she actually commit to
someone. That’s my interpretation so…they book a hen party with one of the party organizers
down here and then they make absolute fools of themselves.
Rob: And they have the pictures to prove it.

Marina: And I believe by the end of this trip, they would rather get rid of those pictures.
They’re not very pretty (laughs).
Rob: Okay so let’s talk about lunch. Where is your favorite spot?
Marina: I’d say it’s Benahavis. It’s an area basically opposite, a bit further down towards
Gibralta, ten minutes away from Marbella. You cannot really hide in Marbella. It’s full of
tourists. It’s in the mountains, it’s only ten minutes drive from Marbella. Not many people know
about it, it’s gorgeous. The air is so fresh, there are fountains and there is a river and there’s
this green scenery and it’s just amazing. I was there actually about two weeks ago for lunch and
there’s a very nice Spanish restaurant run by a Spanish family. It’s called Los Faroles. It’s
interesting, one particular thing about this place is when we go up there we saw, and I counted
there were 15 Ferraris of all the models that were available, they were not two alike and they
were parked down the restaurant down the road and I say, “These guys are hiding.”
Rob: Well, let’s talk about the Ferraris because this is very interesting to me. Obviously they
don’t live there full time. They’re maybe from Saudi Arabia or Africa or something like that.
How do all of these expensive cars get there? Do they bring it with them, do they have houses
there?
Marina: They fly them here. A lot of them have another car here but a lot of them just fly their
personal cars or when they arrive here, they said, “I want this model.” And it gets delivered by a
rental company.
Rob: Okay so it’s either they’re renting them or they’re actually putting them on a plane and
just bring them over because I’ve never seen more Ferraris in my life. Okay, so let’s talk about
shopping because all the girls ask us about shopping. Where is your favorite spot that you
personally love to go to that you think is a good area for that?

Marina: Obviously it’s Puerto Banus with all the brands and I actually went down trying to
count them, just for you, I must have counted about 40. I got to 40 and I got fed up and I just
walked away (laughs).
Rob: Thank you! Okay, that’s enough, forty is enough.
Marina: Then there’s the Cañada shop which is a bit more down to earth, it’s called the Cañada
Shopping Centre and again it’s something similar to what you will get in the States so it’s
nothing exciting but I’d say if you want to see something more local, down to earth, you
definitely have to go to this local outdoor markets. That is something probably much more
unique than any of these regular street shops you’d find. They’re moving around the coast and I
believe Marbella is on Monday so you find handmade jewelry, you’ll find clay pots and some
clothing and it’s all Spanish, it’s all typically Spanish made, made here and sold here and it’s an
absolute bargain for the tourists because it cost peanuts out there compared to what you find
in the shops, even if you try to buy some souvenirs while you’re here. Please, by no means go to
any of the shops because the price margin will be very high, it will be about 200% more
expensive than what you will find in this open market.
Rob: Now let’s talk about things to do because I know we’ve got the standard beach, sunshine,
golf, those sort of things but are there anything really unique that you would say really, really
must do?
Marina: There are so many things…okay, I’ll just go through it then you decide which one is
unique, which one is special. You can watch La Liga football, you can go quad biking, you can go
paintballing, go carting, play pigeon shooting, paddle tennis, golf courses, sphereing…you got
this thing, this sphereing ball that rolls down the hill and you feel like you’re inside a washing
machine, that’s an absolute madness, never done that (laughs).
Rob: I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Marina: it’s a huge, inflated ball and they put you inside there and they put another 8 gallons
of water and send you like 650 feet down the hill.
Rob: it’s only 10 o’clock in the morning here so I haven’t had a martini yet so I just want to
make sure that I’m understanding what you’re saying. They put you inside a ball with water
and roll you down the hill.
Marina: Yes, and a lot of people quite enjoy it. I don’t see the enjoyment in it but…(laughs) yes,
a lot of people do that and they consider that fun.
Rob: You know what, I’m just thinking. Maybe that’s what happened to me after I went to
Olivia Valere (laughs). Alright, I think you hit the point with that. Clay shooting to me sounds
really, really interesting, I’ve never done that, rolling down in a big ball sounds like a lot of fun,
okay that’s kind of cool. What would you say are the most common tourist traps that
everybody does and you say, “Oh God, there goes another tourist doing it.” Which is the one
that’s just silly?
Marina: For one, I can’t believe that a lot of people come here, all they do they spend their
vacation on the beach sun bathing, burning their skin away and not doing anything else. It’s just
mad, you know. All they can do is sun bathe.
Rob: That’s very interesting. So you look at it’s almost a tourist trap to only get from Marbella,
the beach?
Marina: Yeah, absolutely because there’s so much more here than that you know. You can
always sun bathe somewhere else. You can go on a sun bed and get you a tan and it’s not
fashionable anymore anyway.
Rob: Yes, you’re right. Okay, so what would you say is the best, free thing to do? You know,
where it just doesn’t cost anything but it’s you know, fantastic?

Marina: There you got me (laughs). Okay, I’d say for me window shopping, I don’t mean Gucci
sunglasses, Hermes bags and jewelry. I mean cars and boats. I just absolutely love window
shopping for cars and boats.
Rob: By window shopping, you really mean everything from people watching to going down to
the port to looking at the yachts to actually physically looking at the windows of the stores?
Marina: Yes, I mean in my line of business, I drive a lot, I’m on the road a lot, I’m in a traffic jam
a lot so quite often I just stand, wait for the traffic light to change or for people to move and
these windows, huge windows and these amazing cars behind them. So I’m actually looking at
them every day of my life here.
Rob: Yes, and you get a chance to see them all. Let’s talk about night life a little bit. What
would you is…night life is broken up, let’s start it from the real loud party and work our way
down. What’s your favorite pick in that category?
Marina: Okay, so the best, the loudest young crowd and all that I say is Dreamers and I’m very
guilty, I’m going there on Sunday night because Tiesto is in town and I can’t miss that.
Rob: Okay, tell me who Tiesto is. Tiesto is a dj, right? I have to tell you we don’t have the pulse
on the dj circuit that you guys do in Europe. We don’t get that, it’s not in our culture but so
Tiesto, is he Italian?
Marina: No, he’s Dutch.
Rob: Okay, so he’s a Dutch dj that happens to be in Marbella and he’s playing.

Marina: And he happen to look Italian as well so…(laughs)
Rob: Alright, so you’re going to Dreamers. Now what time will you probably get there?
Marina: Probably around 2, 3 o’clock in the morning.
Rob: Okay so now here’s a fair question. What would you do with yourself until 3 in the
morning on Sunday?
Marina: Okay, so I’ll start with a dinner which should be around 10 o’clock, I’ll leave the resto
about 12, probably go to Puente Romano, have a few drinks and then move on to Dreamers.
Rob: You’ll stay there until probably what time?
Marina: 7
Rob: Until 7 a.m. Now, you are a mom of three children, is that right?
Marina: Yes (laughs)
Rob: So you are a mother of three children and you’re going out on a Sunday until 7 in the
morning to party and you are a respected businesswoman in the area. How can that be?
Marina: (laughs) Well, you see our business, you need to know all these. This is like trial and
taste, you know, how can I recommend something to someone if I haven’t experienced it

myself? I mean, it’s just my work. I’m not going out to party. I have to go to experience it before
I recommend it to a client.
Rob: Listen, you’re not getting any argument from me. I understand, I understand. Okay, so
what would you say is something where, you know, you really don’t want to do that whole
thing but you want to have just a lovely evening, a little bit more of a chilled, relaxed
environment? Where would you recommend?
Marina: I know you’ve been to Olivia Valere but I don’t know what part of it you’ve been,
probably by the look on your face next morning it was just the disco.
Rob: It was just the disco, yeah.
Marina: Okay, you didn’t get to go to Le Prive lounge bar?
Rob: I did not.
Marina: Okay, so I’d say that’s the place.
Rob: So in other words, Olivia Valere is broken up in sort of a disco on one side and the other
side it’s a lounge.
Marina: Yeah, and also a beautiful restaurant so you can get anything and everything there to
be honest. This particular lounge bar, when we talk about best, it is the best. It’s decorated in
like an Asian sort of style and it’s got the crystal bar that was made by Chinese master
craftsmen so it’s very relaxing, very comfortable, luxurious and all of that.

Rob: What’s the standard of dress, you know because Marbella is Europe and Europe is high-­fashioned.
What’s the standard of dress for women? Is it dress to impress, is it as much glitter
as you can get on you or what are we looking at?
Marina: Well, I personally do not believe in glitter and shiny stuff but you’ll find anything and
everything here. I mean there’s such a variety of different backgrounds so if you want to dress
to impress as a woman, make sure you fit in size 10 and you’re wearing high heels and you look
sexy and not too much make up. You have style you’ll know how to dress honestly. Don’t try
too hard.
Rob: That’s the problem, we’re trying to learn (laughs)
Marina: Oh, well, Marbella is so diverse. Absolutely nothing is wrong unless you look like some
wild parrot, you know (laughs). Honestly, nothing is unacceptable here.
Rob: Marina, I cannot thank you enough for taking the hour with me to go through all of this
information. This is really, really going to be valuable for somebody when they come to
Marbella. What is the best way for someone to get ahold of you so they can utilize your
services?
Marina: In Spain, we got a problem, not everyone uses internet (laughs) but as the rest of the
world does, the best way to contact us is to go on our website which is
www.delsolpackaged.com.
Rob: Just so we have it, what is your office telephone number?
Marina: it’s 0034951894026.

Rob: Okay, and if you’re calling from the United States I think you have to put a 011 in front of
that and that’ll get you there. So Marina thank you so much once again for everything and we’ll
provide links to your website so everybody can get in touch with you to enjoy their trip to
Marbella.
Marina: Thank you very much Rob. It was absolute pleasure. Next time you are in town please
give us a call, we’ll go out and party together.
Rob: Okay, you got it!