At Vincci’s Estrella del Mar beach club the delights come in many forms, for this is a beachfront pool club, restaurant and spa right by the sea.

Picture this: a wonderful beachside setting overlooking the sand and Mediterranean Sea, chilled music wafting across on the warm air, a stylish restaurant, a panoramic pool deck and a spa. Open your eyes and you see the Estrella del Mar beach club just past El Rosario, on Marbella’s east side.

Part of the Vincci Hotel yet a destination entirely in its own right, the beach club welcomes both hotel guests, outside visitors and members to its beautiful setting and amenities.

This part of Marbella is becoming a favourite for beach clubs thanks to having the best sandy shores and dune landscapes in the region, but Estrella del Mar stands out from the norm because it offers a true haven of relaxation and pampering within less than fifty paces of the waves.

Not surprisingly, this is a spectacular setting in which to enjoy a spa circuit, gym workout, health and beauty treatments, aqua aerobics or simply laze by the pool.

Modern seaside cuisine

At the heart of all of this is the restaurant which, like the rest of this stylish complex, is open throughout the year, offering both indoor and terrace tables where it serves the summer and winter menus.

We caught the restaurant in a period of transition between the two, when the chef sources the best seasonal produce to enliven this year’s winter menu with new offerings as well as popular classics. The latter focus on healthy regional and international dishes, as well as the light and refined starters we sampled.

In fact, the wonderfully refreshing watermelon and cheese salad with a gently curried dressing and black olives is a highly popular choice that has become something of a signature dish at Estrella del Mar.

The same is true of the equally innovative salad of fine fideo noodles with scallops and prawns. Try this light but well-seasoned dish and you’ll know why.

An equally favoured accompaniment is a glass of Anima de Raimat, a refreshing blend of chardonnay, xarel-lo and albariño from the Costers del Segre in Lleida, though the crisp albariños from Galicia are also a much-loved partner to the fish and seafood dishes that dominate the summer menu.

An example is the delicious and beautifully presented seabass served on a bed of Mediterranean vegetables with creamy purée and a cheese crisp.

It is perfectly complemented by the slices of Black Angus set upon black rice with caramelised onions and refreshing diced mango, and since the barbecue is kept going there is the added choice of grilled fish and meat.

Both of these dishes are well-prepared, tasty and also very light, lest we forget that this is a spa in a beachside setting where the opportunity is taken to offer delicious but also healthy and refreshing cuisine.

The dessert once again displays creative presentation and innovative planning, for while the green apple sorbet is wonderfully cool and tasty, the gin & tonic version tricks you into thinking it’s a lemon sorbet before unleashing freshness of a different kind.

We also sampled small browny cakes and chocolate and cream gateaux that round off the meal as you contemplate the good life in this idyllic setting.

More than dining alone

From here the choice is yours. You could hop into your car perfectly contented with a delicious lunch in inspiring surroundings or extend your stay in paradise and take a beach or poolside sunbed, both complete with waiter service.

There is also a first-class spa waiting to be discovered that offers hotel guests, members and day visitors their choice of gym workouts, massages, hydrotherapy, yoga and pilates classes, health and beauty treatments and of course a relaxing circuit of Jacuzzi, sauna, steam bath and warm and cold pools, which are, by the way, chlorine-free. Find out about their active programme which includes special offers throughout the year.

If you fancy treating yourself to a delicious lunch in a wonderful seaside setting, perhaps accompanied by some pampering and relaxation amid fantastic sea views, then Vincci’s Estrella del Mar is a place that needs to be discovered.

Words Michel Cruz / Photography Kevin Horn

CN340, km 190.7, Avda. José Rivera, Urb. Estrella del Mar, Marbella. Tel: 951 053 990.

www.beachclubestrelladelmar.com