When I received an invitation to feature the Marbella Club Hotel in #59 Magazine, I immediately had flashbacks to when I was a youngster spending summer holidays there with my mother and sister and friends of the family just after my father passed away. I must have been about thirteen at the time, and I still cherish the memories of those holidays in the early 1970s. It’s strange that it’s officially called the Marbella Club Hotel because in fact it’s a true holiday resort in the sense of those like Armando’s Beach Club in Acapulco, Nassau Beach Hotel in the Bahamas and the Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami that were highlighted in the 1970’s by jet-set photographer Slim Aarons in his book Poolside. It was a little bit of a homecoming after almost fifty years. Now in 2021, it looks practically the same as I remembered it, especially the famous pool with the Beach Club restaurant, but of course it has been upgraded with great taste: beautiful villas, magnificent tropical gardens, different pools and a choice of amenities you can only dream of. I have visited many beautiful beach hotels around the world but the concept of this iconic resort is extraordinary. You can never get bored. I believe it has seven restaurants but the feeling is still intimate, the service is impeccable, the food is fantastic, the staff are professional and, after the difficult 1990s, we can say that Marbella and the Marbella Club Hotel are definitely back on the map. Today, the Marbella Club has matured into a resort of world renown. Its laid-back spirit combines with the highest standards so aristocrats, stars, rich and beautiful people can still mingle. Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe founded the Marbella Club Hotel in 1954. He and his father had stopped to picnic in a pine forest near the beach at Marbella. The prince fell in love with the place and built the first hotel there, The Marbella Club. And the rest is history. Alfonso’s friends Count Rudolf von Schönburg (also known now as Count Rudi) and his wife, Princess Maria von Preussen, managed the Marbella Club for twenty- five years until the count’s retirement. If you are lucky you might still see him occasionally in the hotel because he still plays an immense role at the Marbella Club albeit more as a figurehead. Count Rudi is one of the key figures in the history of the Marbella Club and the town of Marbella. I can’t wait to go back and perhaps meet him.