Puente Romano Beach Resort

A beach resort containing 216 guest rooms, three swimming pools, and twelve restaurants sounds big — until you hear about the competition along the oceanfront. In fact, if you can believe it, the Puente Romano Marbella is one of the smaller and cozier resort options along Spain’s so-called Golden Mile. And not just in terms of numbers: the scale feels a good deal smaller than it is, thanks to the resort’s clever layout, modeled after an Andalusian village, as well as its relatively low-lying three-story architecture.

But let’s be realistic: you’re not going to be worrying about precisely how many people are lying around on chaises once you’ve arrived in paradise. And make no mistake, this is paradise, of a sort. All guest rooms, elegantly appointed with marble floors and traditional regional decor, feature private terraces — many with views of the sea. There’s free wi-fi, flat-screen TVs, and iPod docking stations; the top-end Grand Suites feature lavish extras like Persian stone bathrooms and wraparound terraces with Jacuzzis.

If you’re staying in one of those, you might not want to venture out — that’s what room service is for. Everyone else can take advantage of the services on offer in Puente Romano’s “village,” including several gorgeous swimming pools, clay tennis courts, a wellness center with Turkish bath, botanical gardens, an oceanfront cocktail bar, and no fewer than seven restaurants. The tasting menu at Dani García — the dining venue run by the chef of the same name, who earned two Michelin stars in Malaga before coming to the resort — gets most of the attention, but the resort also features excellent sushi, French brasserie-style cuisine, and, notably, at Chiringuito, fresh seafood served on a deck that’s positioned directly on the sand.