Just 30 minutes south of Barcelona in Spain you will find the wonderful coastal resort of Sitges. I had previously stopped over whilst working as British Airways Cabin Crew and had always vowed to go back someday to really explore it properly. Last year myself and two very dear friends of ours hit the magical age of 50 and decided that we deserved a short holiday somewhere special. I took my husband along as well (being 49,but acting a lot older!!) We booked our flights through Easyjet from Luton and added on any extras we could find that would make our journey more palatable when travelling with a budget airline – once BA darling, it's very hard to lower ones standards but actually I thought Easyjet were fab. The real joy came when we arrived at Sitges and saw our hotel which had been billed as 3* but had excellent reviews on Trip Advisor. I don't normally consider anything lower than a four star these days as I think you should choose your star rating by your decade ie these days a five star!! Anyway the Hotel Platjador was a revelation. Truly 5* with a 3* billing so I learnt a lot from this experience. The room was exquisite with a superbly comfy bed, spotless bathroom, fab art work throughout the hotel and a balcony overlooking the sea and promenade 50 metres away. It was centrally positioned on the road overlooking the bay with little through traffic. There was a fantastic roof terrace cum lounge, again beautifully decorated with large comfy sofas and views far and wide. We had booked in for bed and breakfast and were so impressed by both. The breakfast was absolutely sumptous and filled a complete room, after that breakfast lunch was a non event so we only had to seek out an evening meal at one of the local restaurants which surrounded and included the hotel. The town itself is pretty and cobbled and full of little alleyways leading to shops,bars and churches. I did have a particularly unpleasant experience in one of the boutique shops not far from the hotel when I selected a pretty top and asked what size it was. The elderly assistant looked at me and then at the top and said in broken English that it was too small for me and that I was too old for the shop. My friend and I nearly died laughing on our way out as it is clear that customer service does not rate highly in the shops of Sitges. Our daily routine involved breakfast – a good hour was spent there! A long walk down the promenade to one of the hotels at the other end where we stopped for a coffee and then a stroll back to the town. I think five days was plenty as there isn't a huge amount to do, although you could easily fit in a day to Barcelona if you had the inclination. Our main tip is the transfer situation. It is much easier to get a taxi but they do rip you off by charging about 60 pounds so we opted for the bus which involved quite a hike through to the bus depot part of the airport but was easy enough once you found the right place and of course much cheaper. Again customer service was minimal if non existent but I guess you could say that generally was our experience at airports and bus depots. Do try it, it's a fabulous short break destination and is a completely different experience from the bustle of Barcelona. Do go with an open mind because there is a large gay community in Sitges and a few naturists which can take you by surprise if you're not expecting it but we had an extraordinary time at The Platjador and the staff were great. Only negative was the pretty awful customer service in both Barcelona airport and Sitges shops. I will go back and buy that top when I've lost a few kilos because you're never too old to wear nice clothes and never too young to be insulted!
