The sun rose over the hills on my left-hand side, just as I woke up and wandered to the front of our apartment.  I was out on our balcony.  YES – we had arrived in Spain!

It might be a bit of a surprise to a few of you following our world journey, as last you heard from us, we were in Egypt. We feel a bit like “Where’s Wally” as we travel all over the place – in fact, it was 4 countries in 24 hours. Egypt, Turkey, France and Spain.

It took us 48 hours to get here, with virtually no sleep for me, but that is another story.  We had collected our car in France and driven to Lloret de Mar in Spain.

I was so tired by the time we arrived the first night and was so glad that the ApartHotel Costa Encantada Hotel and Resort had a restaurant with an incredible buffet.

Never have I been so glad to see such an array of food, and so pleased that I didn’t need to cook it myself. We do carry some long life foods, but I was just exhausted and had no desire to turn my hand to preparing a meal for the two of us, so this was so welcoming to me.  The food choices were really varied, and the wide selection was healthy and fresh.

The massive dining room had a real mix of families taking vacations from France (as it was school holiday there), and then an assortment of couples that ranged from young to old, from a variety of countries nearby. And to finish it off, a number of Spanish retirees seemed to also be about.

So as I came back to the table, I was surprised to see Explorason deep in a conversation with the folks at the next table, and remembering the Spanish that he had learned from Central and South America earlier in our trip well over a year ago.

The two couples finally moved on, and we sat and enjoyed a really reasonably priced buffet and a glass of wine.  In fact, there is an option at ApartHotel Costa Encantada Hotel and Resort to choose a package for all-inclusive meals, part / full board, or pay per meal.  We chose the pay per meal because we had an apartment with a kitchen as part of the hotel and resort complex. So we could eat any meal and pay separately.

That very first night after our long flight and drive, we had been glad that parking was included at no extra cost, and in a secure underground car park downstairs that was enclosed.  One less thing to pay for when long-term traveling all helps.

As we arrived at our top floor corner apartment, I was really glad we were upstairs and overlooking the pool.  It was so pretty. I had no idea what to expect that next morning.

We seemed to unpack our hoards of luggage from the car, and then pretty much ‘crashed’ into bed.

This was a one bedroom apartment, but the lounge/sofa area also turns into extra beds, so great for families too.

We ended up extending our time we originally planned to stay here.  I need time to catch up on writing and plans to travel after here, so it was a great place to stop.

There was a supermarket right on the nearby corner, and that was great for supplies to make most of our meals, so rarely did I need to drive anywhere.  It was nice to stroll to the beach which was straight down the road on the left of the property as we looked out over our balcony.

We also walked into Lloret de Mar central town area on a couple of occasions too.  I felt after all the wonderful resort food we had consumed in Egypt, that it was good to go on a bit of a health kick.  Therefore we tried to make healthy choices with our eating and to exercise.

This also included the Aqua Gym lesson at the ApartHotel Costa Encantada Hotel and Resort in the indoor pool.

This pool is mildly heated, and I must admit it was a bit too cold for me, as I only get into the very warm water. But once we were jumping about and exercising, I forgot all about the temperature, and both Explorason and I were quite in hysterics.  The instructor was giving us some dance moves, and I could barely keep up. Next, to her, another instructor was making fun/imitating her, and it really was such a laugh.  It shows that even when no words are spoken, humor can really still prevail no matter what the language.

It looks like a bit of a robbery situation to me with hands up in the air.

One thing I really liked about this resort was that they had a notice board where all the activities were clearly displayed.  There was always something going on, and I loved that they would announce the activity in several languages including English.

As soon as we heard the loudspeaker, we would pop out on the balcony to listen to what was about to happen.

This often meant that instead of our scheduled computer or school work (we were catching up on mathematics for Explorason) we would hear one of the great activities, and quickly drop what we were doing, and head out to it.

There were 3 main buildings at ApartHotel Costa Encantada Hotel and Resort, and our apartment was in the building where the indoor pool was below, and also the Disco / Activity massive bar/room was also located, so we rarely had far to walk.

So when we heard “in five minutes Bingo will start at the Disco”, Explorason couldn’t wait – we LOVE Bingo!

But playing Bingo in Spanish was quite a challenge, and this ended up being quite a world-schooling lesson for us.

We played a couple of times, and we made new friends with the people at our table on the first occasion too.

And guess what?  I won a round – and the prize was two drinks vouchers, so that was pretty great to use one night in the bar area for us.

Another time we checked the notice board and decided to try our hand at Sjoelen – a Dutch table version of shuffleboard.

I had the worst score out of everyone, and found the retirees were quite brilliant at this – but then they had a lot of time to practice I guess.

There was even a games room downstairs and Explorason did feed a few coins into one particular game there at the ApartHotel Costa Encantada Hotel and Resort.  Sadly he never won, but not without a lot of effort his end.

There is even a Kids Club, and also various garden areas for relating or Boulle’s, Tennis, Basketball and a separate Paddleboard court too. Definitely too much for us to do in the time we stayed there.  So no excuses not to be fit, and definitely no excuses for bored kids, or adults.

There are outdoor eating and drinking areas, and in summer there is a downstairs restaurant which works well for those who want to hang out all day by the pools.

On one of our last nights, we enjoyed the Magic Show at ApartHotel Costa Encantada Hotel and Resort.    I have never seen the ‘disappearing woman’ magical act in real life, and because I was blogging about the hotel, they allowed me to take photographs, and we sat right at the front.  I have to say the magician was a real professional. The show went on until midnight, and it was one magic trick after another.

Corny, but I guess I can end by saying we had a ‘magical time’ staying at ApartHotel Costa Encantada Hotel and Resort.

For anyone coming to this area and wanting a family place to stay for a week or two, or even just a few nights, I can recommend this as a great place to stay and it won’t break the budget either.

Accommodation Name: ApartHotel Costa Encantada Hotel and Resort 4 Star

Location:  Cami de Santa Cristina-Les Alegries, s/n, 17310 Lloret de Mar, Girona, Costa Brava Region of Spain

Telephone: 972 36 83 10

Web-site: http://www.marsolhotels.com/en/

Date stayed: April, 2014

Bar: yes

Wi-fi:  Can be purchased separately – we used it in our apartment and it was good.

Child friendly: yes