|
Please Note!
Shopping List for Self-Caterers
If you don't want to arrive in Spain and immediately start
shopping for food, we can provide you with a starter pack of basic supplies -
details of which will be sent a week or two before the start of your holiday.
With many shops in rural Spain being closed on Sunday, or if you have a late flight
on Saturday and are unable to shop on your way to Cencerrita (latest
opening is 10pm) - you may need extra supplies. We will help you sort it
out.
Dinner - especially the first night!
Cooking a meal when you've had a long day travelling isn't a
great start to the holiday - for 12 euros a head, we will cook your dinner
for you! It will need ordering a week in advance and then, when you
arrive, just let us know what time you want to eat and we'll bring it up to you
to eat it wherever you like: by the pool, on the roof terrace ... A basic but tasty menu is available:
Menu.
Arriving
We always meet our first time guests in Cártama
Éstacion to
show the way to Cencerrita - getting lost on the last leg to your holiday
destination would not put you in the holiday spirit! For this reason, we ask
that you let us know your flight times so that we have some advance idea of your
arrival time ... and then finally a phone call as you leave the airport (or the
supermarket if you are shopping) so that we can be there to meet you at the same
time you arrive.
TomToms and other route finders:
At the risk of seeming very
old-fashioned, we highly recommend you follow OUR directions rather than those
of these (normally very useful) devices. We've had guests going up the
wrong way of one-way roads in Estacion de Cartama, guests going via Malaga when
coming from the North (adding many more kilometres and much more time) ... and
getting lost because roads just aren't where the TomTom says they should be!
We send you directions from wherever you are coming and then meet you, show you
the way and then go through some hand drawn maps with local landmarks etc for
use during your stay. If your route finder can record, then it may be
worth doing that on the way - otherwise, please follow our directions and maps!
Rural Living
 You are staying in the remote
Andalusian countryside and will encounter a
totally different way of life from the towns – but isn’t that one of the reasons
you want to visit?! The nearest villages (Álora
or Cártama) are 13 kilometres (8 miles) away and take 20-30 minutes. Please bear this in
mind when planning any sightseeing - don't be too
ambitious when planning your itinerary as even in a car, places like Granada
take 2 hours and Seville
2½ hours.
The final leg of the road to Cencerrita is
a typical Spanish track, whether you approach from the Álora or Cártama
direction. It is mostly in good repair, but a good deluge of rain can
change things. None of our guests have ever hired a 4x4 - though a car
with high ground clearance would be nice - such as the Ford Fusion, Citroen Berlingo and
Renault Kangoo. Most guests seem to have either Renault Clio or Ford Focus
which are more than adequate. It seems that the higher the category of
car, the lower the ground clearance is - this is not the place to treat
yourselves to a Porsche .... We run a 4x4 Opel Frontera, but generally, mostly
for economy (the Frontera is a serious diesel-holic) we use our Peugeot 206 which
we find is pretty much up to everything we can throw at it!
Smoking
Unfortunately we have
had to we’ve had to bring in a “no smoking in the house” penalty
(the damage deposit is forfeit) – it’s so hard to get
rid of the smell of smoking for the next guests – it was the only way we could
ensure the house would smell fresh for everyone.
Providing due care is taken, particularly when the countryside is tinder
dry at certain times, smoking outside is not a problem.
Cigarettes/Cigars are not available in
supermarkets so, if you haven’t bought any from the “duty free”, you will need
to find one of the specialised licensed shops who keep normal opening hours (for
Spain!). There is one of these on the top floor of the parking at Malaga airport
and also one in Éstacion de Cártama. (Please remember smoking is not permitted
IN the house!)
Privacy
 We
take the matter of privacy very seriously – it’s why many of our guests come
here. Cencerrita is certainly in the most beautiful spot ... you are not just
next door or overlooked by anyone! The Finca (it’s an old almond farm) has over
28000 sq metres and, apart from La Cencerrita, there is a small cabin and our
little cottage – both of which are well away from you, suitably screened by
distance and the slope of the mountain. Just so you can see, on the left is a
photo looking at the Finca from across the valley. See! No close neighbours! The
finca is well off the beaten track. No one uses the track leading to your house
- it is for your sole use. The only time you would be “disturbed” is when we
must clean the pool and chemical the spa for health and safety reasons, this
takes a little less than an hour every 3 days. Generally we do this early in the
morning before guests have woken – a time convenient to you can always be
arranged.
We do understand guests’ wishes for privacy – this is one of the main reasons we
created Finca Cencerrita! We are regularly assured by guests that they have
never found such seclusion anywhere else. However, with us living not so far
away, it does also mean that if you have any problems, help is not too far!
(We’ve had guests lock their keys and phone in the car, another had a flat
battery ... trying to explain, possibly in Spanish, how the hire car company can
find you is pretty much impossible!)
Should you wish to see the cabin’s website, click on
Casita Maria.
| 
