Country House SerranoCártama · Málaga
This page is about long winter stays for remote workers. To see the whole villa, the photos and the booking calendar: ← Back to the main site of Country House Serrano

Remote work · Costa del Sol

Spend the winter working from a villa in Málaga

Country House Serrano is a private villa in Cártama, 20 minutes from Málaga city and the beaches, rented as a whole house to one group at a time. The pool is kept above 30 °C every day of the year, including January. The internet is a contracted 800 Mb fibre line, measured at 600 down and 400 up. Three bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms; up to 6 guests on a long working stay. Málaga TechPark, the largest technology park in southern Europe, is a twelve-minute drive away. Three months costs about €248 a night, cleaning included.

Booked directly with the owner. No platform, no commission, no booking fee.

30 °C+pool, all year
800 Mbcontracted fibre
6guests max
3en-suite rooms
20 minto Málaga
4.9from 120+ reviews

The thing you actually care about

800 Mb of fibre, and somewhere to work from

Most holiday lets say "fast wifi" and mean whatever the router happened to come with. This is a contracted 800 Mb fibre optic line, running straight into the house and not shared with a complex or a neighbour.

And here is the measured figure rather than the one on the contract: 600 Mb down and 400 Mb up in the tests we have run inside the house. We would rather give you the real number.

There is a work space in the living room, with a table and a chair. Video calls work. Large uploads work. Two people working at the same time works.

And here is something you will not read on any other listing: if you are coming for two, three or four months and you need a better chair, a monitor or more bandwidth to work comfortably, tell me before you book and I will buy it. For a long stay that seems obvious to me, and I would rather invest in you working properly.

Every room has air conditioning and heating, so the room you work in is comfortable in February as well as in July.

If your job depends on the connection, ask us before you book and we will run a speed test and send you the screenshot. We would rather you check than arrive and be disappointed.

The work space at Country House Serrano, with 800 Mb contracted fibre
The pool at Country House Serrano, heated to 30 degrees all year round

Why people come in winter

A pool above 30 °C on a January morning

The pool is heated and kept above 30 °C, 365 days a year. Between 30 and 32 degrees in December, in January and in February, whether the house is full or empty.

It has a bubble bench built into it, on all day and all night. Getting into warm water outdoors while the air is cold is a strange and very good feeling, and it is the single thing guests write about most.

Around it there is a garden with orange and lemon trees, a four-hole putting green, a basketball court and a table tennis table. A covered porch has a gas griddle and a sink for cooking outside.

No enquiry needed

What a winter actually costs

Almost nobody publishes these numbers. We do, because you are trying to plan a budget and "contact us for a quote" is not an answer.

Everything below is the total price for the whole villa, with the long-stay discount and the cleaning already included. No booking fee, no platform commission, no tourist tax on top.

If you are coming to work, talk to me before you read the table

These are the published rates on the website. But a working stay of several months is not settled with a table: write to me and let's talk. With two, three or four months ahead there is always room to adjust the price and to adapt the house to the way you work.

Tell me your dates and I will send you a number worked out for you, not the one in the table.

StayNightsTotalPer night
1 Nov → 1 Feb92€22,851€248
1 Dec → 1 Mar90€22,358€248
1 Jan → 1 Apr90€22,358€248
1 Feb → 1 May89€22,471€252
One month, November30€8,046€268
One month, January30€8,194€273
One month, March30€8,046€268
One week, January7€2,338€334
Six months, Nov → May181€45,172€250

Split between two couples, three months works out at about €62 per person per night for a whole villa with a heated pool. Divided across a family of four, less.

How the discount works

The longer you stay, the less each night costs. Stays of 85 nights or more get 25 % off every night from November to April. A full month gets 20 %. A week gets 5 %. Discounts never stack: each night is charged once, at the rate that applies to it.

And if your three months happen to run across Christmas and New Year, you do not pay the holiday surcharge. Short stays do; you do not. A winter here should not cost more because of where the calendar falls.

Check any dates in the live calculator → (in Spanish, but the calendar and the numbers are easy to follow)

A few things worth knowing

What it is like out here

After eight years we have noticed that the guests who love this place most are the ones who knew what they were coming to. So here is the honest picture.

Countryside, with the village ten minutes away on foot

You are in the Guadalhorce valley, surrounded by open country, and at the same time a ten-minute walk from the village of Cártama, with its shops, its pharmacy and its restaurants. You are not stranded in the middle of nowhere and you do not need the car to buy bread.

Mornings start with a rooster somewhere down the valley. Every now and then a plane passes on its way to the airport, far less than you would hear on any street in Málaga. What you mostly hear out here is the countryside.

And you get space, quiet evenings, a sky full of stars, orange trees you can pick from, and nobody on the other side of a wall.

And a few practical things

  • Bring a car, or rent one. Shops and restaurants are ten minutes away on foot, so you can manage without. But Andalusia is a place worth driving through.
  • The kitchen is fully equipped for everyday cooking: a full hob, a microwave with an oven function, an air fryer, fridge, freezer and dishwasher. Plenty to cook well with on a long stay.
  • For laundry: a washing machine, an iron and a drying rack. Around here the sun dries the washing most of the year, so a tumble dryer is not missed.
  • The villa is only for you. No parties and no events, so the quiet stays quiet.

Where you would be living

Cártama, and Málaga twenty minutes away

Cártama sits in the Guadalhorce valley, inland from the coast. From the villa it is roughly 20 minutes by car to Málaga city, about the same to the nearest beaches, and around 20 minutes to the airport.

That distance is the point. You get quiet, space and a garden, and you are still close enough to spend a day at the Picasso museum or in a coworking space in the city and be home for dinner.

Málaga has become one of Europe's main bases for remote workers: over 300 days of sun a year, fibre in most of the province, direct flights to almost everywhere, and Spain's digital nomad visa if you plan to stay longer. The city council even runs a support programme for remote workers arriving in the area.

Málaga TechPark is a twelve-minute drive from our gate. The Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía in Campanillas is the largest technology park in southern Europe: 719 companies and close to 29,000 people working there. If your employer is posting you to Málaga for a few months, this is a twelve-minute commute that never takes you through the city, and you come home to a garden and a heated pool instead of a studio flat.

Nearest coworking spaces are in Málaga city, around 20 minutes away, if you want a day among other people.

View of the sierra from Country House Serrano in Cártama, Málaga

Straight answers

Questions we get asked

How far is Málaga TechPark?
Twelve minutes by car, roughly 6 km. The Parque Tecnológico de Andalucía in Campanillas has 719 companies and close to 29,000 employees. If you are being posted to Málaga for a few months, you can commute there without driving through the city.
How fast is the internet, really?
It is a contracted 800 Mb fibre optic line, dedicated to the house. Measured inside, it gives 600 down and 400 up. There is a work space in the living room with a table and a chair. Ask us and we will send you a current speed test before you book.
Is the pool genuinely heated in January?
Yes. It is kept above 30 °C every day of the year, whether the villa is occupied or not, because a booking can arrive at any time. It also has a bubble bench running 24 hours.
What does three months cost?
Around €22,400 to €22,900 for the whole villa, which is roughly €248 a night. That includes the 25 % long-stay discount and the cleaning, and there is no platform commission on top. Exact dates change the figure slightly; the price table above has real examples.
Can I book just for myself, or does it have to be a group?
One person can book it, and so can a group of up to six, which is the maximum on long working stays. The price is for the whole villa, not per person, so it is better value shared.
Do I need a car?
You can manage without one. Supermarkets and restaurants are about 500 m away, roughly ten minutes on foot. But we honestly recommend renting one, both to reach Málaga easily and to see the rest of Andalusia.
What is the minimum stay?
Two nights from November to March, five in April, seven from May to October. Christmas, New Year and Easter are seven nights. None of that is a problem if you are coming for a month or more.
How do I pay, and is my money safe?
50 % by bank transfer or Bizum when you confirm, and the other 50 % in cash when you arrive and we hand over the house in person. The booking is not held until the first payment is made. We are a registered tourist establishment, number CR/MA/02097 in the Andalusian Tourism Registry, and you can look us up.
What if I have to cancel?
You have 48 hours after paying to cancel and get everything back, as long as you booked at least 7 days before arrival. After that it depends on how far away your arrival is: 120 days or more, full refund; 60 to 120 days, half; 30 to 60 days, a quarter; under 30 days, nothing. And if you cancel with 30 days' notice or more and we manage to re-let your dates, we return everything anyway.
Can I see the place first?
We have more than 120 reviews on Airbnb with a 4.9 average, eight years as a Superhost and a Guest Favourite badge. Read those first. Then message us on WhatsApp and ask anything you like: we will send you a full video of the house or do a live video call. And if you happen to be in the area and the house is free, we will show it to you in person, no problem at all.

Next step

Ask us anything, in English

Write to us on WhatsApp with your dates. You will get an answer from Fran, who owns the house and hands over the keys in person. Usually within the hour.

1

Message us with your dates and how many of you there are.

2

We confirm the villa is free and send you the exact price. You pay 50 % to hold it.

3

We meet you at the house, in person, and hand over the keys. The other 50 % is paid then.

Message Fran on WhatsApp See live availability

Registered tourist accommodation CR/MA/02097 · Francisco Serrano Zambrana · Cártama, Málaga