Money

This program includes accommodations, transportation, group meals as noted on our website (including soft drinks and local beer or wine at group lunches and dinners), entrance fees, and gratuities for all group activities to guides, waiters, and porters. You will need money for personal expenses, meals on your own and groceries, beverages not provided at group meals and for individual excursions and purchases.

It is difficult to tell you exactly how much money you will need to budget for this program since everyone’s preferences and spending habits vary. As a very general recommendation, we suggest you plan on $300 to $500 per person per week to cover grocery shopping and additional meals as well as other miscellaneous personal expenses. You should budget more if you prefer eating in restaurants to eating in more casual cafés or cooking your own meals, or if you plan to do a lot of shopping.

A few things to note about money while on this trip:

You will need to pay for everything in local currency using cash or credit cards.
Use fresh, new-style bills, as overly worn or outdated bills are often not accepted.
ATMs are readily available in Marbella. If you need to get cash while out on group excursions, you may have to split off from the group in order to seek out an ATM.
Major credit cards (VISA, MasterCard and American Express) are accepted in virtually all hotels, most restaurants and large shops.

The currency in Spain is the euro. You can find up-to-date information and current exchange rates online, for example at Oanda.

Guidelines for gratuities that are not included in the program cost

Monarque Sultan: Because of the difficulty of ensuring that gratuities get to the right person, tips for housekeeping staff at our hotels are not included. If you would like to leave a tip for your housekeeper, €2-3 per day is typically what is recommended.
Taxis: for short rides, drivers don’t generally expect tips unless they go out of their way for you, though it is common to round up your fare to the nearest euro. For longer trips, tipping 10% is customary.
Restaurant meals that are not part of our program: It is not customary to tip wait staff in Spain, though a tip of 5-10% will be appreciated for outstanding service and quality.

Value-Added Tax (VAT)

In some countries, you may get a partial refund of part of the value-added tax (sometimes called a goods and services tax) paid for clothing, jewelry and electronic items as long as you are not a resident of the country where you are shopping. Some purchases—generally meals, tobacco products and hotel expenses—do not qualify for a refund.

Retailers are not required to participate in a VAT refund program, but those that do usually will have a sign posted. Many programs require a minimum purchase amount. The merchant usually will ask to see your passport as proof of your eligibility to receive a refund. You’ll receive a refund form that you must present to a customs officer at the airport or border crossing when you depart, along with a store receipt and the purchased items. Note that it is not guaranteed that the customs office will be open when you are at the airport or border crossing, and you may not be able to claim refunds if there are long lines at the customs office, airline check-in counter or security checkpoint.

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