Northern Costa Brava?
You said you'd been to Barcelona; did you go north up the coast from there? The area around Begur is drop-dead gorgeous, with much more interesting scenery and a more relaxing atmosphere (for me, at least) than the Costa Blanca or the Costa del Sol. It's *very* nice in late Sept.
There are some hotels right on the coast that are great. Although I'm not a resort-hotel kind of person at all, I absolutely loved the Hotel Aigua Blava and could have stayed for a month.