Hotel Melia Benidorm^{(4 stars)}

Size of the bathroom

5.0

Cleanliness & linen change

6.0

Room amenities (TV, balcony, safe, etc.)

6.0

Size of the room

6.0

Atmosphere & furnishings

6.0

Quality of food and drinks

6.0

Overall cleanliness in the restaurant and in the dining areas

6.0

Variety of food and drinks

6.0

Competence (handling complaints)

5.0

Reception, check-in & check-out

5.0

Friendliness and helpfulness

5.0

Staff's knowledge of foreign language

4.0

Quality of the beach

5.0

Overall condition of the pool area

5.0

Child care or playground

6.0

Leisure activities (e.g. sauna, tennis, entertainment, etc.)

5.0

Family friendliness

6.0

Condition of the Hotel

6.0

General cleanliness of the different areas

5.0

Proximity to shopping areas

5.0

Restaurants & bars in the area

5.0

Distance to the beach

4.0

Size of the bathroom

5.0

Cleanliness & linen change

5.0

Room amenities (TV, balcony, safe, etc.)

5.0

Size of the room

6.0

Atmosphere & furnishings

5.0

Quality of food and drinks

5.0

Overall cleanliness in the restaurant and in the dining areas

5.0

Variety of food and drinks

5.0

Competence (handling complaints)

5.0

Reception, check-in & check-out

5.0

Friendliness and helpfulness

5.0

Staff's knowledge of foreign language

5.0

Quality of the beach

5.0

Overall condition of the pool area

5.0

Leisure activities (e.g. sauna, tennis, entertainment, etc.)

5.0

Family friendliness

5.0

Condition of the Hotel

5.0

General cleanliness of the different areas

5.0

Disabled-friendly

5.0

Proximity to shopping areas

6.0

Distance to the beach

4.0

Transportation connection and available excursions

5.0

Restaurants & bars in the area

6.0

Other leisure activities available

5.0

Size of the bathroom

6.0

Cleanliness & linen change

5.0

Room amenities (TV, balcony, safe, etc.)

6.0

Size of the room

6.0

Atmosphere & furnishings

5.0

Quality of food and drinks

6.0

Overall cleanliness in the restaurant and in the dining areas

4.0

Variety of food and drinks

6.0

Competence (handling complaints)

5.0

Reception, check-in & check-out

5.0

Friendliness and helpfulness

5.0

Staff's knowledge of foreign language

5.0

Overall condition of the pool area

5.0

Child care or playground

5.0

Leisure activities (e.g. sauna, tennis, entertainment, etc.)

5.0

Family friendliness

6.0

Condition of the Hotel

5.0

General cleanliness of the different areas

5.0

Disabled-friendly

5.0

Proximity to shopping areas

6.0

Restaurants & bars in the area

6.0

Transportation connection and available excursions

5.0

Other leisure activities available

6.0

The size of the rooms as well as their furnishings were okay. The rooms were dirty.

The food was ok, but the cleanliness of the dishes and especially of the glasses was really bad and disgusting.

It was dirty and the service was bad.

There was a great programme for the kids of Spanish speaking guests. They spoke mainly Spanish and poor English. The beach was purely dirt and totally overcrowded. The pool with the palms would have really great if there hadn't been the usual fight for pool chairs. Result: too many people for that pool area. By the way, you could forget the pool bar.

Dirt and cockroaches. The hotel was in the middle of several high-rise buildings in the city. Of course, that didn't maku us feel like we were on holiday.

Directly in the city. It took about 10 minutes to get to the totally overcrowded beach.

The room was furnished well (with a big flat screen TV) and big enough for two people. The bathroom was spacious, had a toilet, a bidet, a tub and enough space to put bath equipment as well as a hair-dryer. The room as well as the furnished balcony were very clean. There was a fridge for free in every room. The safe cost 1,50 € a day. There was also a telephone and an air-conditioning.

There was a buffet restaurant, a karaoke bar, two bars in the garden (one only opened during the day) as well as a café next to the entrance. The breakfast buffet was rich, the bread rolls, however, were inedible for my taste. They were much too hard and the fried eggs were extremely greasy. The rest was good. The dinner buffet offered different kinds of meat and fish which were changed every day. The vegetables were seasoned too little for my taste. Therefore, they had no taste. Apart from pasta and potato dishes, there were four other dishes served (e.g. stews, potted meat, snails). There was a large selection of salads. At the dessert buffet you could also always find something. All in all, I would say the food was "okay". Not bad but not the best either. You could always find something to eat. The prices of the drinks were all right, the hygiene of the cockery was really not up to scratch at times. The plates were evidently washed and sometimes still warm when they had just been refilled. However, they weren't always clean. The same went for the cutlery.

The staff was very friendly, helpful and tried very hard. When our safe didn't work, a technician came to our room in less than 5 minutes and solved the problem. The receptionists could always help us when we had a question. They could usually speak good English. The servers in the restaurant were also very friendly and quick. Even at peak times in the evening you didn't have to wait for long to yet your drink order. The tables were cleared very quickly. The room was cleaned thouroughly every day. New towels were given every day.

The entertainment consisted of water aerobics, water polo, kid's disco, bingo evenings (during the week), a magic show (on Friday) and a flamenco show (on Saturday). There was live music every evening. There was a well equipped fitness room which we used every day. At the beginning, the room was freely available, but during the last few days, we had to get the key for the room at the reception. The reason for this was that several people entered the room directly after they had swum in the pool. They were still wet and could, therefore, ruin the apparatuses. So you needed to wear proper sportswear and to take a towel with you. There were several computers with internet access in the entrance hall. 10 minutes cost 1 euro. When we visited the hotel, they worked at the new spa area. The pool area and the park were extensive and fantasticly designed. The sunshades were anchored in the ground so that there were no arguments about them. There were also enough pool chairs available. The garden was clean and neat. Apart from 2 pools (one had a jackuzzi) you could also find several showers as well as an indoor pool (with two jackuzzies).

The hotel consited of two hotel towers with 23 floors each. The towers were connected through the reception hall. The entrance hall was nicely deigned, high, light, and had much greenery. At the entrance to the left was the café and bar of the hotel as well as seats and a grand piano on which someone played every evening. The hotel was in a good state. We couldn't complain about the cleanliness of the area. We booked a double room (12th floor, we could choose whether we preferred a room in an upper floor or not) with half board. The guests were mainly Spanish, the rest were British; there were also very few French and German guests.

The hotel was surrounded by other high-rise hotels, restaurants, pubs, cafés and many junk stores. Moreover, there were two supermarkets with good prices and a KFC nearby. I couldn't complain about the shopping, those who like junk would find what they want very quickly. Those who prefer things of better quality should go the pedestrian area of the actual city center. There you found more expensive stores like Lacoste. The transfer from the airport of Alicante to the hotel took 40 minutes. The beach was very beautiful and clean, but overcrowded. A pool chair with a sunshade cost 8 euros a day. There were many excursion possibilities like diverse amusement parks (Terra Mitica for example cost 17 euros per person) as well as a knight show in a neighbouring town (about 40 euros), horse-riding excursions, trips with a boat (mini cruise to Calpe for 25 euros)... many things were offered, you were spoiled with choices. The excursions could either be booked over the guides or in an agency of the town. The latter ones also offered mountain bike tours and quadbike tours (70 euros per day plus 200 euros for bail). Furthermore, there was the "Benidorm Palace" (5 minutes walk from the hotel!). There you could see dance and acrobatic shows, these were really worth seeing! You could book them together with a dinner (approximately 50 euros) or alone (27 euros). On some days, you could also see circus events. There were several karaoke bars very near the hotel and a 15 minute walk away was a minigolf field.