This was our first time in Benidorm and the Melia Hotel was recommended to us by our travel consultant, Tracy Foley, and a few friends who had stayed here previously.
As we were the final stop on our coach, we had the opportunity to see wheee everyone else was staying. Some looked nice, others no so much, but as we pulled up to the Melia, we were quite impressed at how it looked on the surface.
The hotel itself was extremely clean. From the public spaces, pool area, restaurant, spa, to the rooms themselves, everything was immaculate. Strange, because I think I only saw two cleaners all work.
We decided to go all inclusive as we didn’t want to have to spend a fortune eating and drinking out everynight. Obviously, all meals were included so we ate in the restaurant at every opportunity. The food was generally very good with decent selection. Breakfast being the best meal of the day. There was an ok mixture of local food and traditional English too.
The all inclusive also included all drinks. Or so we thought. A lot of spirits were not included and local alternatives were offered. At first I was extremely disappointed as this has not being the case on several other all inclusive holidays. However according to my partner, this is the norm in Spain. We made do, especially as some local spirits were lovely!
Things to be aware of, in my opinion, are the beds. They are absolutely rock hard and having a bad back myself, I was crippled most of the week. Also some of the staff I found to be extremely rude. We had drinks every night in the hotel bar and certain bartenders would it a little too obvious that they were ‘taking the micky’ a little bit.
The main thing that almost ruined our entire time at the Melia is when a group of 300 guests arrived to the hotel for a conference. Fine, a bit of noise by the pool at midday and the lobby was fuller than normal on a night, I can put up with that. However, we could not get into the restaurant for any meal during that day. I felt as though they put priority in these guests over us, the people who have already paid upfront for a week. I did complain to the front desk along with several other guests only to be told to try going to the restaurant at different times to avoid the busy periods. Not the answer I was looking for.
Anyway, all of this in mind paired with the location of the hotel - a 15 minute walk from beach/strip, and only a couple of downpours or rain, we had a pretty good time but found ourselves having to leave the hotel to find an atmosphere. If I’d have my time again in October half term, I would not go all inclusive! Only worth it if you really do like a drink without an atmosphere, which we don’t.
Would I go again? Probably not as I feel I could find a hotel of similar standard for much less money. Sorry.