Pros: spacious rooms, beautiful view from the rooms, the presence of 2 swimming pools, 5 min. walk to a large semi-empty beach.
Cons: I advise you not to take full board (food is very scarce), it is not in the city center (30 minutes at a calm pace along the promenade or 7 minutes by bus (stop near the hotel), the staff, like many Spaniards, do not speak English well.
Note* if you are placed on a low floor, ask for a higher room immediately. During the day you will be relocated without any problems, they have it in practice, because. the hotel is very large and just at the time of your check-in only low floors can be free. Trust me, the view is worth it!
Have a nice holiday!
So, first. My husband and I bought a tour on the Internet through a Swiss company. Vacation time: from July 12 to 19.2010. We paid 910 euros for two, half board.
We live in Germany and chose from the point of view: where is the nearest airport from which to fly. It turned out that for us the most convenient option was offered by that very company.
Departed from Karlruhe-Baden-Baden airport in Alicante. Airline: ryanair. I heard that this is a cheap airline option, but I did not expect THAT. In the accompanying docks, it was indicated that we can take 15 kg of luggage with us. per person. We had 1 suitcase for two weighing 20 kg. At check-in, we were told something like this: "Guys! 1 suitcase-15 kg. , For overweight kg. Surcharge 20 euros. " To ours, I think it’s a legitimate question that it was paid for 30 and it’s not written anywhere that the luggage should be shared, they shrugged their shoulders. . to achieve the desired weight.
We handed over the suitcase and during the boarding it turned out that you can only have one piece of hand luggage with you. At the same time, a woman's handbag or laptop is already one piece of hand luggage. Or a mini-suitcase weighing up to 10 kg is also hand luggage! Is there a difference? Between a suitcase and a women's handbag?
I had to run to the only store open at an early time, buy a large beach bag (20 euros, in Spain the same costs 5-8) and put backgammon, books, handbag, bags....
Someone can now say: why do I need info about ryanair? I’m flying from the Russian Federation and it doesn’t threaten me. And I would agree and initially wouldn’t stop in such detail if... If I didn’t know that there are many people who have a Schengen vulti visa and they can choose the route and carriers themselves . If I didn't know how many Russian-speaking people live in the EU and read reviews on Russian websites.
Let's make a brief excursion. As I already wrote, we paid for 2.910 euros per week. This is a flight, transfer, accommodation, meals. If we just booked the same hotel, with the same payment, at the same time, we would have cost 584 euros. Through simple mathematical calculations, you can understand how much the flight and transfer cost. Please note that the cost of a flight with ryanair starts from 5 euros. They do not feed, they only constantly offer to buy all sorts of rubbish on the radio. Since we were leaving early in the morning, we asked the flight attendant for 2 coffees (1 coffee-3 euros). It would be better if we didn't. Even in poor student times, I didn’t drink coffee, if I may say so. Coffee would be fine! In the planes of their company, even for me, with a height of 165 cm, there was nowhere to put my legs. What can I say about my tall wife? A month before our trip to Spain, we flew to Switzerland with Swiss Airlines. Heaven and earth! And the price is about the same (even cheaper).
Now about the hotel and Benidorm.
Benidorm, as the Spaniards told us, is a kind of Spanish Manhattan. Solid skyscrapers. There is no feeling of the country as such, the spirit and heart are not felt.
So, Grand Hotel Bali, the highest hotel in Europe.
We lived on the 26th floor in the main building (there are 43 floors in the hotel, and after 12 it immediately goes 14), I looked from the balcony and I had a specific bench press. Then I got used to it, but at first it was really scary. The room is decent in size , with individual air conditioning, LCD TV, small refrigerator. The bathroom with toilet and bidet is separated by double glass doors from the sink. hits the floor. In principle, I think they assumed this, because. there is a drain hole in the floor. Towels were changed every day, even if we didn’t throw them on the floor. They cleaned them well, there were no complaints. Once, though they didn’t clean the ashtray, but on the trail. towels were forgotten for a day. That is, they took them away, but they didn’t put new ones in. Well, yes, these are trifles. The husband called the reception and they brought them.
Nobody speaks German, which was uncomfortable for me, who had already traveled to many countries. From the moment I moved to Germany, I forgot English completely.
They clean the entire territory of the hotel constantly. We left at 3:30 at night, and at that time the cleaners were running around with their carts at the entrance.
It seemed ridiculous that in the best traditions of Russian cleaners, the Spanish were constantly rubbing the stone coating in the pool bar exactly under the tables where people were sitting!
The hotel itself is of course grandiose in size. It is 250-300 meters from the sea.
The beach is magnificent, the sand is small, the water is fresh milk, the bottom is clean. We didn’t even take sunbeds, bought an umbrella (6 euros), laid towels and sunbathed. By the way, information about the cost of sun loungers on the beach is only in Spanish. One word is 4 euros, the other is 4 euros, the third is 4 euros. We decided that 1 sun lounger is 4 euros, an umbrella is also 4 euros. It turns out a little expensive. Especially since we were on the beach only before lunch. Crete is more convenient in this regard. There are cafes everywhere and a small table between the sun loungers, you can order beer, lie down, sunbathe, read, sip beer. And it cost 6 euros for two.
The audience on the beach are pioneers and pensioners. It seems that all Spanish grandparents took their grandchildren to the sea.
Grandmothers do not hesitate to sunbathe topless. It's funny, but when we were there on a German channel they said that topless sunbathing is prohibited in Spain, such and such a fine. I saw policemen on the beach and they didn’t fine anyone. Moreover, I immediately told my husband: if they took a fine for this business, then there would be no need to “sell” sun loungers.
In general, all the locals come to the beach with their sun loungers, chairs, umbrellas. Here they go to the beach and roll a cart in front of them with all their affairs.
There were middle-aged people in the hotel, but not many. Mostly Spaniards lived in the hotel, I didn’t hear German. And there were also boys from Zenit St. Petersburg, judging by their T-shirts, the school of the Olympic reserve. -some games, because one evening we were sitting at the pool bar, and the boy passing by said: we are in the final, we are in the final.
The food was disgusting. I immediately remembered the words of a friend who lived in England for half a year. She and her husband are either from Lithuania or Latvia. So her mother sent sausages from the Baltic states, since there is no English food. Nothing. Absolutely tasteless. They couldn’t even boil the eggs normally, as if they had cooked for 2 days, and then the water boiled away, so the side of the egg burned.
If someone reading reviews and preparing for a trip to the "Grand Hotel" reads: "they fed well", you should know: this was written by a person who has never eaten anything sweeter than a carrot in his life.
Yes, you won’t leave hungry. Fruits, juices, yogurt, pasta, fish, meat, potatoes, everything is there. Fill your stomach...
That's why I don't like trains, so loved by many with "all inclusive". I don’t like and don’t understand the rest in the style of a pioneer camp. We just didn’t have a choice: either with a payment order, or not at all.
Well, this is my subjective opinion.
I was unpleasantly surprised by the attitude of the travel agency. Or rather, its absence. The first time I encounter this. As if we had bought tickets ourselves, booked a hotel and flew in to rest.
There was not only a representative of the company with explanations of the rules of the game, but also information in writing. We accidentally found out that you can put money on a key card and pay in the bars and restaurants of the hotel with a 20% discount on everything.
See, in my opinion, there is nothing in Benidorm. All their parks, aqua-safari parks are more designed for children. And that's it. Stone jungle.
Summing up, I can say: the hotel is good (not counting the food), the hotel pools are wonderful, the service is up to standard, even considering that these are Spanish 4 *. children (adults) have been resting on their own for a long time. In the evenings there were performances-concerts. 6 times a week, the Russian ballet "ze best" performing to songs of performers unknown to me, lyrics: "but you don't want me, you don't want........ And you love me, but don't love brains" The last "do not love" is heard (and calculated on that): do not §bi brains.
If you are lovers, like us, go to restaurants, sit in the evening in a bar by the sea listening to the surf, you don’t need to go there! I wrote about the cultural program above. There is none.
If you are traveling with children, then yes, the children will be happy. And, if possible, take a tour with breakfast only!