Hotel Marina

9 readers found this review helpful

just come back from 1 week stay in marina hotel and thoroughly enjoyed it - the room was cleaned every day - spacious, fridge, tv, hairdryer, safety deposit box (had to pay for this) - was on 11th floor and had a sea view and pool view - meals were okay -plenty of food - dining room clean and waiters always cleaning tables as soon as they were able to - reception staff were very pleasant and helpful - check in and check out quick and smooth - lifts were no problem (4 out of 4 lifts in operation all week) - room was air conditioned just as well as temp was in 30's all week - location of hotel was excellent central for everything (bars, shops, beach, buses) = pool was great- childrens end separated from deep end by walkway - plenty of sun loungers and umbrellas - will definitely go back to this hotel

9 readers found this review helpful

I have just returned from this hotel after expecting the worst from reading reviews on this site.
Firstly, the location is ideal for getting to either end of the Levante beach area, and there is no "thump thump" noise in the early hours coming from the 18-30 crowd in the nearby square, although the poolside entertainment is quite loud until midnight.
I read complaints about the entertainment being aimed at the Spanish - what do you expect in Spain ??, and how many Brits choose to stay in the hotel anyway?
The Spanish enjoy it, (as they are entitled to), and a very high percentage of Brits prefer to go out on the town, so I don't see the problem. Incidentally, the entertainment in the Secret Fountain is aimed entirely at the Brits, so live and let live folks !
The food is good, regardless of what is written on this site. There is a wide choice, and a few themed evenings with chefs preparing tortilla wraps from freshly cut joints, for example.
If you make a bad choice then don't complain as you are free to try something else.
All the staff are very efficient and friendly, they do not walk around with a permanent smile, but are very courteous if approached.
Overall, I would recommend this hotel for a relaxing or hectic holiday as you prefer, - you could do a lot worse.

Stayed in the marina for 12 nights, we stayed half board the food was awful it catered for spanish nothing for english and even less for children. My children are ages 8 an 4. The hotel also put us up on the 17th floor of the hotel, the pool was lovely in the afternoon, the kids entertainment was all in spanish not good if your children are english. The good side was a lovely roof top bar which also done food it was called the secret fountain the staff there where lovely

i stayed in hotel marina last september and i think myself ,husband and 4 year old daughter were the only british people in the hotel i know before you say it i did choose to go to spain so what do i expect, but you should be told at time of booking that the food mostly caters for spanish the hotel entertainment is ONLY in spanish which is very loud till 3am which would not bother me if i could understand a word of it. The hotel is over run with very cheecky and ignorant spanish oap,s and the staff at reception need a few weeks at customer service training .The rooms are ok but very small and no way near the standard that a 4 star hotel should be.The reception looks very grand and that is the thing that attracted us to book as we had visited the hotel on a previous trip to benidorm but to my disappiontment the rest of the hotel was no way near as nice.Enough of the moaning though we do all love benidorm it is a great place for familys and you can go on some lovely trips to valencia or a boat trip to calpe which is lovely my advice is go to benidorm but give the marina hotel a miss i would recommend the don pancho that is brill.

Overall the hotel is a 3 star, not 4 as billed. Bedroom was spacious, clean and ok. We were there in march so the outdoor facilities were not used. However they looked ok.
The major problem with this hotel was the food which is a disgrace. The hotel was stuffed full of Spanish Pensioners whom we are told get a free holiday each year and the food was obviously geared down to that. I have never ever anywhere in the world had such poor food and service in a 4 star hotel. It wouild have been looked at askance in a works canteen.
I should have checked reviews before we went as the consistent theme for this hotel is dissatisfaction with the food.
Hugely disappointing.

10 readers found this review helpful

We are a family of 4 - two adults, an 8 and a 6 year old. Room was clean, good choice of food, very friendly staff. 90% of holiday makers were Spanish families. We had a great time, Marina is a very good base to allow you to sunbathe by the pool or walk 5 mins to a lovely sandy beach or visit the old town. Close to local bars and restaurants. 1 minor criticism is the lift system. There are 6 lifts for a 17 floor hotel with 300+ rooms, sometime you have to wait 5 - 10 mins for a free lift but on holiday this doesnt matter too much. I have seen criticisms of the food by other reviewers, but the choice is so great that even my fussy kids ate their fill everyday. If you are going to Benidorm, you will not go far wrong by staying here.

2 readers found this review helpful

Just a quick review of The Hotel Rosamar, I am a frequent traveller to Benidorm and Often try different hotels. This was my first visit to the Rosamar, despite some of the reviews I found the staff very friendly apart from the chef in the dinning area who never spoke or cracked a smile! The rooms are a good size but a little outdated, the hotel enjoys a fantastic position but was let down badly by a limited choice of food. I admit I am not the most adventurous with food, but when you have a choice of two soups and the choice is garlic or fish soup I struggled! Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday served with chips not roast potatoes? And a very poor daily desert section with very limited fresh fruit. There are many better hotels for the same money; The Calypso next door has far superior food. Average hotel but would not stay there again. I am returning to Benidorm next week, but this time staying at The Sol Pelicanos where I have always enjoyed.
Love Benidorm; try to go every 3 months, fantastic nightlife and great cabaret bars combined with some of the best beaches and weather in Spain. Best value 2 for 1 bars are Cafe Benidorm and Sinattras, some great acts inc Neil St John, Mathew & Son, Martin Kent, We will rock you, Sister Act. AVOID Valentines cabaret bar cost us almost £10 for 2 drinks! RIP OFF favourite club after 1am is Bahamas with Dj Rusty & Dj Fubu great club and good value! John and Josephs still the cheapest and best for food as long as you do not mind a greasy cafeteria type bar :-)

1 reader found this review helpful

The room was good, clean, well serviced and maintained with Sky News available. The location from our perspective was excellent, in the middle of town surrounded by busy bars and restaurants - if you're an early bedder, perhaps not what you want due to late night noise. The hotel was principally occupied by Spaniards on holiday with the hotel entertainment catering for that market - no problem for us as there was plenty entertainment close by. The food was awful. Our opinion is that this hotel is overated by being listed as a four star hotel. We have previously stayed in the Hotel Melia in Benidorm and view that as a genuine four star hotel, significantly better than the Marina.

1 reader found this review helpful

The Hotel itself was quite good but the food was awful not a great deal of choice for a supposedly 4 star hotel more like 2 star. Unless you managed to get some food as soon as it came out fresh it was luke warm. It was also in one of the worst places in Benidorm for noise as there were Bars and Kareoke very close and sometimes went on until 3 a.m. making it difficult to get any sleep. It is a shame really as parts of Benidorm are quite nice and it is possible to find a quieter area to stay
but I must say we would think twice before goind there again. The beaches are great and the weather was very good sunshine everyday and the scenery around the area is beautiful as we had three trips out. Mr. and Mrs. Barrs

4 readers found this review helpful

We have stayed at this hotel several times when we have been in Benidorm. The rooms are clean, towels changed daily and the food is actually good.
About the food - There are cold meats and rolls laid out for breakfast, cheese available if you are vegetarian, croissants and jam and butter, fresh fruit juice and fresh fruit. There are also hot items for cooked breakfast. Dont know what the lunches were like since we were half board. Evening meal - Since there is a salad bar and a hot bar, it is up to each person what they pick for their meal. No point in choosing badly and then blaming the hotel for the standard of the food.
We stayed 2 weeks and are going back in October 2008 (for 2 weeks half board).
Entertainment wise - Evening entertainment starts too late, as it does in most of the hotels in Spain. We went into the dancing in the hotel in the afternoon and learned to salsa with the instructor teaching in Spanish (and some English) and the Spanish people helping us in broken English. Learned a couple of Spanish club dances and had a brilliant laugh as well as a really good time.
For entertainment if you are looking for somewhere outside the hotel to try, the Irish Bar opposite had really good singers, give the Red Dog Saloon a go, its just round the corner (and it even has line dancing if you are in to that - otherwise its just a nice pub with a good atmosphere and live singer).