Melia Benidorm Hotel

Hotel has thousands of rooms but restaraunt has about 100 tables causing huge queues at meal times Hundreds of guests standing for hours waiting in line for tables to be cleared, Also every footstep of guests in rooms above is heard so expect sleepless nights, food average,service average, hotel bar poor,in fact the pool area is the only thing four star at this hotel. Book something cheaper with bit a more life, after all this is benidorm.

The reviewer who asked what planet others were on was certainly not on this planet. Just back from 8 nights and had a great time. Had I believed the reviews I would not have gone and that would have been a big mistake. Unfortunately the tiny minded reviewer who made a big issue of salt cellars was obviously unable to take in the big picture. Not once was there a problem with salt cellars. With respect to staff attitudes you only get as good as you give and I would suggest we look at our own attitudes. I never fail to add a smile to my "beunus dias"(good morning) and always get a positive response. A few simple words always go a long way, after all we are all "Jock Thampsons bairns" and Im afraid some guest forget their roots and make no attempt to communicate, other than to petty moan. With respect to food the range was far better than other 4*, and was hot.(As suggested the micro was available, which I never saw being used) Breakfast consisted of your usual choices with fried eggs and omlit done on request, not a soggy mess left for you to pick out of as in other hotels. The choice of fresh fruit, bread and rolls, cheeze, hams etc more than would normally be eaten. Dinner boast a choice of over 75 dishes with a chef cooking meat courses on request. Not once was I disappointed with the range or quality of what was offered. With respect to information on the hotel previous reviewers have obvious difficulties reading. Times are on your card your issued when you book in, its in the hotel pack in your room, its at the entrance to the restuarant, all you need is to read. With respect to meals available outwith the hotel, yes, you can get a 3 course meal with a half bottle of wine for 3.95 euros. Yes £2.75! Think about it, what on earth are you eating. During the time we were there a report in the papers indicated the police had seized a large quantity of illegally imported food from China ????? I certainely will go back to this hotel and hope to meet other customers who where back on their 4/5th etc trips. Unfortunately these feedback reports have to be factual and not based on petty moans. It is very disappointing that to many un-ballance views are given without substance.

Firstly i have to admit i was very dissapointed when we stayed here, i wanted something special for my 40th Birthday, and i was really dissapointed. Firstly i stayed at the Melia in Alicante Town and that was fantastic, so i was exspeciting it to be something of that standard,but it wasn't, this is the first review i have written and i hope some of you find this helpfull. I travelled on the 24/02 to 27/02 with my two children age 12yrs and 15yrs and my parents in their 60s and my Husband. It took us ages to check-in maybee it was becaus it was a friday night, and it took about 20minutes, the dining room was horrible, none of the chaires were matching, and the food was terrible, cold and we all had upset stomachs for the duration of the week-end, there were microwaves there if you wanted to heat them up, but by the time you fought through the cattle market to get your meals you did not want to have to que again to warm your food up, my husband refused to go to Breakfast, as he didn't want to que. The Swimming pool outside looked lovely, which i knew for the time of year, we could not go in,so i tried the indoor pool, well, don't do it! cold and mirky, so i thought i would try the hot tub, wrong again, it was cold!! The rooms were o.k called reception on arrival as the Pation door would not lock, give them their due, they sent someone within 15mins, so that was good. Location, was ok, it was not on a steep hill, but a gentle incline upwards, but that was ok, If the food had been up to scratch and the pool clean it would be a good hotel Would i go back, no! Lastly the dining room was so loud reminded me of a shool canteen, not realaxing at all and bottle water was 3euros

the hotel itself is very impressive.The staff were very friendly and eager to please if you asked them for anything.Even helped me with my spanish. Victor the pianist was absolutely brill Hubby thought it was piped music until he saw Victor at the piano. What let the hotel down though was absence of a good chef.All the food needed was to be cooked properly.There was a large variety of salads and fruits but the meats etc were very bland.We stayed for 1 month and had jacket potatoes on 2 occasions and "mashed" potatoes once.rest of time was chips and not very nice chips either.If they get a decent chef the hotel would be unbeatable.

the mrs and myself are in our late fifties and stayed in the melia from 21st to the 28th january 2006 on half board basis.it is a very large well appointed very impressive looking 4 star hotel NOT ON A HILL. although it is very nice inside it is "very tired looking" and could do with "up to date" touches.the rooms are clean and tidy but not in any way special.its facilities are not too bad i.e. indoor /outdoor pool, gym,pool tables etc.(plus a few more facilities aswell)the staff are all very friendly and helpfull. Getting down to an important thing like food...........there is a choice of both english and continental menues on all meals.although all the main meal dishes are quite warm the vegetables on some of the hot plates on the counter were not warm on some evening meals.there is a microwave cooker available to use but i myself think the food should be warm enough in the first place.We are not "hard to please" people,we are like most people who expect a little value for our money. ok, we have stayed in the melia ,althouh it was nice i was not overly impressed and dont think i would stay there again

Firstly what a stunning looking hotel...but BADLY let down by terrible food, and indifferent sullen and miserable looking staff. If u like cold schooldinner type food then this is definetely the place for you !!! I have travelled extensively throughout the world and have never stayed in an (allegedly) four star hotel like it !!! It is so exsaperating because the hotel is really lovely looking and rooms, pool bars etc are lovely BUT let down terribly by poor service and food!! For example all food was cold EVEN the new year gala dinner which consisted of 2 shellfish courses, lukewarm soup, the most vile tasting fish (angler fish!!)lukewarm also and finally, the peice de resistance some very cold beef and gratin potatoes, which surprizingly was nice but cold!! I did ask for it to be heated but it was returned to me cold!!! The waitress for that evening looked throughly fed up and demonstated this by banging plates down. The only time I saw her smile, was when having a cigarette in the tiolets!!! Salt as stated by an other reviewer was an ongoing problem , u did indeed have to play hunt the salt, and by the time located ur lukewarm dinner was even colder!!!! However dont dispair u cud always, reheat ur dinner in the filthy microwave provided in this dreary dinning hall. I can recommend the ravioli apart from that here is a sample of wat is on offer on the very limted menu!! Rubber tasteless fish Only two vegtables Cold pasta and dried up pizza Dried up chicken Soggy tasteless chips Chefs salad made up from leftovers Deep fried courgettes every nite!!! Leathery steak and pork BUT u wud not have this wide choice every evening !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did complain to the manager but it made no difference whatsoever, the Maitre D is almost non existent! I tell u it would need Gordon Ramsay to motivate staff and shake this menu up!!! The information on activities, tv, meal and pool times was also poor, u had to guess or ask the unhelpful reception staff!! All in all this is a lovely hotel greatly spoiled by poor service, I will not be back and all guests I spoke to said the same , Every one we spoke to found the food appaling and like us ate out the majority of the time!!! I can recommend the China Garden chinese restaurant accross the road, the staff and FOOD are a delight and u wud find many a refugee from the Melia there of an evening!! I hope this review is of help I am not a fussy person re food etc, this place really needs to change drastically! I am going to email head of Melia group with the hope of changing the situation for the future !! Will keep u posted!!!

We have just returned from a short break at The Melia Benidorm. First impressions where favourable, good looking Hotel, room adequately furnished (although nothing like the page on their web site!). We also had an occaisional smell of raw sewage in the room, seems they have problems with the plumbing. The complaint we had, arose from a total lack of communication from the Hotel. Firstly on arrival, I was told that parking was down the side of the Hotel, which was full and not till later having had to park some way away on the street, did I find out that the hotel has an underground car park I could have used. No informaion regarding restaurant times. No instuctions for use of TV (except pay channels. More seriously for us though was New Years Eve, we knew that the Hotel had a party night in both their function rooms although this was not of interest to us (or ever offered). At dinner time we went to use the restaurant only to find it closed! No warning! No signs! When I asked at reception I was told, oh yes we close the restaurant because of the party night! So what about your regular guests? Is this the service and facility you would expect from a 4 star hotel? When I asked these questions I was told, no provision has been made! You try booking a table outside the hotel on new years eve. Melia Benidorm, big on promise, poor on delivery!

We stayed at the Melia, Benidorm from 23rd to 27th December 2005 and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. The hotel is very classy and suitable for people who are looking to get away from a typical Benidorm hotel. The entertainment over xmas was ample for us but if you are looking for hi de hi style entertainment, this is not the place for you. The kids club operated over xmas which was an unexpected pleasure so 11-1 and 3-5 each day was chill out time. The food was amazing and xmas day was heavenly. Lobster, salmon, steak, lamb, in fact every meat you can think of. If you expect a typical english xmas dinner, then this is not for you but if you are open to variation, it is wonderful. The only downside of the hotel was probably the website booking system. We asked for 3 rooms - one for 2 adults, one for 2 adults and a child and one for 3 adults. When we received the booking confirmation, it did not price this so we had extra to pay on departure which was not made clear. The website booking system at Solmelia.com can only cope with 2 adults!! Nevertheless, I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for 4* luxury and peace and quiet. Not many english which is a bonus!! And any reviews you read about the hotel being on a steep hill are ridiculous. The hotel is about a fifteen minute slow stroll to the beach passing many shops so loads to look at and when you reach the beach, there is a fantastic promenade to walk along, leading you into the old town.

My wife and I have just returned from a one week stay at the 4* rated Melia Benidorm. "Very disappointed" is my only way of summing up this establishent as a whole. Throughout previous reviews, both good and bad, the truth about this place has been pointed out. As an experienced world-wide traveller I tend to believe some people are too picky and over critical and others are easily pleased and overwhelmed with hotel experiences and often I just wish to try the product for myself. The Melia Benidorm is aesthetically pleasing, has fantastic facilities, a wonderful pool area and is in a nice location. However the condition of the hotel is another story. On arrival we were given a room on the 11th floor (23/24 floors). (We had asked for a very high floor and double bedded room in two previous emails which were both read but not replied to.) The room was filthy and every surface, including the floor and balcony, was covered with thick dust. The "twin" beds were made up but crumpled. The large 6ft mirror had fallen off the wall on one side and the television aerial had been yanked out of the tv socket leaving bare copper wires. I counted four english speaking channels. The beds however were comfortable. The bathroom, which in itself is an utter shambles in design layout, had a toilet seat with a mere 3in gap to the radiator and toilet roll holders located out of reach and the throne's rear. Our toilet seat had a sanitation sticker between seat and porcelain yet there were waste remnants on the seat itself from the previous user, absoultely disgusting. The shower leaked through into the bedroom so a towel was laid their the whole week of our stay and never changed, lifted or cleaned around by the maid. The silicon seal around the bath and shower looked like it was applied blindfolded. We did however have clean towels. The furnishing were pretty but crudely put together and the drawers would not close properly. The balcony door had been prised open at some point in the past and had never been fixed, hence it never locked and never allowed the air con to work in the room as the door sensor was busted. The balcony recliner seats however were great. The pool are sunbeds were plentiful but thick with dirt. The pool itself looked inviting, even in December, but it too was utterly filthy. The restaurant was nice enough but the seats are spaced too close together therefore making it near impossible to return to your table with food without brushing past other diners. Food was Ok and despite a large choice was very bland. Breakfasts were great but monotonous. Restaurant staff were all pretty dour with the exception of waiter Patrick and waitress Eva. Maitre'd (spelling) service was OK but chaotic at the busiest of times, A little spanish was appreciated. Too little staff. The hotel reception is gorgeous and is the only part of the hotel that I can truly say was up to the part. Nice pianist, if you like lounge music, and very comfortable furnishings. Reception staff were pretty dour and slow but reacted quickly when our safety deposit box (free) acted up and required maintenance. Location is pretty good for Benidorm although a bit far from the beach at 800 yards or so. Lots of low key bars and restaurants in the immediate vicinty with very cheap prices for food and drink. My favourite was the Beer's Friends Bar, just left across the road. The staff were happy to arrange any football match and sport you required and there was no loud music which is often associated with bars in this resort. Ask barman Gary to make you one of his Cheeseburgers, very simple and brilliantly tasty. You may need one if you stay at the Melia due to the often bland food. My wife and I have twice stayed at the excellent Levante Club (two hotels behind the Melia) and believe that it is a much better hotel in every respect. We won't be back to the 4* looks and 2* service of the filthy Melia Benidorm. A major disappointment.

I stayed at the Melia Benidorm from the 2 Oct to 9 Oct 2005. I was very impressed with the hotel's looks - clean, new and modern with the best pool I've ever seen anywhere! However, this hotel lacks a sincere and warm service from its staff especially the reception desk. The service I received from the front desk staff was colder than the fridge on arrival and everyday. I had to ask them (front desk) to get someone to fix the tv that wasn't working 4 times before it was fixed. I had second thoughts about asking for directions etc. as was too afraid to ask them. The restaurant staff was polite but their waiting system needs to be looked at. Guests are made to wait in long queues before getting a coupon and table. What's interesting is that this 4 star hotel makes you play treasure hunt whilst having your meal i.e. hunt for salt & pepper!! You'lllhave to borrow, beg or steal for salt and pepper from other tables. Food however was good. The pool staff and the housekeeping staff were excellent! My room was always clean and fresh towels were given everyday. On the last night whilst having dinner, staff were handing out comment cards and I overheard a few guests on the other tables saying 'they better pull their socks' and 'better put their act together'. If you don't mind putting up with bad service but good quality hotel facilities this can be your choice but if not, I'm sure there are plenty hotels to choose from in Benidorm.