SH Melia Villa Gadea Beach Hotel

Like an earlier reviewer we stayed in a private apartment on the Villa Gadea development. We share his comments about the quality of the apartments and the development - which is beautifully landscaped and where each relatively small block shares its own private pool and garden. However two things to note. The adjacent Melia hotel has had a clampdown on apartment renters using their facilities - apparently claiming that this benefit is for apartment owners only (this personally didn't bother us but maybe if you have younger children it may be an issue). Also this location is slightly remote. No decent beach/restaurants/supermarkets are within walking distance, so a car is essential. The short taxi ride into Altea costs about 6-7 Euros if you want a night out. The beach at Calpe is about 10-15 minute drive. Other than this we had a lovely relaxing holiday and highly recommend Villa Gadea.

I have been going to Altea for ovr 10 years and know the area very well and have stayed at the Altea Hills Melia Resort several times and was very impressed. Couldn't wait to sample to Villa Gadea, especially as the location is so good, right on the beach. Overall we were impressed, the room was excellent, very big with a beautiful bathroom. Lovely sea view balcony, cleanliness tip-top. Breakfast was a banquet and the staff are very courteous and helpful. Our only critism, and this is the second time we stayed, first was in April 2006 with our daughters, is the hotel is a bit of a ghost town amd lacks atmosphere. Although we have picked just out of season both stays there was no service to be had around the pool (not the same at Altea Hills). The definite rip off in this hotel is the spa, which we found out is NOTHING to do with the hotel. You get charged a huge sum to use it and there is not discount for hotel residents. The make you wear swim hats, which they charge you for too! Part of the thalasso spa pool goes outside into the hotel grounds, you get charged to use that as well, if I remember it was 10 euros per day - and its not even heated!

Great stay in the height of a very busy Spanish holiday season Staff courteous, helpful and great with my children. We had a junior suite that had two bathrooms and a double interconnecting door that was most welcome and enabled my husband and I to some much needed privacy at the end of busy days. Both the children’s area and ours lead through french doors onto a superb large balcony with an outdoor jacuzzi overlooking the stunning Muscarat Bay (for those of you who know the area). On one occasion when we were all very tired we dined out on the balcony (room service) taking in the balmy warm breeze from the sea and the night fisherman’s boat lights bobbing up and down out to sea - marvelous

Some local people we know advised us to stay within the hotel complex, but not actually in the hotel - and boy what good advice they gave. As you enter the hotel grounds if you look to your left you will see a series of reasonably high rise apartments. These are privately owned apartments who enjoy the full run of the 5 star facilities of the hotel. The very spacious apartments are stunning and have every mod con you could think of. Heated flooring? check. Jackuzzi on your balcony? check. minimalist modern furniture? check. etc.etc.etc. Whilst coming with all these 'toys' the apartments are just that. Apartments. That means you have a kitchen, utility room with washer - essential if you are like me and travel with young ones. Looking in the window of the local Altea estate agent, dependant upon the positioning and number of bedrooms the apartments are valued at between 400,000 Euro to 1.25 m Euro so you can guess at the standard of fittings. The apartments also allowed a huge degree of freedom for my family. We could either eat on our balcony the food we had bought at the local supermarcado (1.5 miles away) or eat in the hotels 5 star restaurants at 5 star prices. The Cost ? Far cheaper than the hotel. We paid the owners £600 for 7 nights. The apartment can comfortably sleep 6, but our party only had 3. But even so the maths stack up when you realise our break was taken at peak season July / August. How do I get I touch with the owners of these apartments? Well rather than give you contact details of who I used - I don't think tripadvisor would allow me and I'm certain all the apartments are just as beautiful. Why not let google be your friend. " Villa Gadea Apartments " I'm sure you will not be disappointed

I stayed in the Villa Gadea for 5 days and can only confirm the previous comments- exellent service - beautiful and spacious rooms - outstanding breakfast buffet with lots of attention to details and service. Only take care the hotel is about 2,5 km from the town centre. The spa centre is exceptional well equipped although not cheap but worth every penny. Would recommend this hotel to people looking for quality and good service.

They say first impressions are important and it was certainly the case when we met the 1st member of staff who just so happened to be the Reception Manager! However, lets go back a little. Parking facilities - check, impressive lobby - check, chic minimal decoration - check.... Checking in experience - horrific. As probably many of us have experienced, when using an online booker, for some reason there is sometimes a black hole in the communication between hotel and booker whereby your confirmed reservation gets lost in the system and the hotel doesn´t know anything about it. If this happens, the hotel usually treats their guests in a discreet and professional manner, assuring them there is no problem whilst they try to contact the bookers and allocate a room. The hotel staff usually do not look seriously annoyed, sigh heavily, tap away furiously at keyboard, speak to guests rudely, treat them like convicted criminals as if an alert from Interpol with guests´ picture has just appeared on their computer screen, walk away mumbling, giving their back to guests when guests are trying to ask should they contact online booker. This was the treatment we got from the staff member whom we found out when asked, was the Reception Manager. Bear in mind there was no language barrier as this all took place in absolute native spanish. So two rooms were found in the mostly empty hotel (off-season) and off we went thinking, well that may have just been a one off. Wrong. Fast forward to wrong order with room service, friendly waitress but a little indiscreet as she announced to us that she had cut herself and showed us the toilet tissue-wrapped wound. Next went to spa but found out was 30 eur entry which was quite reasonable except we only had 45 mins till meeting so decided to use pool outside which looked lovely. Asked for towels at reception as none by pool, sent on ridiculous wild goose chase around pool area looking for non-existent life guard. Went back to reception, no receptionist, the porter took pity on us and gave us some pool towels, why couldn´t receptionist have done this in the first place? Now only have about 30 mins left before meeting. Brave outside pool anyway, ignore plastic bag floating in it. Later over pre-dinner drinks at the bar we were over charged - they added two extra drinks to the bill which we neither ordered or had. Bar man was friendly though. Breakfast - spot on, really very good quality and selection. Waitress either a bit dim or shortsighted as she looked at the four of us who were standing in front of her and asked us if we wanted a table for three. There was no one else beside us at the time. In the morning we had a product launch in one of the very lovely conference rooms... Conference & Banqueting guy seemed to have had a few tranquilisers with his breakfast - didn´t seem to appreciate the urgency of the things we needed, we kept needing to ask for the same things up to 5 times. Sound system didn´t work so couldn´t have music. We needed a table for registering our guest which took forever and a day to set up, then when finally 2 waiters set it up we had to wait for approval from F&B Manager that it was up to Meliá standard, all of this whilst I held our guests name badges in my skirt. Suddenly standards mattered. All in all felt like we were staying in Fawlty Towers but in plush surroundings. At least it gave us a laugh! The hotel has been open a year now and although it is lovely, I am not sure if their customer service is up to usual Meliá standards. By the way, nice idea of having jacuzzi style bath in bathroom but it took so long to fill up with water that I gave up half way and the air jets hadn´t even been covered. Also not sure about the lack of shower head holder. Had to hold shower old fashioned way with one hand whilst trying not to splash bathroom floor everywhere and lather myself at the same time! Also appreciated the late check out in one of the bedrooms although after our experience it was the least we could have been offered.

My wife and I have just returned from an excellent, seven nights holiday in Altea. This hotel is a top standard accommodation which we paid 105 euros a night - booking direct using the Sol Melia website. This rate is off-peak, however there was no mention of which features would be unavailable on the website. Check in was very efficient (use the tip in the review below). The room was very good, although the TV reception was dire. There is marble everywhere you look in this hotel, so no expense was spared. The beach front is still undergoing some development below the hotel, so there was some minor noise disruption. We also stayed when the pool areas were being opened for the high season. The pools were still being serviced and the pool bar and pool restaurant were still closed. However the outdoor pool area design is stunning and made the room view one of the best I have ever seen. The buffet breakfast was excellent and the staff all very friendly and helpful. Try the local produce on offer, the tomatoe flapjacks are very tasty. One thing which was a surprise is that the Thassalonic Spa (indoor pools and sauna) are run by a third party and are not free to guests. A session costs thirty euros per person. Bring a swimming cap to avoid paying an extra 5 euros to wear the mandatory cap provided by the spa. The Spa is well worth it though. The gymnanasium is in the spa area but is free to guests. This is also very well equiped. Parking was adequate for our stay but the hotel was starting to get busy for Easter and the free parking was filling up more. Basement parking is 10 euros a night. The Italian restaurant was the only one open at the start of our stay and was reasonable. I would recommend eating in Altea around the beautiful church square. Restaurant Del Artiste in Altea was expensive but one of my alltime best ever meals! I recommend the Scallops and Trio of Fillets specials there. The hotel provides music from an excellent Mariachi at the weekend, who plays in the piano bar. Don't get carried away on the cocktails, they are very strong. We booked a car with Carjet on the web and got an excellent rate. Very necessary to travel from the airport to Altea but also good for access, to Calpe, Denia, Alicante and Guadelest.

we stayed in the melia villa gadea in the middle of october, bargain promotion price of 50euros a night for two. fantastic room with seaview and the old town of altea in the distance. I must say the service in reception was excellent [tip]become a member of melia hotels, not only post e -mails for special offers like we had but check in is less than 5 mins as they already have your details on file. We stayed last july05 in the melia altea hills hotel, so checked out the villa gadea for the day, loved the hotel, pools and facilities on offer, although i would say july and august is very busy attracting a lot of spanish families staying in the hotel.[tip]take a look at the villas and apartments next the hotel, ideal if you are travelling with children, you can use the facilities of the hotel and have your freedom of your apartment. well thats what we have just booked for 16 nights in july06, i will let you know how it goes when i return.

SH Hotels have spared very little expense in constructing the more than worthy 5 star Villa Gadea Hotel. It is a superb example of contemporary meets Spanish design. First impressions on arrival were excellent and when we entered the hotels welcoming reception area we were not disappointed. Reception was not busy and we were looked after quickly and efficiently. Security laws are strict and it does take some time for reception to complete the necessary documentation to provide to the local police on a daily basis. This is not the hotel being slow but simply one of the drawbacks of living in the 21st century! Staff on reception are very friendly and will go out of their way to ensure that you enjoy your stay. The superb bedrooms and very spacious well-equipped bathrooms, complete with separate large walk in shower cubicles, are everything that even the most discerning traveller could demand! Maid service is wonderfully efficient and provides a turndown service in the evening. Any early teething problems if they did in fact ever exist were not evident. All construction work is now complete and the hotel is fully operational except for their signature restaurant, which is due to open in the near future. The gardens and the pool areas are maintained to the highest standards and enjoy excellent views. Extremely comfortable sun loungers and towels are provided. Service around the pool could be improved but this is only a very minor grumble. There is a pool bar and pool restaurant so you never have to go to far to get food and drinks. Breakfast, which is excellent, is served in an extremely pleasant restaurant where you can enjoy views of both the sea and the pool. The choice and quality of the food is very very good! We have not had a meal at the hotel as Alteas beautiful old town is only a 7 euro taxi ride away and offers a fantastic range of absolutely superb restaurants. Oustau, D'els Artiste, L'arbret and Stromboli all provide fantastic food and very high standards of service. However, DO NOT make the same mistake that we did and venture out to the Benidorm Palace for the so-called highly rated cabaret and dinner evening. The place is dreadful - needs completely gutting and starting again. The entertainment was monotonously boring and the food was very poor. The wine that they provide is so awful that we left most of it! IF YOU LIKE THE SOPHISTICATION OF ALTEA YOU WILL HATE THIS PLACE!! THIS IS THE THIRD DAY OF OUR 7 DAY STAY AND I FELT THAT I NEEDED TO WRITE THIS REPORT, AS REPORTS ON THIS SITE AND OTHER SITES ARE LESS THAN HELPFUL OR ACCURATE. ENJOY YOUR STAY.

The hotel is final part of the Villa Gadea complex to be built just outside of Altea. Residence Villa Gadea is apartment buildings and villas grouped around many pools and gorgeous gardens on a small cliff top overlooking sea - very quiet and peaceful and lovely views (beach lovers please bear in mind that although the sea is beautifully crystal clear, the beaches here are shingle/pebbles). The hotel opened in June 2005 (still some construction work going on) and as I was staying in one of the apartments for a week I wanted to try out the hotel for just one night - the hotel wouldn't accept an email booking direct and insisted I call their group reservation number in Spain..first alarm bell ringing. I called the group reservation number and spent 15 minutes trying to book a room. The staff could not speak fluent English and we had difficulty understanding one another as I tried my very basic Spanish and they responded with equally basic English - they varied from telling me I couldn't stay one night I had to stay a minimum of three nights, to telling me the hotel was full, that they couldn't honour the rate I had been quoted by the hotel manager etc etc - finally I managed to book a room for 2 nights (Hmm I thought the hotel was full..and the 2 night minimum stay they insisted on) and gave them my credit card details to confirm booking. Over the week I was staying at the apartment I wandered several times down to the hotel to have a look around (guests staying in the villas/apartments have full use of hotel facilities) and to confirm my reservation since I had a nagging doubt over the absolute parlava it had been to make the booking. The hotel was beautifully furnished, pools lovely and lovely position on sea front but every time I tried to get to the reservation desk there was an enormous queue and this was at all times during the day. Finally I caved in and joined the queue and waited my turn...after waiting 40 minutes to be seen I was told they had no record of my booking...now, there's a surprise..the staff then spent the next 20 minutes answering phones, dealing with other guests whilst I had to wait for them to make enquiries with their central reservation centre. The manager finally came out to say no, they didn't have my reservation but he could book me a standard room at their rack rate (I had booked a 'deluxe' room at a far lower rate). No apology, no explanation just astoundingly poor customer service. Reader, it won't surprise you to know I stayed on at my apartment for a further two nights...I do hope they get their reservations and front desk sorted out since the actual hotel building and position was lovely. But I'd recommend renting one of the villas or apartments instead - very spacious, beautifully laid out gardens and pools - I think there are 9 pools, I've certainly counted 8, and I had an entire pool all to myself for the whole week and this in peak season - and you get to use the hotel facilities - bars, restaurants, spa etc