Melia Benidorm

The Melia Benidorm is located approximately 1 hour from Alicante Airport. We had express return transfers through Beniconnect at £50 Return for two people, this dropped off and picked up from directly outside the hotel and featured a maximum of only four stops each way. We arrived shortly before 1300 and made our way to reception through the magnificent lobby, we were staying in The Level accommodation so had access to the private check-in area on the ground floor, the place is a bit of a maze and the entrance to the lounge is very easy to miss. Check-in was painless, we were offered a drink whilst this was done along with the opportunity to upgrade to half board for €15pp/pn, a discount on the standard rate. We declined and where then escorted to our room which was already available. We stayed in a Grand Premium The Level room on the 18th floor, from a large hallway was a large bathroom with high quality amenities and the bedroom which again was large with a massive bed, safe, tea and coffee, a Nespresso machine, a kettle, mini bar, slippers, robes, water and a sofa. Outside we had a massive balcony that wrapped around the side of the building with phenomenal views over Benidorm and the mountains. The balcony had a basic table and chairs patio set on there. As part of The Level offering you do get access to a private lounge, breakfast is available until 1100 and an open bar hour is available between 1800-1900, with beer, premium spirits and a selection of Tapas being on offer, unusually for a Level lounge there is absolutely no alcohol available at any other time of day - very much at odds with other lounges we've been in at other Melia hotels, this is presumably to deter groups booking in to the hotel and treating the lounge as an all inclusive extra for the duration of the day. We did sample the Room service one evening, despite having a fairly good menu featuring salads, burgers, pizzas and sandwiches unfortunately at the time we ordered there were only two options available, a cheese or a salmon sandwich. What we received was adequate but certainly no more than an over priced snack at best. The hotel is a 10/15 minute walk from the beech and in a fairly quiet area though there are bars and restaurants in the immediate area including one very good Chinese - The China Garden that would have been queuing outside most evenings. The hotel is around 17 years old and it's starting to show around the edges but it's clean and well maintained. I daresay this will be our go to hotel when we return to the area but the lack of anything other than tea, coffee and soft drinks through the day in the lounge may make us reconsider the value of The Level offering at this particular Melia.

We were really looking forward to a break away without our children, this has been planned for some time,we read reviews prior to our arrival and thought this would be perfect, however we were very disappointed, the room had a strong tobacco odour,I found a nail file and blood in my bed, so sheets were not changed. Food was awful, cold, not fresh and eggs had an awful odour of ammonia, I had a terrible stomach upset within 3 hours of eating. I did not report the incidents to reception,which I now wish I had,but sadly the queues were horrendous at reception,not to mention the lift. I would advise avoid at all cost. Only positive point was the staff were attentive.

First impression was how terrible all the queues were, then on arrival to our room, very strong cigarette smell, table had sticky marks on it. Lifts are horrendous. Food is awful, powdered soup, cold soggy under cooked food. Good point is salad was nice and a good selection of cheeses.Restaurant is a canteen very busy massive queues. Overall just like butlins.Staff were very friendly.