Hotéis MELIÁ em Benidorm

Returned after staying last year. Stayed in a Level Junior Suite AI which included a Nepresso coffee machine, tea/coffee making facilities plus mini bar which we did not use. Note about the mini bar - it's expensive to use and if you ask for it to be cleared, it will cost you an additional (roughly) 3 euros a day for every day it is empty. The Level experience gives a separate lounge where breakfast can be taken, check-in/check-out area and a separate sun bathing area near the pool. The Level Lounge also provides soft drinks, beer and wine throughout the day with branded spirits and tapas served between 5pm and 7pm daily. Snacks are also available throughout the day. The check-in/check-out experience ran very smoothly. Thank you to the staff in the Level Lounge - Carmen, Selena and Javi - on the front desk for their help and advice. Also a thank you to Rosa, Patricia and the other waitresses in the Level Lounge. Lunch and evening meals are buffet. The food is ok, you will always find something to eat and it is quite varied. The breakfast buffet is extensive. At this point, we would mention that on occasions, we did notice small (baby) cockroaches moving around on the floor of the restaurant. Don't think that it was overrun but they were apparent. We spoke to Manuel, Restaurant Supervisor who said that they were aware and were in the process of eradicating them. We also mentioned it to other staff members. Having mentioned the problem, however, we have booked to return twice next year as the hotel is centrally located in a quiet area, not far from the beach and all the other attractions and all the staff we met were friendly. We also met several guests who frequently return to this hotel year after year and lots of times throughout the year. Finally, a special 'thank you' to Begonia for all her help during our stay and look forward to seeing her and the staff next year.

Welcome to the The Level at Meliá Villaitana at the Meliá Villaitana resort, located between two golf courses on the Costa Blanca (Alicante). The hotel offers superb services and facilities and great leisure and sports activities in an atmosphere that promotes relaxation and wellbeing.The Mediterranean setting and mild climate are accompanied by impressive pools and gardens; an extensive YHI SPA(*); fine dining; two 18-hole golf courses designed by Nicklaus Design(*); 6 paddle tennis courts and 2 tennis courts(*); a magnificent Convention Centre and rooms fitted with every comfort and a wide range of services. Payment must be made upon arrival.

We travelled as a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 children ages 7 and 4. We stayed the last week of the August UK school holidays. We chose this hotel as we are fans of the Melia chain. Whilst looking we found the hotel available as part of Jet2 holidays and this worked out the cheapest way for us to book. In summary we had a fantastic stay, and the hotel was everything you would expect of a 4-star hotel, just so good. For us though, the kids club staff (who also doubled up as part of the evening entertainment team some nights) were just so much fun, they were great with the kids but also just gave the hotel a generally good friendly vibe- top marks to them all. Now some other points in detail:- Pros - We were the first transfer drop off from the airport and it was a relatively short transfer time of approximately 40 minutes. - Hotel never felt overly busy despite it being August. There were busy spells during peak dining times but only short queues. At some points we had the pool to ourselves. Plenty of sun loungers and parasols available at all times. -the energy and enthusiasm of the Kids Club staff we found to be excellent. Although the activities are mainly in Spanish the staff tried hard to include our children by translating game instructions into English. There is a good programme of events for children - slime making, T-Shirt design, pool inflatables, mini disco etc. parents are able to stay with the children for a session or sign them in and out for the hour and a half. Should the management read this then perhaps they could include English clues in the pirate treasure hunt as this would also have helped to improve their experience at little cost. - the pool and evening entertainment team. My husband and I enjoyed the daily programme of exercises which had a great vibe. As a family we enjoyed the evening shows especially the Grand Circus which was Greatest Showman based and Mamma Mia. Con - Unfortunate first impressions. After an early start and a long day of travel to be greeted by a long queue at check in and only 2 staffed points was a disappointment. We waited for about 30 minutes and we were lucky enough to have joined the queue when it was fairly small. I feel this could have been easily resolved by a third member of staff ‘working the queue’, this person could explain the activity timetable and map of the resort which seemed to be adding to the length of time needed to check in. After our wait we were told that our room was not even ready and to wait for a call from check in or return at the check in time of 4pm. With children flailing we wearily returned to check in at 3:00 having had no call to be told we could check in so perhaps our call had been missed. I’m just glad we didn’t wait until 4pm! - if you are on half board it is worth noting that breakfast finishes at 10:30am and the evening meal isn’t until 8pm. There is an ice cream parlour open and a couple of other restaurants should you wish to pay for lunch. Full and half