Hi Kerrie

A 10 strong party of us (adults, teens & children), stayed at the Monika Apts., in May 2003. This is an AI venue, and part of the Amigos group - which entitles you to use any of their facilities at other hotels.
Monika is in Calan Finestrat, which is a short taxi or bus ride from the centre of Benidorm. This small resort has a good beach with water sports, and a limited number of bars / restaurants.
The apartments are very spacious and adequately furnished. There is a huge lagoon style pool with plenty of sunbeds.
Food was the usual all inclusive buffet affair, but we found it quite acceptable and we were there for 2 weeks.
We holidayed in May and the evening entertainment was atrocious! However, this did not spoil the holiday as we made our own fun and frequented the local bars.
The teenagers in the party took a taxi into Benidorm of an evening and were well catered for during the day with activities e.g water polo, archery etc..
Also, a great day out for all was had at the water park. Terra Mittica is not far from the hotel, but it was too hot for us to contemplate queing for rides!

Can't remember who we booked the holiday with unfortunately. However, for the last 2 years, I have used http://www.travelcounsellors.com and http://www.holidaystar.co.uk and found them both well able to come up with highly competitive quotes.

Hope this helps
Carol

Thanks for the reply Carol,
I think she wanted to stay in benidorm because she has been told there is so much to do for the kids(didnt see that much for kids when i was there but then again i wasnt looking)cos me and hubby were having a relaxing few days away ALONE.
what was the water park like that you went to??
And are there other days out for the kids where you stayed?
Thanks again for all the info you gave.
Kerrie

Hi Kerrie,

My family and I have booked to go to the Mediterraneo Benidorm for a week in may. The hotel is a 4* and only about a year or so old. The only thing is it is about a 10min walk from the beach, bars etc. If you do not mind that First Choice are doing a good deal!!!!!!! We are paying £710 for the 3 of us including a free child place from our local airport for a weeks AI. As your niece and nephew are 18 and 17 they will be classed as adults meaning your group will be entitled to 2 free child places. A rough price for your family is £1637 for the 6 of you departing gatwick for 1 week on the 4th oct with 2 free child prices. Obviously if you would like a different date or departure airport you may have supplements to pay.

Hiya Picklepange,
Thanks for your reply,you have been very helpful.
I will certainly pass this info on to my friend.
Thanks again
Kerrie

The 10 group hotels which are all AI also have hotels in the main Benidorm area, some are Villa del Mar, Villa Benidorm and Magic Rock gardens. Part of magic/amigos which would be better for the teenagers and kids and I believe some operators also have free child places in October including Direct holidays and I have also included this link which tells you about the hotels etc: http://www.hoteles-costablanca.com/MagicCostablanca/common/asp/Home/index.asp?idioma=ing The water park is great for all ages as they have special parts for young children as well as the normal big slides and beside it is Munodar which is a park to see sealions, dolphins etc perform. Karen

We were at monika in finestrat we used to go into benidorm and go for a drink or our lunch and dinner at any of the amigos hotels which was great, as one is always near to you, liked our lunch at the crystal park, if you are going AI i would reccomend this chain it will save you a fortune

There is ONLY ONE all inclusive hotel in Benidorm you should be considering and that is the HOTEL FLAMINGO OASIS, through Thomson you can get 14 nights all inclusive for under £500 each based on two people in October 2005, you can also try INVALID URL which is part of Thomson, sometimes you can get a better deal through them. Just read the hotel reviews on this hotel, have a good holiday.

We stayed at the Flamingo Oasis a few years back. With regards to AI in general, be aware that if you are travelling with young people then their access to all-inclusive facilities is likely to be restricted; and that if you are paying full price for under 18's, then booking AI might not turn out to be such good value for money, as you are paying for alcoholic drinks within the price that they will not be allowed to have!

When we stayed at the Flamingo Oasis, the under 18's were only allowed to get one soft drink from the bar at a time, (and the queues could be very long) and they were not allowed to go into the restaurant to eat unless they were accompanied by adults, which we found to be a bit of a pain at times.

Be prepared also for a right royal scrum and an early rising if you want to get a sunbed at the Flamingo Oasis, as the pool area is pretty small in comparison to the size of the hotel, and the competition for spots that aren't shaded part of the time by the hotel can be pretty fierce!

Having stayed at both Monika and Cristal Park, they dont compare to the Flamingo Benidorm, which is ideal for the teens as you are only a 5 min walk from the square where everything is going on. This is a fantastic hotel and we got a really cheap deal last christmas through Journeys Direct (page 377 on teletext) it cost us £250 for the week.

Just got a great deal 2 adults and a 8 year old at the cristal park allinclusive for a week in oct 3 rd till the 10th 346 pounds for us all flights from doncaster 127 pounds so for 473 pounds for 3 people plus transfers so i think it was a good deal try lowcostbeds.com for the acomidation they worked out a lot cheaper than any other company thanks sandi

Thats a great deal you have got
rosie

Hi i stayed at crystal park hotel in old town from jan 1st till 8th with hubby and 14yrold son . Cant fault hotel or food it was ok but at that time of year it caters for the spanish but it was only for a wk so it was fine .What i will say is if your room is at the front of hotel its very busy with traffic and noise was hectic .But you can be moved to the back of hotel if there is rooms avil .My son spent his time in the arcade down the road from hotel its in a resturant so you would walk by it down a few stairs good luck and enjoy your holiday

Magic amigos hotel group are an excellent idea as has already been mentioned you can eat and drink in all of the other hotels in the group which are spread out around benidorm, also nice to use different pools and facilities. If you want to be in new town how about villa de benidorm.

I've always thought AI in Benidorm is a total waste of time.

Its cheap enough. Most of the decent hotels do decent food. Any other food is dirt cheap

Some of the AI properties look quite grotty. Villa De Benidorm to name but one.

I just think theres too much going on to stay in a AI hotel.

might as well stay at home

Obviously its a matter of opinion, but when you have kids you can't beat AI. Villa de benidorm has apparently just been reopened after refurbishment so wouldn't imagine that it would be that grotty. Me and my family spent a few hours around the pool there last june and the hotel was very clean, although there wasn't loads of space around the pool. Don't know what its like now though although the kids did like the water slide. Just thought it had a good location.

Have just got back from our holidays and am planning next years (might be fitting one in for October) we went to Benidorm twice last year and am thinking of going next year. Thought we would splash out and go AI before my son reaches 12. Any ideas what is the best hotel doing this, have looked and it seems to be the flamingo but with the height of the hotel am a bit wary. Any others?

EDIT: Merged with existing thread, which may hold a few suggestions.
David HT Mod

The Flamingo is a great hotel yorkshire *rose email them and ask for a low floor if you decide to book it. We were there in December and the end of March.

I would'nt recommend going all inclusive when going to Benidorm for the first time. We did and didn't get to see hardly anywhere as my kids didn't want to leave the hotel. There is so much to see and do. Then for years we went self catering. Now we like going all inclusive in the winter months as it is pretty cold at nights so we go out during the day and stay in the hotel most nights. Still go out a couple of nights to the restaurants we like best in Benidorm.

In my Opinion, the Flamingo Oasis is the best all inclusive hotel in Benidorm. The rooms are spacious, the foods great, the staff are friendly, it's immaculately clean, the entertainment is good, the whole place has a great ambience about it. Whilst I was staying there, I didn't here one complaint about this hotel.
The minus side is that it's a good walk to the square and a very good walk to the old town but there are buses that run frequently from outside the hotel and taxis are plentiful and cheap and besides, if you're all inclusive then you'll probably not be venturing out that much any way.

Wherever you choose, have a great time

Sue

Hi,
I have to agree with Sue, this hotel is fantastic. I've left a review if you want to read it.
However, the hotel is now taking bookings direct over the internet, so expect groups of men and women, some up to 40 . When we booked, it was exclusive to Thomson and Thomas Cook holidays and rated as a family hotel so we were a bit dissapointed when the first bus load rolled in The majority of them were really well behaved, but you got the odd few as they were AI so" I'm drinking till I drop " .I suppose this is the norm for Benidorm and the rest of Spain due to cheap flights.
Saying that, I will be returning to this hotel the next time i visit Benidorm.