Just back from a week in Benidorm staying at the Regente.

Weather was great - very hot and sunny. The breeze on the beach by the sea edge was very welcome. If you are going remember high SPFs. The number of incredibly red people on the beach saying they didn't think it was that hot was high.

Building work by the Pelicanos Ocas hotels starts about 8.30 and is ongoing until after 6. There is a piledriver in use intermittently, this I think is more annoying than constantly as you don't know when it will start. The piledriver can be heard from the prom and also in the Regente - even with the doors closed you can hear the noise. There is also lots of dust in the area by the builsing site. Both of the Pelicanos and Ocas overlook the building work so I can't imagine how noisy it is there.

Saw no potato men but lots of people begging. Please note some of these are sitting quite close to cash points. I may be over-cautious but we walked past several cash points with beggars sitting in the viewpoint of them and didn't use them - it may be coincidental but it looked suspicious to me. We walked quite far to find a beggar free one!

Money exchanges - didn't use one but heard lots of poor reports about the rates outside being only for exchanging vast amounts of money. The one in the indoor market was rated well.

There is an awful sickness and diarrhoea virus going round the Regente (noro-virus according to the manager, although the rep typically denied anyone but my husband was ill) but this has also affected some locals in the Rincon area. This is not a mild tummy bug. It is severe and accompanied by extreme abdominal pain and fever. Please be warned - the usual anti-diarrhoea meds you take with you will not stop this one either.

Medical help - opposite the Iceland store by the Regente and in between the Tabacos and Farmacia is a medical centre. Here they will see you with your E111 card and you don't have to pay. My husband got the aforementioned virus and we went here and were seen within minutes of arriving. The Dr spoke little English and us little Spanish but we muddled through and he was very kind. Well worth knowing. NB this centre only sees people staying in the area - a couple arrived staying in the Bali and they were sent to another clinic the opposite end of town.

Round Town tourist info. On the corner by the Regente. Staffed by ex-pats who are superb. My hotel rep was useless and I popped in here to find a Dr and they recommended the excellent centre mentioned. They even offered to show me the way if I was unsure - a free service with the emphasis on service. They run a free bookswap service for the bookworms amongst you. If you need any info on Beni I am sure this is the best place to go.

NB I may update this later as I remember other bits and bobs.

UPDATE

The bars around the square area have lots of people touting for business look determined and don't make eye contact and you won't get hassled.

Judging by the posters there are a few acts who appear in many bars across the week so don't fret if you miss your favourite.

There is a Michael Jackson impersonator who is sooo bad he is hysterically funny. Walked past a bar he was performing in and saw a couple of mins of his act and couldn't stop laughing. Maybe you have to have had a few to think he is good, maybe he is comedy I dunno but it amused me.

The "Sticky Vicky" (heave) posters show a person looking very much like a female (?) Pete Burns. Enough to put you off your dinner before you think about her "show".

There are a number of bars with banners on them saying they are Stag and Hen party friendly. I thought this was a good idea as it gives you an opportunity to avoid them if you want to, although I am sure this isn't the way they intend it.

The old 'uns party hard! When my husband was ill I was looking off the balcony about 4 or 5 am on saturday and saw a gang of older people, some in wheelchairs, making their way back from a night out singing and laughing and drinking. A fab sight.

Animal/bird men and photos. There is a bloke with a creepily dressed up small monkey around. He walks into restaurants or hangs in the street. The idea is you pay him to take your picture with the creepy monkey. This is 8 euros for a Polaroid shot. I saw a few of these being done in a restaurant (hygiene issue anyone?) and the pics seemed quite low quality, especially for the money.

Sellers in restaurants. Not bad when we were there. There was a nightly round of "rose for the lady" sellers, no idea how much but not persistent at all. Daytime seems to be populated by men selling "gold" Mr T style chains. They can be annoying and may take a couple of fimr "no's" before they get the message. Some bars will throw them out which is nice to see.

Many of the standard seasidey shops are run by Oriental families, you see the kids in there after school time. They are similarly priced and stocked so there isn't much point in shopping around if you don't like it!

Counterfeit goods. Didn't see any, unlike when we went a few years back. Didn't go to any markets so maybe there were some there if that is what you want.

Spitis supermarket Vera Cruz near the Copacabana cake shop seemed to have the best prices, particularly on whiskies and bourbons.