My new Benidorm video.
Seems a shame to cut the original soundtrack where the Spanish choir were singing on Poniente beach, but the wind interference was too much and drowned them out in places.

http://www.holidaytruths.tv/media/3065/Benidorm/

Sanji x

Great video Sanji - what a difference in the people on the beach from one shot to the next one!

I enjoyed watching your new Benidorm Video Sanji, some excellent views.

Sue

Brilliant video Sanji I enjoyed watching it, seemed very busy when you were there.

thanks for the video sanji onle 2 more weeks and we will be there
Madmum

Nice to see that in those shots at least, there is no significant change since my last visit and everything is instantly recognisable - except perhaps those neatly laid out sunbeds all facing the same direction, I don't remember them !

David

Ah just watched Sanji video...fab... roll on end of July carnt wait to be there

what a difference in the people on the beach from one shot to the next one!

Hi Glynis- Just different times of filming, I'm an early bird when on holiday and a night bird when at home.
The crowded beach was filmed on Monday 1st May, known as May Day holiday to us, but celebrated as International Worker's Day in Spain.

except perhaps those neatly laid out sunbeds all facing the same direction, I don't remember them !

Neither do I David, until you mentioned it, they go in certain sections, but at both ends of Levante beach the Spanish still tend to congregate there and they tend not to use a sunbed...so there ain't any there.

Sanji x

You should have turned one over when no one was looking. (A sunbed that is, not a Spaniard)

David

My previous Cross video is now 6 years old and looking very ropey with the quality, so, I wanted to make another one and we both dragged ourselves up and down the road/mountain.
Quite a few changes since we were last up there, there's a few new swanky villas built and some more in construction en route....No doubt lottery winning prices too !
When you leave the road and climb the mound, it used to be quite difficult in places because it was just a well-trodden steep path, but now the route has had a fence/handrails all the way up to the cross and around the top of the mound....and they've even made or tried to 'cut out' steps.

For years I never realised it was completely made of steel and I always thought it was a metal frame with wooden panels attached, because I couldn't figure out how people had attached the few plaques to the cross, apart from nailing into wood, but I can't say I looked in fine detail and there seemed to be more graffiti than plaques.

I was surprised at the number of plagues that have now been attached and I had to film all four sides to get most of them on the film....They are going higher and higher and soon for anyone attaching a plaque, they'll need to take a pair of steps or a ladder up there and a rivet gun.
The view is just spectacular and as I said the last time I filmed , it looks like you're filming the same thing over and over, well yes you are, but the route sometimes takes you away from Benidorm and other times it's like you're hovering over it, and you have different aspects depending on how high or low you are when filming.

Hope you enjoy watching it.

http://www.holidaytruths.tv/media/3066/La_Cruz_Benidorm./

Sanji

Thanks Sanji - I enjoyed that video, being up in the mountains

My review of the Hotel Regente is now available to read.
I'm hoping to expand on that and do a featured article on Benidorm, which will be on my website.....when I find the time, which hopefully will be very soon.

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/spain/costa-blanca/benidorm/medplaya-regente-hotel/

Sanji x

Good review Sanji - warts & all which is what I keep my eye out for before making any bookings. The food choice/quality would be a disappointment for me too, as when we're abroad we do like to taste plenty of local foods.

Enjoyed your review sanji and this is a very generalised comment that could apply to Spain, Turkey, Greece, Egypt well anywhere really.

I dont know why some hotels rather than offering a kind of budget AI don't concentrate on a really good half-board product where the food is great. Stretching themselves to offer AI seems to make a lot of things suffer. I haven't even checked if this hotel is 3*, 4* etc so this is a bit of an off the wall comment, but was something that occured to me.

Many folk who like to go out all day would probably be very happy to come back to a lovely meal even if it was a buffet and surely what they save on the dubious snacks and poor quality alcohol could provide a much better evening meal. Most people dont actually want to drink loads of alcohol etc and would be happy to pay for one or two decent drinks to go with a decent evening meal, with good quality meats, nice cheeses and desserts.

Still all said and done it sounds like you had a very nice week.

xxx

I think you make a fair comment Doe and I have to agree with you.

I couldn't decide whether to post the link to my review in this topic or resurrect the dedicated Hotel Regente thread, but this afternoon I spent some time reading all through the dedicated thread, and in 2006 I was posting that we'd had fresh salmon, rainbow trout and effectively two gala meals per week in this hotel, and because the hotel was then officially classed as a 2* hotel and it has now been upgraded to a 3*, I know some found that hard to believe, so, I made a video one night, which in hindsight wasn't one of the 'better' nights regarding the menu, but the video proved the point about the food and my opinion, that at the time, the food was on par with any 4* hotel.

We are not hard to please regarding food, although neither of us will eat rubbish, and Dave had some stew meat based dish, which after being unable to chew the tough gristle, he had to push the plate to one side and he ended up having a salad. We don't eat fishcakes or fish fingers at home, and we maybe have a beef burger twice a year as a snack at lunch time, so he wasn't going to have any of those either as his main meal.

I didn't want to go A1 because I don't drink beer or spirits, but Dave persuaded me that he only has to have a few coffee's, water and three G &T's a day, which he is quite capable of achieving, and he has already surpassed his 12 euros, and he would be breaking into my 12 euros that I would be spending on water, pop and coffee's, and as this was his 70th birthday treat, it kindda took on a birthday week celebration and I wasn't going to hammer him over his intake of alcohol. (for once) !

A1 in Spain is not for us and I doubt very much that I either of us will be persuaded again, and it's quite obvious that the head chef has been given a reduced fixed budget to work within, and this was reflected in the dishes and quality of the meat on offer.
In the past, one thing Dave liked about this hotel was the soups, which some days were a meal in themselves with all kinds of vegetables, potatoes, chunks of meat and chorizo thrown in, a typical hearty Valencian soup, and now apart from one lunchtime, the soups were thin watery based mushroom, chicken and tomato with sometimes bits of pasta 'stars' thrown in, and all I would hazard a guess had been made from powder.
I would rather have HB and have some good quality food and I don't think the problems of A1 are specific to this hotel either, but it's a shame when you can see what A1 has done to a hotel and the resort....and especially if the 'bargain' 12 euros a day upgrade is having a detrimental effect on the food.

Sanji

Definately the Chef could do so much more with the 12 euros on the evening meals and no doubt that would be enough to provide the salmon, trout, quality soups, cheese selections etc such a sham when they resort to offering foods like burgers and fish fingers as main meals.

Doe