Back from the Regente and here is my report.......
We spent Christmas and the New Year at the hotel Regente. 20th December 2008 until 1st January 2009.
This hotel is now officially a 3 star hotel and so it should be.
The rooms are basic, but they are clean and the staff are just a fantastic friendly group of people.
The food is hot, varied and well presented, and the standard of cleaning is high.
I don't know why people keep saying that this hotel is making them ill, if that is true then the manager is a very silly man by bringing his wife, sons and elderly members of his family into the restaurant to eat the same food as the guests.
The members of staff must also be very silly because they also eat the same food.
Whilst I was there, I must have spoken to 6 people max, who said they had been ill with sickness and diarrhoea, but they all agreed that it could have been over indulgence, rich food or something they had picked up from outside the hotel.
Benidorm, like many other resorts throughout the world is full of various "bugs".
Just because the hotel has a policy of extensive cleaning does not mean they have a problem, actually it is quite the reverse, and they are maintaining a high programme of hygiene and cleaning to keep the "bugs" out.
Even on Christmas day they were cleaning everything that people touched and the toilets are cleaned every couple of hours.
I (we) have stayed in this hotel several times during the last couple of years and we have never been ill, maybe that's because I use the anti-bacterial hand gel available at the restaurant doors and carry a small bottle of gel, which I use outside the hotel.
The gala meals were excellent and worthy of any top London restaurant.
I have no hesitation in staying at the hotel Regente in the future and I couldn't think of a better place to spend Christmas and the New Year (this was our second Christmas there) and it was even better than last year.
Well done to all the staff for working so hard, and finally be awarded that 3 star rating.
We had a great time in Benidorm (as always) and this is the first time I have done DIY, and saved quite a few hundred pounds instead of using a Tour Operator.
One of the main excuses for not going DIY before was the transfer from the airport, but I booked a private transfer by "Prestige Tours" and the business partner (driver) is a member of this forum (dgutte).
An excellent service both on arrival and the return journey, I must also point out that "Prestige Tours" is a fully licensed Spanish company and I doubt very much they would park their minibus next to Thomson's coaches in Alicante coach bay, if they were not.
We had a whole minibus to ourselves going to the Regente and a good well sized car for the return journey.(no idea of the make of the car)
The weather was not quite as good as in previous years and it rained on one day only during the afternoon, we were out in the resort every day and I felt a bit like a stripper,
one minute it felt quite cool and then an hour later the temperature was 18° C at 11-30 am.
TBH, being on full board, we didn't go too far this holiday, we had a few walks in the mountains and plenty of walks up into the old town and basically that is all we did during the 12 days there.
We only saw one outfit of "potato men", no gypsies or prostitutes and heard of no one being mugged.
Mentioning the old town, a couple of years ago they built a monster of a car park bang where the old fish market used to be, and at the time I thought "what a bluddy monstrosity", but the shops underneath the car park on ground level are all occupied and as you walk from the shops through an entrance into the underneath of the car park, I was pleasantly surprised to find various stalls selling meat, fish, vegetables and delicatessen's.
Then if you go down another level into the bowels of the building there is a supermarket, and boy is it SOME supermarket selling just about everything that you would ever want.
The "point" was closed off for renovations on my last visit, so we went up there expecting great things....well, great things indeed, they have lifted a paving slap next to each bench and planted a tree with flowers at the base.!
A couple of days before we flew home I felt unwell and I'm glad that I managed to "hold out" until we got home, I'm the kind of person who sleeps themselves better, and I was falling to sleep on the plastic chairs in Alicante Airport with the dreaded flu bug incubating inside me.
When we got on the plane I was gobsmacked that I was sat in the last row in an aisle seat, next to the same couple who I'd sat next to, 12 days previously.
I had a cup of tea and then snuggled down in my seat.
This must be the best flight that I have ever had in my life because I fell asleep and woke up when the plane was about 30 feet from landing.
I've had the flu symptoms, which flew straight to my chest and gave me a humdigger of a chest infection and I've been popping two types of antibiotics since I got home, so I reckon I could do with another holiday very soon to convalesce.
I took some photo's and will sort them out later.
Sanji
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Edited by
Sanji
2009-01-09 00:36:46
Well done to them, I know how hard they have all worked to finally be awarded that well deserved star.
I thought David's post was actually sympathetic to the Regente and it's reports.
