mistermagoo wrote:

We find this much better than that so-called warm air convection system that many hotels seem to employ. Sometimes it's warm sometimes it's not. I'm convinced that most of the coughs and cold we end up with are caused by these systems.

Hello. I totally agree with you re the warm air convection systems. I have come home with a cold and a severe cough which I am convinced was caused by the system in the Hotel Venus which is IMHO badly in need of an update.

That said, I cannot honestly say that I have looked for radiators in Hotel Rooms. I have stayed in Benidorm in the Winter months and although I agree it gets a bit chilly at night, I've never personally experienced the weather in Benidorm to be so cold as to warrant the use of a central heating system. I'm not saying it does not before anyone says otherwise, I'm just saying I have never personally experienced it to date.

However, I do recall that the Hotel Venus (a three star Hotel I recall)DOES have radiators in the corridors on all floors, as you can feel the heat generated by them in the Winter. I think there might also be radiators of some kind in the rooms, but I am not sure if they can be adjusted manually by guests.

I always assumed that the Air Conditioning systems in hotel rooms could be adjusted in the Winter months by guests to generate warm air as opposed to cold air, but as you say, the effect on one's health by the use of these systems does leave much to be desired.

Hi Gazza, and thanks for replying to my post. In your write-up you mention in the first half of your post the Hotel Venus having the air-convection system but further on you mention rads in the rooms. So I take it that there is no need to use the convection system? About the cold weather:We were there in February and March earlier this year. Believe me, we were both very grateful to have a radiator in our room. It was very cold some days and certainly it was during the evenings and nights.

We came home on or about the 8th March. We sat around the pool during the morning and were please to hear the sound of the crickets, which obviously heralded the arrival of warmer weather. Unfortunately it came too late for us.

Regards & thanks

In your write-up you mention in the first half of your post the Hotel Venus having the air-convection system but further on you mention rads in the rooms

Ok, sorry if I have confused you. Ok, In the Hotel Venus, they do have one of those Air Convection systems which you mention. I know it can be adjusted for cold or hot air, but it is a very old system by the looks of it. There are also radiators in the Corridors on all floors. I can confirm that there are definately Radiators in the corridors in the Hotel Venus, so i would assume that there would be raditors in the rooms, I've just never looked for them or noticed them.

I believe there MAY be raditors in the rooms, but as I stayed in a single room, which is smaller than the twim rooms, I cannot be sure. I know there is something hidden behind the tv cabitnet/table in the single rooms which may have been a radiator, but I really cannot remember now.

As I say, I have never experienced the temperature in Benidorm to be so low as to warrant the use of some form of heating in the room. But clearly it does. I guess I've just been very lucky?

But I DO remember the Convection system in the Hotel Venus, simply because it looks so old and antiquated which is why I agreed with you that I think the Convection system was responsible for my cold. I used it for COLD air, but you could clearly see that it could be adjusted for warm air if you wanted it to.

Anyway, apologies if I confused you, I've been very busy at work of late, and I am still spending a little more time on line than i should do.....burning the candle both ends so to speak
PS...as I say the Hotel Venus is a three star Hotel if I recall and I can personally recommend it. But you need to book early as a rule as it is a very popular Hotel and tends to get booked up very early on in the year.

Hi Gazza,
Thanks for coming back to me. No problem about the confusion, I'm like that all the while these days It did occur to me that you might have been talking about two different hotels but had mistakenly used the name Venus twice. I did'nt want to upset you by being too blunt with you, so I carefully phrased the question.

To some people it might sound mad worrying about how rooms in Spain are heated but you are obviously on my wave length when it comes to recognising that the convection systems are most definitely, in my opinion, the reason why so many people in the winter come back with coughs and colds. We stayed at the Riu D'or and there system only seemed to deliver cold air in the room in the middle of February. Needless to say I got the cough just as we we came back home.

On the subject of the Venus, we did meet two couples in a bar, where else, one evening who were staying at the Venus on a late availability 28 night deal. They were very impressed with the standards of the food, service, room and even the quality of what was shown on tv. Sky movies etc. So it's on my list.

Thanks for replying and don't catch a cold when you are in Spain next. The cough takes ages to get rid of.

Hi there....its ok, no probs, I was not upset, but when you stay in so many different hotels it can be difficult to remember what facilities etc were on offer in each establishment. I'm sure if there are rads in the Venus corridors, and I know there are because I have commented to my parents when we have been staying there at Christmas that the corridors were nice and cosy and seem to recall feeling the rads....not something you should do really because you never know just how hot they could be. So I would have thought that the rooms in the Venus had rads in them.

I text my mother this afternoon and she asked my dad, and he says from what he can remember there are indeed central heating rads in the twin rooms as he remembers trying to adjust the setting one evening as it was so hot. But please bare in mind my parents are elderly, my dad has had another heart attack recentley, so please do not rely too heavily on that.

Why don't you email the Venus Hotel directly and ask them yourself? I am sure they will send you a reply.

The Hotel Venus is part of the Servigroup chain of hotels and their email address is:-
venus@servigroup.es

In fact you could send the same request via email to all of the Hotels in the Servigroup chain and these are:-

Castilla Hotel **** Diplomatic Hotel **** Pueblo Benidorm Hotel *** Calypso Hotel *** Nereo Hotel *** Orange Hotel *** Rialto Hotel *** Torre Dorada Hotel *** Venus Hotel *** They are ALL three star Hotels with the exception of the Castilla and the Diplomatic which are four star.

Simply put the name of the the hotel first and then add @servigroup.es

PS....in as far as I am aware there is only one Hotel Venus in Benidorm

Hope that helps.....Gaz

Hi again Gazza,
That's very decent of you to go to such trouble. I did have a look at their website and it states that the rooms are centrally heated, also I do know about the Servigroup, thanks. The Torre Dorada, which is where we have stayed for our most recent visits is part of their group. Rads are the order of the day with them. We also stayed at the Rialto but it was 12 years ago. I don't think it was part of the Servigroup then. On that occasion we were on our second visit to the Rialto. One night we were sat up in bed watching TV, my wife was knitting when she felt something run down her shoulder and arm. She quickly flicked it off and I killed it. It was a cockroach, so needless to say, we never went back there again. OK the place has been refurbished since but I read somewhere that when those things are in a building you never get rid of them. I have seen the things running along the streets during some of our visits but that was the only one we have ever encountered in a Benidorm hotel, and the last I hope.

Thanks once again.

Thats OK, glad I could be of help. Yes I have also heard that you cannot really get rid of vermin if they have made therir homes there. I have personally experience cockroach infestation in another Hotel in Beni (I'll PM you the name of it) and as such we would never return there again.

Take care.

Gaz