Well I just got back and, reluctantly, I've come to the conclusion that I won't be returning for a while
It's not wholly problem with Benidorm, it's just that an exchange rate of a pound per euro is just not on.
Two sunbeds and an umbrella is twelve euro/quid just for a day on the beach. Go up the coast to Javea and it's a whopping eighteen euro/quid! I'm not hard up but that is just silly money.
It's no better at night. I paid £11 for two bottles of Mahou and two Fanta oranges in the Zodiac and that isn't the dearest place by a long way. A Bacardi breezer cost £5 in Stardust. That is enough for a whole meal in a Chinese restaurant! The prices the bars are charging aren't the worst thing though, a lot of the cabaret bars seem to have moved their top acts to 10pm, so you see one good act and spend the rest of the evening being hassled by the most extraordinary number of props I've ever seen, trying to get you in to watch the dross. They are even at it in broad daylight! A LOT of the "British" bars will be going under this year, unless there is a massive increase in the numbers of British holidaymakers later in the summer, desperate to escape our promised "hot summer".
So, given the weather we've returned to, I just don't know where we'll be going next year
Maybe the exchange rate will pick up. It will have to get up to 2 euros before I go anywhere in the EU!
(Maybe I'll still sneak off to Beni for a long weekend on my own. I'm happy drinking in the cheap bars and sunbathing on a beach towel!)
That is awful ColinWWW I know what you mean about the euro a pint of beer in ireland can be 5 euros and a bottle of cider is 4 euro 85 ....We go to goa for our holidays no charge for sun beds and £300 would be more that enough for a 2 week holiday that would be food drink pressies and trips ...a bottle of whiskey or vodka is about £1.50 and 200 cigs is £3 .....coke and fanta is 20p shorts would cost 20 to 30 pance and its the big mesure ...so now you know what takes us there ...colleen
"I'm happy drinking in the cheap bars and sunbathing on a beach towel"
I was paying up to €8 a time for ice creams for the 4 of us.
I wouldn't spend 8 quid on ice cream in the UK.
The exchange rate needs to improve a lot otherwise a lot of people won't be going on holiday in Europe. It's far too dear for a family holiday.
PS. This isn't an anti Benidorm post. My eldest daughter's friends just came back from Ibiza and the prices they were talking about in their "young and trendy" clubs would make Roman Abramovich think twice!
It is a problem at the moment i know, but i still think Beni is resonable value for money. Ive just had friends back from Turkey who went there to escape eurozone, and they've done nothing but complain about how prices have gone up there too! The euro rate is getting a bit better at around €1.14 now so you need to factor that in. Obviously drinks are relatively pricey in the Cabaret Bars, but to be honest in many other resorts you are paying those kind of prices for drinks in Bars with NO entertainment, and at least in Beni you have the option of many smaller bars selling beer for €1 a pint...where in Europe can you find better value than that! I personally cant stand longhaul flights anymore so for me the likes of Goa and the Gambia are off limits, but those are probably the kind of places you need to look at for lower prices in resort!! I really think we have been spoiled in recent years by an exchange rate which worked in our favour but which was perhaps unsustainable! Who knows maybe we might get back to those heady times again, but i dont think it will happen soon, maybe the rate could creep back up to around €1.25, and if so that would be pretty decent really. I'm afraid we've all had to take a bite of the reality pie lately, but as i mention, i really cant think of many places i could name that will offer better value for money than Benidorm!
We love Benidorm,but for the same reasons as colin we wont be going back for a long time,its not good value anymore.We went to Turkey in June and are going back again in September,yes prices have gone up there also last couple of years,but you get a lot more for your money than you do in Benidorm,I dont just go on holiday for the beer!!,in Turkey you can get free sunbeds,and all day boat trips that are all inclusive for £10,and eat out in style for £10 each also.
as above, a mate of mine went to cyprus recently and was horrified with the prices there.
there's definitely more bars around now selling beer pints and bottles for a euro or less, we found that the food was dear in the tapas bars and some of the restaurants, but if we'd have looked around more there were bargains to be had, never tried the 2 euro breakfast at marrianos or the menu del dias at some of the spanishy type restaurants - they always seemed to be full as well.
with hindsight, the next time we go we will shop around more for prices
,flat
,gassy water made with chemicals.
You certaintly won't get genuine San Miguel for 1euro a pint.
I was in a hotel in Majorca recently on A/I + if you wanted San Mig it was 2.5euros but the difference to A/I lager was unbelievable.
Johnny C
In the Spanish Restaurants you can get a 3 course meal including a drink for around a tenner (Menu del Dia), you can get the same at a lot of the chinese restaurants for around half that. You've also got the option of going on any number of free trips out, ok you've got to see the demo's but the trips are free and enjoyed by many. Public transport on the buses is cheap too, €1.25 for any length of journey! In some bars you can get a bucket of 5 Budweisers and chips thrown in too for €5!! Sunbeds and Parasols on the beach can work out expensive, but you can either buy your own parasols and throw your towels on the sand, like the Spanish do, or of course use the pool area around your accomodation! A holiday in Benidorm does not have to break the bank!
No the San Miguel in Benidorm is usually €1.50 up, but it is genuine San Miguel.johnny c wrote:You certainly won't get genuine San Miguel for 1euro a pint.
Forgive me, but how can something be flat AND gassy at the same time?
IMHO, if you are prepared to look around a bit, you can have an extremely reasonably priced holiday in Benidorm. Some of the Menu del Dias are excellent value at €8.50 pp and include a drink.
It sounds to me like Taggy does it right. Like everywhere, you can pay through the nose for things, but there are good value places on every street in Benidorm.
agree pebbles been 5 times and still think its cheap i was only paying 2 euro for a bottle of mahou anywere on the square and it was loverly as for 1 euro pints it was drinkable put it this way its better than some of the flat i get served in my home town. plus i see less hassle in benidorm and i dont need to go out in july we a rain coat on give me benidorm any day
A few years ago when money for us was tight I refused to pay these prices and have carried on doing so. If you look around and only go where the priced are displayed you won`t be ripped off. As for sunbeads on the beach our son stops us getting them as he can`t keep still so it`s a waste of money for a couple of hours.
Just been paying £3 for a pint of hogwash on the east coast, greasy spoon cafes meals were £5 each (not that I went in) toasted sandwiches were£3
give me a flat 1 euro pint in the sun and a menu of the day in the chinese with a bottle of wine for under £5 anyday.
I think if we all start asking for prices and refusing to pay the rip off prices things will have to change.
The credit crunch wont stop me going away and having a good time, we went to Benalmadena at easter and spent less than we normaly do as I refused to pay rip off prices. I also noted that a lot more places had offers on.
What i'm saying is i think the cheap lager is undrinkable,my personel opinion.
I'll pay 2 euro extra for a pint of bitter or big can of guinness anytime.
I'll drink bottles of San Miguel/Mahou anytime,(you know what you are getting with bottles) even at home + also Holsten pils but not the cheap pints (mostly Skol) in Spain.
As for how can you have Flat + Gassy ?? have you ever had a pint of any lager with a head on even over here,its CO2 that causes the gassiness + the bubbles it evaporates on the surface.
By the way i'm not knocking Benidorm,go every year,
At Xmas stayed in the Nereo,there is a friendly Spanish bar around the corner it was 3.5 euro for Caffe Contado + Soberano proper brandy not supermarket paint stripper.
In caberet bar next door it was 4 euro for 2 cans of Guinness/3.5 euro for one !!!!a good deal if like me you love Guinness.
If you read my posting early in year its the caberet bars on the strip thats the rip off.
Johnny C
So did my parents, they had to stop in the Calypso until they'd finished some work on the nereo first though.
The local lager can be an "acquired taste" but a lot of people do drink it. Likewise the local spirits that are always on 2 for 1 or cheaper in bars. And yes, the Chinese "Happy Meal" for 4.50 euros is excellent value!
I've posted about this type of thing before. Go Spanish and pay Spanish prices, not tourist prices in the Brit bars. On Thursday evening in the centre of Alicante I bought two glasses of white wine, a large beer and a coke for €4,40 which is less than £4. A four course meal including a half bottle of wine per person, salad, bread and coffee was €40/£35 for the 4 of us. Afterwards we saw a restaurant offering the same deal for €36/£31. I would expect to pay a little more in Benidorm and on our last visit there in June we paid €23 for the 2 of us for a very good 3 course lunch including wine, water, salad, bread and coffee. Just shop around!
the Chinese "Happy Meal" for 4.50 euros is excellent value!
Cool, do you get a free toy with that also.
We went back to Benalmedena in June after holidays in Ibiza, Majorca and Tenerife and were pleasantly surprised how much cheaper is was on the mainland. In Tenerife paid 9e for a coffee and soberano - only the once!! - bought our own brandy and had it in the apartment. We tend to go to the small Spanish bars and you can still get good value for money if you avoid the posher places.
I don't need to be told that there are plenty of places selling beer at 1 euro a pint. I know there are, but they are not the places we want to sit in. If I wanted a "boring" holiday in the sun I could rent a quiet villa, stock up in the Carrefour for the fortnight and go stir crazy eating in every night! Not really the point of Benidorm, is it? Unfortunately (?) I can remember when the exchange rate was so good that it didn't really matter how ridiculous any particular bar's prices where in local terms, they were still far less than UK prices. That's just not the case any more. As I said in the first posting, that's not really Benidorm's problem, it's not their fault our money is worthless! Having said that, I do wonder what those cabaret bar owners will do when people decide enough is enough? They won't make a living off their compatriots, that's for sure!
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