Hi Sanj

We are off to Beni twice this year, 6 weeks apart - can't wait!

LIKES: the weather, the people, the beech, the way everything is so close, the late nights, lazy days by the pool, the comedians (is Chubby Brown lookalike still there?), skinny dipping at 6am!

DISLIKES: erm, can't think of any!

Sanji, It's the final of Dancing on Ice, everyone is busy, You'll have to wait.

Sue

I'm onlty on because it's the break

Sue

Hi Sanji, sorry about that, it's finished now
My main reason for visiting Benidorm is to visit my family.
I like the beaches, the weather, nice restaurants, the little streets in the old town, Benidorm Palace, spending time relaxing instead of working, not having to be a domestic servant to my family and having lots of money to spend.
I don't like the Potato men, the Gypsies, the tacky shops, the dog sh** or going back on the plane.

2 weeks on Monday and I'll be propping up the bar in the Flamingo Oasis.

I agree with Sanji....it has gone very quiet on the boards recentley. Not a lot happening is there. Maybe everyone is in Beni

Benidorm

My Likes (not in any particular order)

(1) The slow walk along the promenade during the evenings.
(2) The weather.
(3) Mundomar
(4) The Spanish
(5) Old Town Lanes
(6) Christmas and New Year in Benidorm....its magical.
(7) Not having to worry about what to eat, cooking or the washing up.
(8) The Atmosphere.
(9) The FREE Blanket Trips.....been on all of them loads of times, but still book a free trip every visit. The guides on these trips are brilliant.

And a multitude of other things too numerous to mention here.

My Dislikes (not in any particular order)

(1) The Pea men
(2) The Pile Driving
(3) The Pornographic items on sale in the Chinese Tack shops.
(4) The dirty and broken pavements.
(5) The youths that hang around on street corners dishing out promotional cards for the local bars and nightclubs which most people throw onto the floor.

Not much really......how can you not like Benidorm

Hi Sanji

I just love Benidorm as it's where I met my husband

I also love the fact that the plane journey is less than 2 1/2 hours and there is so much to see and do that you never get bored. I also like walking along the promenade and the old town. I prefer going out of season as the summer months are too busy for me and although I like the sun I don't like to bake in it

I also dislike along with everyone else the pea men, beggars and all the tat shops as well as the scratchcard touts near the indoor market.

Michelle

Interesting post BHIC, but most of those things you listed can be found in other resorts, the long promenade that connects Torremolinos with Benalmadena would match Benidorm`s anyday.
The people, food and weather is the same along the Costas, more or less.
Christmas is Christmas wherever you are.
Dirty and broken pavements again will be found anywhere in Spain, and if you want dog poo then go into certain parts of Nerja, Malaga and Torremolinos.

The youths that hang around on street corners dishing out promotional cards for the local bars and nightclubs which most people throw onto the floor.

Believe it or not, I have no problem with these guys, a couple of them standing on the corner opposite Villa de Benidorm tried every night to entice me into Steptoes as I was walking back to my hotel...
They would just pass the leaflet and give me the spiel about who was appearing and the drinks as I was walking away from them, but they were a couple of smashing lads, could even have been my son and after a few nights they got the message and we had a laugh with them from thereon.....polite young men if I say so myself, who said Buenas Noches and take care, even gave me a Spanish kiss on our final night walk pass them....I`m talking about Christmas here and the weather at midnight was enough to freeze the b*lls off a brass monkey, so I always believe in speaking as you find, and these lads compared to time-share touts are angels and harmless.
Pea men, gypsies, c*n tricksters, beggars and thieves can be found all along the Costas, so...what is it that Benidorm has which pulls us all back to her time after time....just interested that`s all, especially when other people would call it a filthy concrete jungle.

Besos xxx

most of those things you listed can be found in other resorts, the long promenade that connects Torremolinos with Benalmadena would match Benidorm`s anyday.

Sanji, I have not been to any of the other resorts that you have mentioned, so I cannot really comment. Your question was what do we like best and least about Benidorm, and I have given you what I consider to be my favourite and least favourite things about Benidorm, at least as I see them.

As far as Christmas is concerned, please forgive me but I have to disagree with your comments. Here in the UK I don't bother with Christmas. I don't do presents, cards or anything like that. Christmas Day is the worst day of the year for me and unless I have booked a holiday, I dread it. So, you see I cannot agree with you that Christmas is the same wherever you are. But thats just my own personal circumstances.

However, when I am in Benidorm, the astmosphere is somethig I have never experienced anywhere else before. The way the Hotels decorate their exteriors.....we don't do anything like that here in the UK. Christmas in Benidorm to me is a wonderful. magical, unforgetable experience.

I'm sure many of the Spanish Costas share similar things like sandy beaches, long promenades and so on and so forth. But I have only ever been to Llorett De Mar on the Costa Brava and Benidorm.....and since I have been going to Benidorm, I'm afraid I have left Llorett way behind.

what is it that Benidorm has which pulls us all back to her time after time

Thats a very good question and one that I can't really answer. But all I can say is I LOVE Benidorm and wish I was there right now. If I could pack my bags and move out there right this minute I would. Not just for a two week holiday......but for the remainder of my life.

Hmmm, Interesting about Christmas, maybe I should have said Christmas day is Christmas day everywhere, meaning it comes and goes with a lot of hype and pre-tension attached to it....but you can still be lonely in Benidorm if you are in an apartment and don`t make the effort to socialize and Christmas day will just become a dreaded day in another location by the sea.
I go away at Christmas because I want waiting on, I`ve had my time of entertaining, being stressed up to the eyeballs with it all, and feeling deflated after tea when everybody has gone home.
I escape all the hassle of the run-up whilst most people are running around like headless chickens...been there and done it for too many years, and while ever I can afford it or my health permits me I will go to Spain.
Yes, the hotels are decorated, but that alone does not pull me back each year.

I just love Benidorm as it's where I met my husband

That`s a lovely reason to love Benidorm

I`m just trying to put my finger on something that we can distinquish about Benidorm from the other Costas....this is why I have compared certain dislikes/likes with the other resorts, and we will all differ in our views, but I`m trying to find that magical pull that we all share.

besos xxxx

I`m just trying to put my finger on something that we can distinquish about Benidorm from the other Costas

Ah, I see what you mean now. Well in that case, not sure I can offer any valid imput, as I have only ever been to Llorett and Benidorm. I do LOVE Benidorm and would move there right this very moment if I could, but I have not really 'done' Spain so to speak.

I'm more of a Greek Island guy.

Hmmmmm now you have asked that question Sanji it has really got me thinking ! What does keep me going back? Is it the nightlife choice for all? The charm of the old town? the walking on the stretch of beach through the day, the promonade at night? The Spanish tapas and the english beer. Whatever you want it's there, you can have it all, bustle and life or you can have charactor and charm.
Love the place, thats what keeps me going back.
Gailxxx

I think the thing about Benidorm, for me anyway, is the Choice! Its fair to say that Benidorm is not the most picturesque resort around, but there are places quite close to it which are more visually stimulating. I cannot however think of a Single Resort anywhere, which offers the variety of things that Benidorm does, throughout the Seasons, to such a cross section of people. Be you Young, Old or Inbetween, Active or Less Mobile. Straight, Gay or Unsure!, Single or with Partners or Children....There really is Something there for you all...and lots of it too! I love to do the kind of things that most others have commented on...I love to walk in the Old Town, To Eat Spanish Food, To Laze on a Great Beach, and To have an Incredible amount of choice for my Evening Entertainment. I could not possibly Exhaust the full range of opportunties that Benidorm has to offer...no matter how many times I go....and that could be said not only for me...but for anyone who falls into all the catergories of people I have mentioned above....Benidorm does'nt just PLAY at being diverse and cosmopolitan...it MEANS it!! It really is a place that can be all things to all people, and I certainly dont know of any other Spanish Resort, that could possibly lay claim to that! You will never find the Complete Package that is Benidorm anywhere else. But also to underline all of the above is Affordability and Accessibility!. Its such a short distance from us that flights are comfortably handled, even with kids. Low cost airlines make short breaks easy and cost effective. The choice of accomodation is second to none, be it via package hols or DIY. If you had to break everything down individualy, then you will be able to compare other places, and find things that others do as well if not even better than Benidorm (Apart from Beni's FREE Entertainment-which cant be bettered anywhere)! But when the sum of its parts are added together, its the WHOLE experience that makes Beni such a special place. I've been to many other Spanish resorts and almost all of them have a sameness about them, not much to distinguish between them. Benidorm is not like that, theres definately only ONE BENIDORM!

I don't think I can put my finger on why I keep going back at Christmas.
I think its because when we land at Alicante it feels like home!!
I have been to Costa Del Sol at this time of year and never felt the urge to go back. done Tenerife twice and Lanzerote once Majorca twice, and then went to Beni in 1997 and would never dream of going anywhere else at this time of year. I have also been to Costa Dorada and Brava but in May, in fact we went to Salou quite a few times when we first started going abroad, and I think it may be the closest of the Costas to Beni. I actually dont go in many of the Cabaret bars so its not them that pull me back, as I said at the start I really don't know what it is!!! but I will be back there at Christmas all being well.

BHIC I too like Greece, have only been to Corfu and Zante. we usually try and go in May.

Lizzie

Excellent post Taggy

David, you must be reading all this...so what takes you back time after time to Benidorm.?...if I dare ask

Besos xxx

Sanji

This is our 3rd time to Beni when we visit in late June.

We do love Benidorm, we enjoy the diversity of the place. We visited in 1995 and 2000. On both occasions we had a fantastic holiday with the children. This year there is only 1 coming the others have fled the nest. He is 17 and cannot wait to go especially for the nightlife .

The beach at Beni is nicely kept and the figures/statues that are built from sand are excellent.

The weather has always been kind to us when we have gone and we always came back with real dark deep tans. (suppose we are lucky we do tan easily).

The food is wonderful and the people are friendly. In my opinion, it caters for the british, especially surrounding the bacon and sausage dilemma.

On both occasions we have stayed at different hotels, on this occasion we are staying at the hotel Orange therefore, in the 'thick' of it.

16 weeks to go

kazee

Sanji, your question has really got me thinking and I have spent the day with my parents and your question raised a long conversation with them, and we really can't put our finger on it, but I think Taggy has summed it up in a nutshell.

We were unable to come up with one single reason why we like to keep going back to Benidorm, but we do. As Lizzie has sent, as soon as you arrive at Alicante Airport you feel you have come home. We fell 'at home' in Benidorm and that was the best reason we could come up with between the three of us.

I guess I'd better post my views and say thank you to everybody for replying to my intriguing question.
I have often asked myself why I want to keep returning to Benidorm, especially when the first time we went, I hated it for the first few days even my kids say "Mum, not Benidorm again".
I can't say it's for the club acts because I tend not to see them, and the only one I really like going to see is "Moff" because I am a big "Queen" fan, but his spot gets later each year and by 1-30 am, I'm ready for my bed these days.
The food and friendliness of the people can be found in other resorts and I have made some wonderful friends both in Benidorm and on the Costa del Sol.
I hate the flying and the transfer from the airport, but when I have unpacked and we have sorted ourselves out, we then take a walk onto the promenade, and it is here when I turn the corner and step onto the promenade that something happens to me, I guess this will sound really stupid and sloppy, but I experience something that I cannot put into words, I never have this feeling in other resorts"¦although La Carihuela on the CDS comes near, and I have a general feeling of uplifting, but in Benidorm the feeling is much stronger, more uplifting and indescribable.

I still hate the Chinese tat shops with vengence, I fear that they will drive everything that is Spanish away ( what is left) I sat back and watched what the Asians have done to the Canary Islands and I dare say the Brits as well"¦it breaks my heart to see a culture, (choose where it is) eroded by the force of greed and especially for me, a Spanish culture.
A fine balance between Nations in a resort, thus giving the tourist a choice is quite acceptable and a good thing, but when one imposes itself in mass, to the detriment of the natives, then that upsets me.

So, despite all her faults, I must be in love with Benidorm because I can`t explain how I feel and don`t think I will ever be able too...even Mr Sanji can`t give me an answer.
Gob smacked for once.

Besos xx
Sanji

I've read all your posts with interest, as the first time I went to Benidorm I'm sorry to say I wasn't impressed Anyway, there were certain factors I thought may have contributed to my opinion, so had a re-think! I'm going back again on Tuesday, and I firmly believe that I will be going again, so confident am I that I have been looking at Christmas. My decision to return was due mainly to this site I can honestly say that I am looking forward to this holiday very much, and I feel as if I know Beni inside out already just through reading all your reports and comments on here.....you are all a mine of information.

Needless to say I will be letting you all know how I enjoyed my holiday!

Until I return (unless of course I give in to temptation and log on whilst I'm there.... ) I will say bye for now.......love Linda x

and it is here when I turn the corner and step onto the promenade that something happens to me, I guess this will sound really stupid and sloppy, but I experience something that I cannot put into words

Sanji, it does not sound in the slightest one little bit "sloppy". You will see from my fisrt response to your question, even though I said they were in no particular order, that the walk along Benidorm Prom is one of my favourite things about Benidorm. Whether it be during the day or during the evening, there is something about walking along Benidorm's Prom that draws me to it like a magnet. I'm not really one for walking, although I should be, but 'walking the walk' along the Prom in Beni is definately one of my favourite things about the magical place.

You cannot put words into it, I don't think there are any words either in English OR Spanish that can describe the feeling you get when you take your first walk of many along that prom.