My husand and I took a late booking to this hotel in February 2004. We had been to Benidorm the previous year and hoped that the building work would have been completed. But no such luck, it's going on all around the hotel causing noise and dust and the workmen do start work early. We were full board and found there was very little choice at mealtimes, hence a couple of nights we bought a pot noodle and ate it in our room. The maid was fantastic, best member of staff at the hotel. Entertainment very poor unless you were of pension age. Would recommend a visit to John and Joseph's across the road. Very basic bar but staff brilliant, food and drink very cheap - especially the cocktails!!!!! We have tried Benidorm twice now and I don't think we'll be going back in a hurry. One word of caution. Whilst we were there two people got robbed. One in the market. Also a couple had their safe stolen from their room which included all the contents. From what we were told the hotel only offered to return their payment of 15 euros.

Having just returned after a two week holiday at The Ambassador Playa booked through Thomson allocated on arrival. The three hotels were Rio Park, Ruidor and Ambassador, when we arrived at Alicante I just knew we would get the hotel when I knew of the building work highlighted on this site.

The Ambassador playa is a 3 star hotel in an excellent location on Calle Gerona in the heart of Benidorm with all the attractions, bars and clubs close at hand. The beach is around a 5 minute walk away, although it's one of the busiest parts of Levante beach. I found the hotel to be spotless with a maid service and towel change every day if needed. The rooms are basic but a fair size with a large bathroom equipped with bath/shower etc. Whilst we were there a new lift was being fitted and we never waited for a lift even at peak times. We were half board and the meals were fairly good, a good choice for all tastes, the only gripe I had was that the staff in the hotel were'nt that friendly with the exception of a couple who could at least raise a smile.

Safety deposit boxes are available for 18 euro for 2 weeks, we received 6 back on departure. A deposit is also required for the TV remote although they only have around 5 channels on the network and the english one was Sky News or Channel 5. We had a really couple of hot and sticky nights with heat, we were told that the air con was out of season, I found out if you close the balcony door shut the fan at least works providing a bit of comfort (I only found this out on day of departure ).

The hotel has two pools, one serves as an indoor pool in the winter season and is heated, the other free form pool is small but doesn't get full. Sunbeds are a premium and it was quite funny watching people running from breakfast to grab a decent position, although 9am is a little bit better than 4am I have witnessed in other hotels in Spain!!.

The Hotel has a sauna/fitness centre on the basement which is open to residents and non residents at a reasonable charge. The hotel has three bars, which are open to residents only til 9pm for the evening entertainment which is provided by 'big john', who rarely changes his act!!. Dancing with 'paula' is provided 3 nights a week and also afternoons. The same girl also teaches line dancing in the Western Saloon bar which is accessed from Calle Gerona along as through the hotel. Even if you don't take part, this place has a good friendly atmosphere.
To sum up I would stay at the hotel again without question, the only suggestion for the staff of this hotel would be to raise a smile every now and again!!.

Finally the gypsy's were out in force last Saturday , aparently they are going for it big time with the summer season about to finish at the end of October. A couple from Leeds had a purse taken outside John & Josephs with

I had visited Benidorm previously and used to enjoy visiting the UK Bar which was a part of the hotel. But when i returned last year i found that the UK Bar no longer existed and the standards had dropped through the floor. The entertainment was repetative and of a very low standard. One particular reason i enjoyed staying at the hotel before was the the fact that the staff were extremly friendly and efficient, in particular one young girl that used to work in the UK Bar who was ran off her feet constantly but still managed to serve everyone and with a smile. But on my last visit i felt bad for ordering a drink as all i received was a grunt and a look of disgust, and then had to wait for their conversation to finish. That is only the staff in the bars though, as the maids were impecable.
The hotel itself and it's location is perfect close to the beach and bars. I will be returning to Benidorm, but to stay in a different hotel were hopefully the staff will be a bit more friendly.

just returned from Ambassador after spending 2 weeks from boxing day there.

The hotel is spotlessly clean, rooms are kept clean and towels changed daily. Food was good plenty to choose from but not always as hot as it could have been.

The New Year gala dinner was fantastic once seated all you had to do was eat we were treated really nice nothing was to much trouble for the staff, I highly recommend it for a christmas holiday.

Now for the down side entertainment was rubbish, if you couldn't line dance or sequence dance there was nothing for you in the hotel and god help anyone who got up to dance and could not do it properly you were not allowed on the dance floor. So for entertainment you had to go outside the hotel but there were plenty of clubs in close proximity with entertainment on.

All in all a good hotel but entertainment spoilt it they could do better.

Weather was good no rain, a few chilly days but also plenty of sunny spells so no complaints about that.

Having just returned from 2 weeks staying at this hotel the only bad comment I could make is that they need to get the air conditioning in the restaurant sorted out. We didn't find it comfortable to eat as it was too hot. The location was excellent for all amenities but was very noisy at the nightime bearing in mind this was August.

We had a great time when we stayed at the Ambassador. The food was to die for. Every night they had a special table that served sea food to die for, jacket potatoes, real home from home food. The roast lamb in gravy and mint sauce was better than at home.

It had a great central location. It was a bit of a hike to the beach, with - umbrella, lilo, buckets and spades, bags, Flip Flops and not forgetting the children. - Two very busy roads to cross!

There are two pools both are very deep all over! Watch the kids! one pool is under cover so sun stroke is not compulsory for teenagers who can swim. the kids pools are small but adequate. again one under cover. Watch out for the edge of the outdoor pool! My 3 year old daughter fell in to the baby pool head first as she was leaning over to fill her bucket.Not a problem as she can swim an spends most of her time under water. The problem was that she scragged all her tummy on the edge of the pool, which has small pieces if tile stuck in concrete - to stop slipping. She cried for ages. There was a lot of blood. The scar has gone now. My 19 year old sister also suffered by the sharp pool. She took a step back and also minced the heel of her foot on the pool side. Flip flops for the rest of the holiday.

If you want a sun bed - get up early take your purse and take a big strong man with you - as you have to first Queue then run like the wind to get a good location and an umbrella while your big strong man queues pays gets beds then carries them to were you are fighting off other tourist from taking your space and the very sought after umbrella that you are clinging to. I know it sounds really bad, but I really enjoyed my stay at this hotel. Don't let me put you off. Really it is a great holiday - just be careful.