Departed London Gatwick on 09.09.06 at 5am. Arrived Benidorm about 9am Spain Time. I recommend the transfers as taxi is 58Euro from the airport to the hotel. Arrived the hotel - which was woh.... as it stood out...arrived at about 10.30am.

Rooms were not done.....they knew I was pregnant as I told teletext (who I booked with) and emailed the hotel from London...

They said you can take your room keys and leave your luggage. So we went to the 6th floor and opened our room door with guests from previous in there.....SECURITY is bad ehh..

Went back to the reception who said you have to enter the room at 2pm ish. I said why did you say leave your luggage upstairs? she never commented.

Good bit about this first impression is they have a luggage room behind the reception.

Breakfast - they would not serve you on the day of arrival.... so hungry went to the supermarket opposite the hotel...well cheap! bottle water is cheaper than hotels....so stock up in your fridge provided in your room.

Food for vegetarian? well they call fish vegetarian..... if you do not see a vegetarian item then your stuffed.....they will not accomodate you ... however they provide fresh bread / baguette which are nice....

Vegetarian Food is: french fries, salad, pasta and tomato pasta sauce....and dessert / fresh fruit....however if your strict vegetarian then this is not the place for you as your not 100% sure its vegetarian as it does not state.

Bus is better than taxi.... No 5 and No 12.

English Pubs - they are pubs literally a minute walk on either side of the hotel.

Supermarket - opposite the hotel....open until 21.15 and closed Sundays.

visit the shopping mall www.cclamarina.com and Carrefour Supermarket (duty free alcohol)...found it cheaper than airport dutyfree in London and Spain.... Number 12Bus will take you there.

Day Tour....we booked with Teletext... on the 1st floor is a tour rep room... Teletext will not provide a rep but we spoke to MyTravel Tour Rep who was very nice....we booked day trips with her...less hassle for us.

I never did the water park / theme park but heard it was very nice.... we did choc and shop....this is the Valor Choc Factory. They give you samples of the chocs and the chocs are very ummm nice....but I found it cheaper to buy in Carrefour. The Valor Choc Factory does Sugar Free chocs so buy it in the factory as no one else sells this...well I never found anyone who does.

Waterfall.....nice and relaxed....take your swim kit...do you remember the timotei shampoo advert? she washes her hair under a waterfall? well this is the one...

Hotel...... the entertainment......very LOUD..... You will not be able to sleep until midnight....its so loud...it feels your outside.... the songs I repeated everynight.... starts at 21.30 .... not good for kids or parents who wish to sleep...

Drinks..... my hot chocolate drink and orange juice was more expensive than my husbands alcohol... ???

Lifts..... from the ground floor very good service...from your room floor very slow...thank god I was on the 6th floor....so I walked down most of it...good exercise for pregnant person...but if your higher....well good luck

Panaromic Views - on Floor 43....very beautiful views....only 1 Euro if your a hotel guest or 5Euro if your outside... you show your hotel room card as proof.

1st Floor....opposite the tour rep room is a small lift...near the lift is a floor made of glass.... the glue or surface holding the floor is peeling and you can see the ground below you....oneday some one will fall and injure themself or die....I told the hotel this via the suggestion form....

Good Tip... top up your hotel card with money...like a pay as you go... you will get 15% discount when you buy food / drink from the hotel. If you don't get this then you pay the full price.

If you do not use your money when you depart you get the cash back...so your not really loosing out.

Safe Deposit - You have to pay for the service.... daily rate

Hotel Pool - bring your own basically. They do not provide it.

TV - Sky news and Euro News...only channel in english.... you have to pay for movies...the list is in the reception....I checked the list and they were boring movies..... stick to sky news

September Holiday - It rained with thunderstorms on the Tuesday.... Weather in general about 26.... not to hot...reasonable. You will need a cardigan / light jacket as it gets chilly in the evening.

All the best

I stayed in the Gran Bali with my boyfriend and his parents. I thought the hotel was lovely, very clean and the staff were very pleasant. I loved the shops in the hotel (jewellers, beauty products, gift shop)! The pool was clean and we didn't have any trouble getting a sunbed.

My only criticism is that it is slightly out of the way, so you have to get a bus or taxi into the centre of benidorm where all the shops and bars are. But the bus only cost 1 euro and the taxi wasn't very dear either. Buses were very regular.

The food was fine, but I'm quite a fussy eater, so I mainly stuck to chips, pasta, bread etc! There was lots of fish and meats. Loads of fresh fruit and a good variety of desserts.

The hotel's entertainment isn't great, same singer singing the same songs evry night! And they were all in Spanish, I would definately recommend going into the centre at night. Plenty of choice! Comedians, singers, hypnotists etc!

I had a brilliant holiday in Benidorm.

My wife and I stayed here for two weeks. First impressions are excellent, beautiful building, grand reception and foyer.

We had a room facing the pool and sea in the smaller building which initially was great. However if you are looking for a few early nights then request a room at the other side of the hotel.

The entertainment is mostly at the pool side and is quite loud. It's also geared towards the Spanish with a Latino singer and a Spanish band in the bar also a dance troupe (Dancing to a Christmas song at 11.45, in July, what's that all about) thrown in for good measure. Same show every night, it was packed out every night too, some people live like Groundhog Day. Bar prices at night are ridiculous, a pint of local beer and a southern comfort was over 9 euro.

There are a few Brit bars dotted around the hotel and down towards the beach at Cala de Finestrat if that's your bag but most nights we either went into town or drank at the Diveya bar across from the hotel. 2 euro a pint and a friendly welcome.

Food was a hit or a miss, we were half board and the wife is a fussy eater but the standard of food was more often than not low, processed meats, cheap fatty cuts and repetitive fish, became very boring in the second week. Good thing is you can swap dinner for lunch and go somewhere decent at night if you wish. I've had buffets before on holiday but this one is just a rabble, poorly laid out and everything seems like a fight. Go early to avoid the busiest time.

Room was cleaned every day and had no complaints.

Gym was small but had everything you would expect 6 euro a go though. Minibar is good and cheap but you can always restock it from the supermarket across the road. Newsagents, pharmacy, and banks across the road.

Pool area is clean but gets very busy, lifeguards are good, stop idiots diving and using inflatables and balls.

The drains get a bit wiffy sometimes.

The beach is a few minutes walk away and is clean and accessible for wheelchair users and buggies. Catch the number 5 bus to Centro for your shopping and the 12 for the bars and night life. 1 euro takes you everywhere.

We did enjoy our holiday here but looks are deceiving with the Bali. We paid

The hotel was beautiful, clean and impressive views!! The reception staff were very friendly. We requested a room change when we first got there and there was not a problem at all! They always managed to answer questions when needed!
The maid came everyday, clean rooms, big and bathroom nice. No complaints about smelly drains or dust! Our room faced the pool, bit noisy if you are on a lower floor.
Entertainment was spanishy but 90% I would say of the guests were Spanish. I got the impression the hotel is very popular with Spaniards and is very cosmopolitan.

We have just returned after 1 week at this hotel, it was wonderful. hotel is absolutely spectacular.

Huge swimming pool with jacuzzi, maids visited every day and changed towels and also sheets if you wanted. It is quite a bit out of the way but you're on holiday and its quite nice to explore the area, supermarket just down the road and its visible from entrance to hotel.

Gran Bali has its own complex if you like its got its own set of shops, pharmacy, hairdressers and medical centre. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

The staff were friendly, entertainment was'nt too bad either. We would visit again and recommend it.

When we arrived the hotel looked impressive from outside on check in at reception was very busy and staff were not very helpful. Had a leak in room reported it at reception was not interested spoken to rep she also complained still took four days to fix.

Food same every day plates glass dirty ate out alot. Too far from main resort.

Entertainment same every night always in Spanish hotel very busy mostly Spanish holidaymakers. Staff only interested in the them. Our rep very helpful tried hard would not stay at hotel again and have stayed in better three star hotels.

Our room was on the 32nd floor excellent views,the beds were not all in one room we had a sofa bed in one room with the other 3 beds in another, we moved the beds in one room. maids cleaned the room every day to a high standard fresh towels loo rolls.

The hotel itself we found very clean also very grand, but the main reception area was very busy just like a train station.
The staff on reception need to learn basic english although I am sure they understood when they wanted to!! very rude only one male receptionist seemed to want to help when asked others just did not want to know answered the telephone rather than deal with any enqs we had.
Drinks expensive 3,20 for a cup of coffee!!

Food disgusting cold same thing every night and we only stayed 7 nights! breakfast just as bad scrambled or poached eggs ran out of cups one morning waiters just shrugged shoulders said no more left, when he was asked in spanish about the cups he brought more out.
No hot plates left again just told ran out we would not be getting any more out.

Hotel location bit to far from old Benidorm although we were ok we hired A car for the week (I would suggest you take your sat nav with you!) local bus stop just around the corner from hotel.

Entertainment 2 bands one geared up for spanish OAP's the other group sang in english, both did put on a good show.
The 2 children and 1 adult in our group did join in the dancing lessons 6pm but only once!

We would not go back to this hotel after reading other comments if I had read them before we went I would not have gone! Do not go to this hotel well just have a look at it because that is the only reason they must have "Grand" in the title!

Gran Hotel Bali, very clean, very good, food good though not a lot of choice if you like fast food, microwaves available in dining room if food is only warm, location too far to walk into the town, buses (No5), every 20 mins outside hotel, 1 euro, about 10mins ride.

Market in Benidorm every Sun & Wed you would need to get a Taxi, approx 7 euros. Supermarket just across the road to stock up on drinks etc to take down to the pool.

Pools lovely & clean, could do with making more umbrellas available, no problem getting a sun bed. Beach 5mins walk down quite steep hill. Staff fine, light not working in bathroom repaired within a couple of hours.

Would recommend this hotel.

Myself and a girlfriend went to this hotel in june 2006. We were excited especially as the photos of the hotel looked amazing. We got to the hotel about 8pm and couldn't believe how huge and gorgeous this hotel was and all for only

Hotel, other reviews have said the building is 5 star-other things not so and that seems about right.

Our room on floor 12 of the small building had fantastic views of the whole bay with balcony front and side as well. Good bathroom with seperate shower cubicle. Plenty of storage space on hand.

The mini - bar was cheap and operated on a trust system of payment. Safe costs were only E1.30 a day again cheap.
Cleaning was v. good standard.

As others say the reception and pool areas were top notch. Rides to the 48th floor of the main block cost E1 but youll have to queue-show room card-buy ticket-queue again. Question if its worth it.

Entertainment? dodgy! 'dancing lessons' were sort of Spanish line dancing and looked improvised although there were plenty of takers -ok if you like that stuff. Besides that nothing really except iffy singers and a couple of kids things-apart from an erotic show Fri and Sat nights-again if you like that stuff.

Now the food. Varied from excellent on occasion to inedible (Tues and Mon nights) when it was both cheap and nasty. Breakfast, plus evening starters and sweets were all ok really but wont describe some of the 'main course options'.

Staff by and large were helpful. v.good (free) secure service for left luggage.

Watch the evening bar prices -E9.60 for 3 soft drinks is a rip off! likewise hotel gym at E6 a time.

The location you know when you book so dont be surprised that its quite at night. Taxis to town only E5-7. Bus costs E1 take No 5 to Parche Elche every few mins. Buses elsewhere ? couldnt find the stops!