Have been to this hotel three times - which speaks for itself.

Love the location in a nice quiet bay with a beautiful beach, yet close enough to hop in a taxi or on a bus to Benidorm Centre.

Fantastic pool area. Average entertainment.

Food quite good - always plenty of it. Beware of entry into pool as it is quite steep, two people in our party fell over entering pool. One taken to hospital for Xray - staff not very helpful - especially holiday rep.

Generally a great place to holiday - good sized rooms kept clean. Fancy a change this year hope to find somewhere just as good - will probably return in future.

We first went to this hotel in the year 2000 and visited it again last year. We have had such good times at this hotel that we have just booked to go back in October.

We arrived at night and saw the hotel lit up with fairy lights and things it looked beautiful. The first time we went we got a bit lost as its layout is a bit confusing but got used to it after a day!

This hotel is good if you are used to smokers and you don't mind a bit of noise and kids playing. The staff the first year were very polite but the second year were a bit rude. We didn't find this a problem as we make friends with them anyway (they make your drinks stronger) so we didn't really have a problem with it.

if you like going in the pool then this is a warning it is always freezing. The hotel is a 5 minute walk from the beach which is lovely with its warm sea and resturants dotted around! The food is sometimes a bit cold and sometimes the same two nights on a row but you make the most of this as you do with the drink.

Overall this hotel is brilliant. I would advise this hotel to people who have children and know how to enjoy themselves!

The hotel looked lovely at first, but on closer inspection it was in need of a facelift!
My husband slipped on wet floor near the restaurant and broke his ankle on the first day there. What a nightmare. The hotel did not help very much. We were on the fourth floor, and had to arrange a wheelchair for the week.
The food in the hotel was good.
The entertainment was non existent! apparantley the enetertainment staff had been sacked in January so beware. They had a man on a keyboard who played the same songs everynight, but he was not a good singer.
Would most definately not return to this hotel, but maybe another amigos in Benidorm. Visited the cristal park and Fenicia both seemed nice with lots of entertainment on.

Stayed at the Monika, 11th October supposedly to 25th October. Went with JMC/Thomas Cook

We went to the Monika last year and was so impressed we booked again for this year, bad mistake.

Arrived at the hotel to be told room was not ready, about an hour later we were told it was now ready, The room was on the 22nd floor in block 3, it was spacious, consisted of 2 single bedrooms, a double room and then a double sofa bed, seperate kitchen and 2 bathrooms.

Went down to dinner to find all food was luke warm, and for 2 nights running was exactly the same food.We tried the snack bar the next day and found that the food was cold and did not look very tempting at all.

On the Tuesday as we had arrived on the Saturday, the hotel was then bombarded by 100 spainsh school kids who took joy in ringing our room from 1.20 am to 4.20 am. Knocking on the doors all nite and running havoc in the hotel, reception were told and sent security up to deal with it, but no joy it still continued.

The next day spoke to a lot of holiday makers there who had all suffered the same as us, phoned our rep as she was not due in that morning, who was out of the office at the time but was told that she would be coming to the hotel later that day cos of all the complaints they had received, unfortunately I never got to speak to her that day as our baby son was admitted to hospital for the day with a chest infection.

That night at roughly 9.30pm over 350 spainish school kids arrived, the hotel had allowed them to arrive earlier because of all the bother the night before. Again these kids caused havoc all over the hotel, played about in the lifts kept pressing all the buttons so it would take you forever to get to the floor you required as you stopped at every floor there is.

During the night we had to put up again with the goings on of the previous night, phoned reception who never answered the phone, went down to be told that the security guard was in block one and would go over to our block as soon as, but again it carried on all night.

Phoned up the Thomas cook office the next morning and told them they had better send someone over asap, which they did. Was given a complaints form and told to fill it in and hand it back in the next day. Meanwhile my parents back home decided to phone the head office in the UK. An hour after the rep had left the hotel another arrived to speak to us, told us she would see if there was anything that Thomas Cook could do, She then left the hotel!

Got a phone call off her to say that Thomas Cook were moving us, to another hotel and would be upgrading us ( will write a review on that hotel later) as the spainish kids were there for a couple more days, and with the baby been poorly they were doing it as a good will gesture.

We will never go to the Monika again.

Review from Ross (23) and Angela (20). October 2003

Myself and my fiance were booked in to the Monika Holidays from the 4th to the 11th October 2003. The Holiday was booked on the first choice website and flew with Air2000. This is both our first holiday abroad and it will be both a review of the Monika Holidays Hotel and First Choice themselves.

Our holiday actually started on the Friday (3rd) as we had previously booked to see Bottom Live at the SECC. As there would only be 6 or 7 hours between Bottom ending and check in at Glasgow airport, we thought that we might as well just get to the airport early and try and grab some sleep before check in.
We arrived at the terminal building after being dropped off the coach from the Airpark to see a huge queue of people at the Easyjet desk. It turned out that their flight to Ibiza had been cancelled due to their plane breaking down. They waited for hours as there were only two people on the desk and what with the noise of toddlers running about and general rabble, we didn't get any sleep as planned.
Little did I know then that toddlers running riot was to become the theme for the week!

When check in finally opened, we were among the first in the queue. Checked in no problem and after a couple more hours boarded the plane.
Both me and my fiance are a tad overweight and the amount of room you are given is a complete joke. My knees were hard up against the seat in front and I had no room to move my arms at all. The in-flight meal, or whatever it is meant to be, was almost impossible to eat due to the lack of room.

On arriving at Allicante airport, the first choice blurb said that we were to be met by a rep, and then escorted to the transfer coach. There the rep would give us lots of information about the local area etc. Then after arriving at our hotel we were to be met by our rep who would give us details of the welcome meeting, usually held the next day.

Well.... when we arrived at the airport, retrived our luggage, I headed over to the first choice desk and... rugby scrum... could only describe it. After making my way to the front I was scribbled down a number by the lady on the desk. The stance number for the transfer coach.
After waiting around for a bit, the bus driver who spoke no English asked me "Hotel?". I replied "Monika Holidays, La Cala" and he rudely said "Other side". So I had to wait while everyone elses luggage was loaded and the seats filled up. Finally he came round and threw our bags in the hold. Just as well there weren't any breakables.
Luckily we managed to find seats, the last few on the coach (again, hardly any leg or shoulder room). Finally a first choice rep came on board handing out cards for the welcome meeting. When I got ours it had "Mike, Sunday 1000" scribbled out and "Pete Sunday 1545" written over. "Great! We can't do anything tommorrow cos we'll have to come back for the welcome meeting"

I thought. "Oh well, just ask the rep where everything is at the hotel when we get there".
Then the rep said that there would be no rep on the coach. Something about a shortage and that the rep from the first hotel would come onboard when we got there and would guide everyone through things. And the first hotel was... yep, you've guessed it, The Monika.

So 50 minutes on a packed coach with a very grumpy driver who spoke no English and we arrived at the Monika. The rep came onboard and shouted our names. We got off, got our luggage and then the coach drove off with our rep!
Remember, this is our first holiday abroad and we really needed to speak to the rep to ask where things were etc, and he just dumps us outside the hotel!

I made my way to the front desk to check in only to be told in pigeon english that our rooms weren't ready and that he'd let us know when it would be ready in 3 to 4 hours! I'd been up over 29 hours with no sleep and all I wanted to do was go to our room and relax.
We got given a card, a temporary one so that we could use the hotels facilities, except that no one told us what we could and couldn't do or where things were. No reps, no anyone except kids running around the place.
We found one of the bars and had a few drinks, but there were kids running in and out and all over the place. Their parents didn't seem to bother. The bar staff didn't seem interested, just grunted.

With our rooms still not being ready and the constant brats starting to really annoy me, we headed outside into LaCala for a bit of a wander. We didn't really get that far as I was practically sleeping on my feet so headed back and sat around in reception. "This isn't on" I thought and went back up to the desk only to be told that our room was now ready and had been for the last hour. Grrr.

We were allocated Room 51, Floor 13 in block 4. The room itself was very spacious and clean. It had a main sitting room, a kitchen-in-a-cupboard which was cool and a double bed in a seperate small room off the main one. Also a balcony with a view looking over the hotel's pool and down to the beach at Lacala.

After several hours sleep, we headed down in the lift (Made by Schindler according to the panel - Schindler's Lift!!!). We went to the restraunt, luckily signposted, and had something to eat.

The Next day I happened to glance at the reps counter and noticed a note saying that the welcome meeting had been moved forward to 5pm. Just as well I noticed.

During the welcome meeting, the rep finally gave us some of the information that we had been needing from Day 1. We booked the Terra Mitica, Aqualandia and Mundomar excursions although we had to get our own way to the last two.
I would say that we had wasted two days of our holiday waiting on the welcome meeting to find out things we really needed to know.
I felt very let down by First Choice and the reps as they were never there when you needed them. Firstly at the start of the
holiday, during it as he was only available between 5 and 8 which means that you have to make sure you are back at the hotel for these times if you need to ask them something, and at the end (which I will come back to later).

Hotel's Facilities: (What I managed to find out)

Restaraunt:
The cold food and desserts were arranged in cart like things and being a self-service buffet style, had hoards of wandering people to get through. The hot food was in vats in hotplates at the back, much like school dinners. It tasted like school dinners too. I would rate the food 5 out of 10. Very mediochre and nothing was ever hot. Always luke-warm. And you never knew how long it had been lying there.
And thoughout meal times, children were playing with the drinks machines which could get very annoying. The staff did nothing to stop them, nor did their parents.
Breakfast was similar to Lunch and Dinner, but you also had the toaster to play with. I could never get it to work properly so didn't have any toast. Also the tea and coffee which came out of the machines was vile!.

Snack Bar:
In a similar style to the restraunt, a help yourself. But the food was stone cold both times I used it and you never knew how long it had been sitting there for so I didn't bother using it again. Yuck.

Drinks Bars:
Poolside Bar - Closed while we were there.
Other Poolside Bar - Open 12 till 7, but you could sit outside and get your drinks from Bar Amigos and a lot of very loud people did. As we were kept awake by them till the wee small hours. We could hear them from the 13th floor!!!
Bar Amigos - This is the main bar in the hotel, open from 10am - 2am. The measures that some barstaff pour are very generous!
But with very gobby, loud guests some nights and children running about getting on your nerves, I didn't spend much time in here.
Tropical Bar - Open 7pm till 12midnight (I think), this is where the so-called entertainment takes place. I say I think, cos
no one ever told us what happened and when. Didn't go in here due to the hoards of brats running around and most of the music I could hear was very cheesy indeed.
Piano Bar - Open 7 till 12midnight, this is the only adults-only bar and I would have drank in here but for two things. 1, the cheeeeeeesy Hammond organ music. And 2, the clouds and clouds of cigarette smoke. I'm only an occasional smoker but you needed a gas mask to breathe in here. Sheesh!
Other little bar near reception - Open 7 till 12. This is the one we used most often. Crabbit bar man on usually but nice enough.

Gym: Not my cup of tea but apparently run by a Hungarian fitness instructor called Atilla. )

Thats all the facilities that we managed to find out about. Probably more but no one told us what we could and couldn't do.


Overall view of the hotel:
It's clean and nice enough place but several things spoiled it - Children constantly running around the place and playing with the lifts. The little would press all of the buttons in the lift or run ahead of it, making it stop on every floor.
Wandering people - There seemed to be loads of other guests just wandering around the place aimlessly, trying to walk through you. I stood my ground a few times and they just walked into me, then gave me a look as if to say "why didn't you move out of the way?" Crazy.
Loud People - We spend most of our days getting up early so we could go into Benidorm and do stuff. This meant that we needed early (12midnight) nights. But the loud people sitting outside made this impossible. Plus the other guests in the rooms above and next door. See, the floors are stone tiles and they wore heels... so clop, clop, clop, clop, clop, clop....

Overall view of the holiday:
It was an experience to say the least. Benidorm is fantastic and a week there is only a taster. I would definatly go back there but certainly not with First Choice. Their brochure is a work of fiction and the reps are next to useless. I probably wouldn't go back to the Monika either.

Overall view of this review:
I probably have concentraited on the negative points to our holiday, as there were a lot of them, but there are many many more positive ones like the fantastic Aqualiandia water park or the neighbouring Mundomar Wildlife park. Also Terra Mitica deserves a seperate review! Also there is so much to see and do in Old Benidorm and the buses to get there are also fantastic with helpful drivers.

But:
When we got back, we found out the my fiance had acidentally left several expensive items of clothing in the wardrobe in our room. My fiance, phoned the First Choice office in Benidorm. They promised that they'd get the rep, Mike, to look into it and we were told to phone back the next day.
Phoned the next day, "Sorry, in a meeting, phone back later". Phoned later, "Sorry, not gotten around to it. Phone tomorrow".
Phoned the next day again, "Sorry, not at the office today. Phone again after the weekend".
Phoned Monday, "Sorry, cant help you."
useless!
Fair enough it was us that left the items behind but I don't like being given the runaround by First Choice. It wouldn't surprise me if they haven't even bothered looking for them or asking the hotel.
Given that the First Choice reps were next to useless on the actual holiday, I'm not entirely surprised.

Oh well.
Anyway in short - Benidorm = Great! Monika = Average. First Choice = @#%$.

We have just returned from an excellent holiday at Monika Holidays (26th May - 2nd June).

We arrived early (6am) Sunday morning and checked into the hotel quickly. The receptionist was friendly and dealt with us quickly. We received our temporary Amigo's card which would last us until the next day when we had our photo taken for our permanent card. The hotel is split into 2 towers with 2 blocks in each. We stayed in block 3, room 373, floor 19 out of 23!!! Each block has 3 lifts, one for staff and the remaining two for holiday makers. They can get busy at peak times such as breakfast/lunch but generally the longest we had to wait was only a few minutes. The rooms were very clean, tidy, well furnished and spacious. The bedroom had a double bed which is quite rare in Spain as usually you get two singles pushed together. There was a very large wardrobe/mirror, bedside tables and large sliding doors leading onto the balcony. To start with the balcony seemed very high but after a few days we got used to it and it was fine. We had a lovely sea view and directly below was the massive pool.

Building work was ongoing to the right of the hotel as the resort is extending but this never caused noise or dust. In fact, the hotel was very quiet at night. The living room was large with a table and chairs, coffee table, chest of drawers, colour/satellite tv, sofa bed, kitchenette including sink, microwave, cooker and fridge. The living room also had a good air conditioning system which we never used as the room was always at a good temperature and it was never too warm at night for sleeping. The bathroom had a sink with a large mirror over it, shower and bath, WC etc. Towels and bedding were replaced every day except Wednesdays and Sundays but if you required them on those days then reception would provide you with them. Towels would only be washed and replaced if you left them in the bath and not on the towel hooks, this was to cut down on unnecessary washing which is a good idea. A safety deposit box was also available at a cost of around 30 euros with about half of that refunded at the end of your stay. Overall, the room was very nice and spacious, it was always clean and in good condition, comfortable and nicely furnished.

Onto the hotel. Again, it was tidy, clean, well furnished and well set out. The most impressive feature was by far the pool. It was one of the biggest we saw in Benidorm. Their were a few shallow areas, a childrens section, a swim up pool (open only in peak season), 4 jacuzzi's, a separate bar, a snack bar, toilets, showers and plenty of sun loungers and chairs available. Make sure you're there early though for the best sun spots as it did get busy. The water in the pool was always clean but always cold too! After a couple of minutes in it though you got used to it and it was really refreshing after the 90 degrees sun!! Overall, the pool was excellent.

Their weren't many steps around the hotel and where their were a few their was always a ramp beside them. We saw plenty of disabled people around the hotel which was nice to see.

The staff in the hotel were always friendly, helpful and often funny! The restaurant staff were run off their feet most of time but always had a smile on their face. The Amigos card was value for money and we certainly ate and drank our fair share over the week! The food was generally good but sometimes got a little repetitive. This was obviously due to the scale of Amigos itself with its large number of restaurants. Breakfast was varied. You had a choice of a full English breakfast, cereal, fruit, cheese and crackers or even salad with all fruit juices, coffee, tea and soft drinks available. Dinner and daytime snacks were similar with meats, pasta, chips, burgers, hot dogs, salads, potatoes, desserts etc available. The daytime/poolside snack bar had basically the same food available as the restaurant did at dinner time but on a smaller scale. The evening meal was nice with a variety of food including chicken, lamb, beef stew, fish, burgers, hot dogs, lasagna, pasta, spaghetti bolognaise, meatballs, potatoes, veg, salad, and desserts. Drinks were soft drinks, lager, sangria, tea and coffee etc. The restaurant got VERY busy at around 7:30pm so we preferred to go for around 8pm ish when it was a little calmer!!! Food and drink were available all day and were always self serve as much as you want. The food was always hot and fresh but it did sometimes get a little repetitive so we sometimes opted to go out for a chinese or eat at a bar/restaurant. Overall, the food was nice and the restaurants/snack bars were always cleaned and well maintained.

Onto the bars! They were well placed were throughout the hotel; One near reception, one in the entertainment area, one at a quieter area of the hotel, and one outside near the pool. They did get a little busy at times and sometimes you had to queue for a few minutes which doesn't bother you when the drinks you are getting are free! The drinks were weak during the day but seemed stronger at night. Maybe this was because the hotel didn't want everyone getting rowdy round the pool during the day!! The cocktails were nice with a different one at every bar. Kids cocktails were also available. The lager was okay but not as nice as ours. The evening entertainment was a little limited with karaoke most of the time so we preferred to head into Benidorm at night. Overall, the service at the bars was good and the drinks were good.

The resort was Cala De Finestrat which was about a 5 minute bus ride from Benidorm. It is a quiet resort which is being built up. Monika holidays is just up the road from the beach. It has a number of shops, bars and restaurants. The beach is small compared to the ones in Benidorm but is quiet and clean. There is a market just next to the hotel on Fridays. The resort itself is extending to the right with a hotel just across road being turned into the biggest hotel on mainland Spain.Their is a large hypermarket which is VERY cheap and the biggest shopping centre in the Costa Blanca is only a 5 minute walk from the hotel. Also, the theme park Terra Mitica is set in the hills behind the hotel. We preferred to go into Benidorm on a night by bus. The Amigos bus runs throughout the day and was a good, reliable service. Unfortunately it only runs 4 times a day but the buses aren't as packed as we were led to believe. If one did get full then another 2 came along within minutes. When the service stopped though after 4pm we had to make our own way into Benidorm. The number 5 bus outside of the hotel drops you off in the old town for a cost of 75 cents and the number 12 bus on the top main road drops you off in new Benidorm again for 75 cents. These buses run more regularly at about every half an hour. When we ended our night, at around 3am (!) we got a taxi back. The taxi's were metered and it usually cost us between 5 and 7 euros from the centre of new Benidorm to our hotel.

Finally, we booked our holiday with Travel City Direct. We would book with them again but.....their customer service is slow, it takes ages on the phone and the confirmation was slow in coming out (we had to phone 3 times to ask them where it was). The reception at the airport at the hotel was okay, they told us what we needed to know but we didn't have a rep on the coach to the hotel (supposedly because of a delayed plane). We would book with them again as everything else was absolutely fine EXCEPT....our rep. She was the worst rep we have ever had. Before our holiday we found out a bit more about Travel City Direct and found out that they kept their rep service in the hotel to a minimum. This was an understatement. She was hardly there and when she was she was useless. On the first day we had our welcome meeting at 11:30am. We arrived at 11:15am and she started a couple of minutes after. People were still arriving at 11:30 and they had missed nearly everything. She hardly told us anything. Didn't warn us of anything and didn't give us any tips. She told us how to get into Benidorm on the buses, she told us of a number 5 bus that picks up outside the hotel and a number 12 that picks up nearby but she didn't know where. She didn't know times or didn't have a timetable. She also didn't tell us that bus 5 ended in the old town and bus 12 ended in the new town. She rushed through the meeting and when the late-comers asked why she had started early she replied by saying that she had said 11:15am and not 11:30am, regardless that the majority of people had this written down as 11:30. The next time we saw her we wanted to know some info on the Mundomar park which incidentally is highly recommended and entertaining, she passed us onto the hospitality person at the next desk, she didn't know much either. Later on when our rep had finished her 'duties' we had a look at her file on her desk and all the Mundomar info was in there! Most of the people we spoke to didn't like her and found her useless. One couple arrived and went to the Cristal Park hotel and didn't like it so they asked to be moved, the rep said they could but it would cost them

My wife and I stayed at this hotel during the period 22nd to 29th March 2003 in a one bedroomed apartment which we found to be cold. We would say the hotel is an acceptable holiday hotel but not to the 3* rating it has been given. We found the reception staff to be acceptable but on some occasions their attitude was rather presumptuous.

We had two major complaints, one being the presentation of the hot food counter which left a lot to be desired, the cold counters presentation was good and the other being the lack of non smoking areas in the hotel, wherever you went you could not get away from thick clouds of smoke, the restaurant was non smoking but the waiting area immediately infront of the restuarant was full of people smoking, there was a very very small area which was classed as non smoking immediately as you entered the main bar but this was full of smoke, really an unacceptable situation.

The Amigos transport to their other hotels was good with a coach running four times each day, but beware you have to reserve lunch 24 hours in advance at a couple of the hotels and you are not able to reserve lunch at the Villa de Benidorm on market days. (Sun & Wed)

The all inclusive card is good with very few restrictions and the very large pool and area is also very nice, we managed a couple of sunny days.
So to sum up - IF YOU ARE A NON SMOKER THIS HOTEL NEEDS TO BE QUESTIONED

We visited the Monika Holidays on the 4th to the 11th of January 2003. We were greeted with a glass of Champagne and a freindly smile by the staff.

Our Apartment was fantastic, it was clean and well furnished, and had a kitchen (which was never used). The cafeteria in the hotel was ok, but as the week went on, I felt it was a little repetitive, (this is a personal opinion and not the opinion of the rest of my family). However by using the other AMIGO hotels you get a bit of a break from your own. Entertainment was very good, with activities most of the day and every evening bingo and disco with a show of some sort. Drinks were fine.

All in all a great hotel. My only gripe is the location. If you want a holiday in the action Stay in the centre of Benidorm. The Monika is in a very quiet place, and there are not a lot of things to do outwith your hotel. In saying this the bus stops across the street from the hotel every 20 minutes and takes you into Benidorm for 75 cents.

I would return to this hotel, as it is fantastic if you have kids, and our kids loved every minute of it.

Just returned yesterday. We were very impressed and loved the hotel. There were a few things that started to wear us down by the end of the week: the constant smokiness that seemed to linger in the foyer even though some areas were designated non-smoking (although this is probably due to the signs asking people not to smoke, being a bit thin on the ground). As a fussy vegetarian I did struggle a bit, but I expected this and there was always at least one vegetarian dish (Pasta mainly) on the menu and a lovely salad and fruit bar. The alcohol side was fabulous, if a bit on the potent side when it came to the Cocktail of the day.

We really liked the location of the hotel as it was close enough for us to walk into Benidorm every day (about 45 minutes briskly). The beach at Cala was lovely and very quiet when we were there. There was some building work going on but it did not cause us any problems. Th staff in the hotel seemed very friendly but we did get annoyed at the maid turning up at about 4pm to make the bed, which I had already done or when we were needing some post-lunch recuperation. The entertainment was a bit strange, but overall a good laugh after a few cocktails.

Finally vertigo sufferers beware- we were on the 17th floor which afforded fabulous views but don't look down.....

All in all a fab hotel. We have made plans to reurn in the near future - as for the climate at this time of year there were 1 or 2 days that were a wee bit chilly but it was certainly a lot warmer than Scotland anyway.

Karen & Steve (31, 30)

Visited Monika holidays 3 times now and can't wait to get back. The hotel is lovely, the swimming pool brilliant and food good.
We've stayed on 1st, 9th and 19th floor all with no problems the rooms are clean and spacious although sofa bed a little bit lumpy and long pillows uncomfy.
Always found something to eat that was hot and tasty, when dining room shut snack bar was always well stocked.

Made friends with bar staff (made our drinks extra strong). Plenty for kids to do day and night. All in all nothing to complain about.

Just sit back relax and chill out.

Took my mum and dad on last visit and they can't wait to go back either.