We arrived late on Sunday night, we needed a meal, the man on reception was so helpful he told us where to go, even gave us a map.

The first night on returning was the only trouble we knew of, a couple fighting under our balcony, which was just above the entrance of the hotel, the police arrived almost immediatley and it was sorted.

We never had a problem getting a sunbed by the pool.

The only thing that got on our nerves was the smell of diesel in our apartment when taxis & coaches arrived our balcony being directly over the entrance, oh & the house opposite that had turned its roof into a dumping ground we thought Mr Trebus was alive & well.

The kitchen was well equiped, in fact the whole apartment was.

The maids came every day when we got in it smelled really nice not that it didn't when we where in it.

The hill - well it's steep, thanks to holiday truths we knew about the car park, we got back one night 10-30pm and it was closed. We had walked for miles stopping at quite a few watering holes on the way. I stopped banging my head on the wall as a kind man arrived in a car and let us in.

In all honesty it is a lovely hotel

Upon arrival first impresions were that the room was small but clean and very well equipped.

Indoor swimming pool was a godsend, our 14 month old toddler found the outdoor pools too cold and the indoor pool was like stepping into a hot bath. We sunbathed outside the indoor pool on the terrace which was great because we could barrocade our toddler in with sunbeds in the shade with plenty of room still to run around (we were the only people on the terrace most days).

Only ate at the hotel once which I would say was below average, none of the meals on the buffet were named so it was pot luck with what you chose to eat. The food in the bar is only served until 4pm which was a pain because our toddler has tea around 5pm, so we had to cook his meals in our apartment every afternoon.

Maid came every other day although I telephoned to ask for our bins to be emptied and for clean towles and our request was honoured immediately.

We only stayed in the hotel one night and the entertainment was just okay, no atmosphere though as there was only half a dozen people there.

What was also impressive was that there were laundry facilities there, very useful if travelling with small children, if I had known this before we travelled I could of probably halfed what we had to take.

Went to Gibralter which was fantastic, fully recommend the rock bus tour, it costs 24 Euros per person and was a really good day, especially the monkeys who are adoreable and not at all scarey like people say, however rep did not warn us that we were only allowed 200 cigarettes duty free (they're only about

We thought that the entertainment was very good, there was something for everybody. The entertainers were very professional and enthusiastic and created a great atmosphere.
The lay out of the hotel was very well thought out.
Maintenance was being completed every day and we saw lots of staff on a day to day basis.
The staff were friendly and organised.
The hotel was beautiful and very clean and modern, we were very impressed for a 4star in Spain as you usually get hotels that are barely 2 star. The facilities were excellant. If we ever came back to costa del sol we would definately stay here again, we loved it and had a great time.

We stayed at the benalmadena palce in august.. had read some good and bad reviews before we went...but had nothing to worry about... the hotel was lovely.. really clean, we had a first floor 1 bed apartment with a pool view. We did not have any trouble getting sun beds round the pool that some people and mentioned...The day time entertainment was quite good my 8 year old boy did most things with the spanish entertainment team , but would not go with the airtours kids club. The night time entertainment was not good at all... was in a pokey room.. everywhere else i stayed did it round the pool....

Cardiac hill was very steep, but with othere reviews on this site i knew about the garage with the lift... thank god...

I would go back to this hotel had a great holiday and did not want to come home...

First time we have been with airtours... was not that impressed.. delayed going and coming home.. went round all the resorts on the bus to the airport, were on the bus nearly an hour, wish we had got a taxi..

I would go back to this hotel had a great holiday and did not want to come home...

We stayed for two weeks, at this hotel in August.

I would certainly suggest this hotel to others, as I had a very pleasant stay. Thanks to the tips on this site I used the car park lift and never attempted the second, steeper hill. The first hill is not that bad at all - a slope, but certainly easily manageable.

Rooms were very clean, and ours was overlooking the pool on the 5th floor. After midnight it is quiet. The entertainment is in the early evening, but we ended up eating around that time so didnt usually go down for it. There was an electric hob, microwave (with grill facility), fridge, kettle, toaster utensils and cupboards. Air Conditioning is great - easy to get the exact temperature you want. Bedrooms could use more storage area, but otherwise rooms were very nice. Majority of rooms have balconys.

The problems with sunbeds have been resolved as they now inform customers that towels will be removed after an hour if left down. I didnt see them being very strict with it, but it was enough to prevent the problems mentioned earlier.

Hotel has an outdoor and heated indoor pool. There is also Sauna, steam room, and jacuzzi, as well as gym. Only problems was unsupervised children sneaking into the gym to play on the treadmill (equipment got very wet as they came from the pool). Lifeguards at both pools were very observant and consciensious.

Staff were friendly and helpful, and did their best to accomodate needs. No irons were available for first week, as many were broken but lots of brand new ones have been purchased now. Maids sometimes took towels and it was a while before they replaced them but you can always ask at reception for clean towels.

Hotel has a plus supermarket to the left at the bottom of the hill, and bit further down a casino. To the right is everything else - (we found it much cheaper to hire a car from Europcar than from the hotel). Beach is a short walk away and 2 sunbeds and an umbrella can be hired for 7 euros.

Supersol is a much better supermarket - lots more choice. Also near Supersol (on the way to Tivoli World) is Costaless, which has English brand foods.

I found service at the snack bar very slow, but they seemed understaffed. Otherwise no complaints - except pay per view movies, or english tv other than news would be good, and we needed to buy a tin opener.

We had overall great weather, a very nice hotel, and a nice location close to a beach and casino. I would go back next year, this is a nice new hotel.

We were delayed over 11 hours on our flight home but airtours/direct travel staff were great and very friendly and professional - which must be tough wehn you have to break the news of a delay that long to a coach load of people!

Myself my wife and our 2 sons (6years & 19 months) stayed at the hotel from 27 June - 11 July. The hotel was excellent with a wide range of high standard facilites offereing something for everyone. The staff were very helpful, freindly and polite (If only our tour operator had shown the same level of commitment.......)and went out of their way to make sure that the children had a good time.

The one thing I would say about the staff is that there perhaps aren't enough, some guests were complaining about the time taken to get served at the bar etc which isn't the fault of the staff but is something that perhaps the Directors of the hotel should be reviewing???

The buffet style restaurant offers a wide range of salads, sea food, meats and vegetables. Some people were complaining that there was nothing for kids to eat, our children managed OK and all I can say is that if you want fish and chips go to Skegness. There were plenty of places locally to eat out and and I would particularly recomment Pizzeria Sabattini on the main road. The food is excellent, the sort of stuff you would expect from Pizza Express or Ask but at half the price, they also offer a good deal on the childrens menu.

The hill is understated in the brochure (but what do you expect if you travel to the more mountainous regions of Spain) but we managed OK and we had to push a pushchair up it everyday! The car park is normally open which helps.

The beach is very good and doesn't seem to get overcrowded like some other resorts.

We all had an excellent holiday (especially the children) and would recommend this hotel to anyone thinking of staying at the Benal palace.

The apartments were lovely, we were in one bedroomed and had a pool view, which could be a little noisey if you had very young children, but i thought they were ideal to keep an eye on the sunbed situation, towels were put out very early...and by that i mean at 2.30 am!! if not earlier...

we went on the 12th july for 2weeks and it was very busy and some people did'nt get any sunbeds...but if i didnt get one i just went out so it didnt bother me......

the hotel is very clean with lots of bed linen changes and the rooms were cleaned very frequently, staff were really friendly and helpful and nothing was a bother for them. the rooms were lovely but the bedroom could have done with a little more shelving spaces but i do appreciate that the hotel was in its infancy as my hubby discovered more shelves in the car park, i just bought 2 laundry baskets for the kids clothes so the room was tidy...

2 showers in the bathroom, hair dryer....kettle, microwave, toaster, fridge,hob ( if cooking put the extracter on above or the fire alarm will sound if u burn something), ironing board.( be careful of the ironing board as its thin and could easily break)...the iron has to be hired for the reception area....television, air conditioning in bedroom and living room.....safe in wardrobe in the bedroom...all in all the apartments are lovely infact the whole place is great and i would definately go there again....

my biggest fear was cockroaches and i never saw one indoor or outdoor and believe me i was looking!! so whoever is going there i hope u enjoy your accomodition bcause i did.....

the 2 pools have life guards who are 100% brilliant.
we ate in the snack bar which was lovely...good food there.......

now this hill...what can i say, my hubby did give me a firemans lift to the top....seriously its ok.....buggies and older folk would need to take it easy though...

Benalmadena Palace was completed in Feb 2004, and although a relatively new hotel, is being well maintained by the staff there, with any reported problems being dealt with fairly quickly, most of which seemed to be minor stuff.

Food is good value for money and a great choice as well. Not sure how some of the younger kids will take it, but our 3 and 5 year olds managed to find enough for themselves on the occasions we did use the hotel restaurant

Hotel is situated at the top of a fairly steep hill which I really didn't find a problem having been to Los Gigantes on numerous occasions, but you can avoid most of it by going in through the underground car park.

Hotel is approx 1 mile from the main resort centre but there are plenty of restaurants and bars at the bottom of the hill and turn left, within 5-10 mins walk and more along the bech fronr prom a little further on

Hotel staff generally very helpful, especially reception

Entertainment is reasonable, ranging from water polo/volleyball, rifle shooting, archery, french boules, mini golf, etc as well as the Airtours Kids Clubs

Several good sized supermarkets with 5 mins of the apts - Plus(just like Lidl) is at the bottom of the hill(which isn't that bad unless you try to run up it!!) and turn left and is just in behind Burger King. SuperCor is a bit further along the road the same direction just around the corner beyond the Shell Garage which you can get basics if you happen to arrive in the middle of the night. Bottom of the hill and turn left there is a Super Sol just off one of the roads to the left, I think it's the Silver Sail Roundabout or just before there, but look for the signs pointing to it.

We had 1 bedroom apartment ideal for the family,although requested a sea view and were situated directly above the hotel entrance with no sea view, were told we hadn't paid extra supplement for this they offerd to move us to another room offered at the next transfer day but to a room about three along from us which would not have been any benefit. The room lacked storage space although no real problem however.

Hotel was very clean staff extremely friendly and helpful, reps only interested in selling excursions ect. and not how are you enjoying the holiday. Did not sample the hotel food but looked very nice indeed but would not have been able to go to the restaurant as hubby refuses to take long trousers on holiday, no entry with shorts on, a bit behind the times as shorts can be dressy.

The hill did seem ominous to start with but really got quite attached to it, althought the car park was a godsend at times, the location was fine. Do be aware of the mosiquito's I was bitten 45 times and took a reaction to them, so had to cover my legs the first week, hubby was bitten several times, so take the repellant and the plug in.

The sunbeds were are real problem if you didn't get your act together very first thing in the morning and all get out and if your lucky you may get all together, did annoy me that people were allowed to put towels on the beds the night before, especially when there are staff around seeing people doing it, it didn't help of course when you have two teenagers not up before 1pm even then a lot of unused beds with towels, I personally couldn't bring myself to do the same as I would be a hyprocite.

The staff do have a lot to learn, but am sure they will improve with time and feedback, and if they do I will be watching this space I would definitely return to the palace.

We stayed here on allocation on arrival 11th july for a week.
I would imagine if you have children this hotel has excellent facilities but if you are a couple it is a nightmare!! There are hundreds of kids! We had a room on the top floor looking out towards the coast which was lovely and quiet also clean and tidy. The sunbed situation is the worst I have seen - I woke up at 5.30 am one morning and looked over the balcony to see if any were available and they were all taken!! so we spent the week outside of the hotel - the beech sunbeds are reasonably priced and comfy. Tip - if you are looking for a quiet beech go down to sunset beech apartments (at bottom of hill) walk through its car park to the right and keep going after a short walk you find a small beech which was lovely and quiet. Mainly spainsh go there, also small resturant above beech in cliff face has fantastic views and good food.
Overall we thought the holiday was good value for money and hotel was good we just won't go allocation on arrival again.
PS Pto Banus well worth visit and we also really enjoyed free trip to diamond centre and san miguel factory.
PPS Avoid Havana bar ( on strip left bottom of hill - couple of places after shakespeare british bar) Had the worst meal of our lives in here AVOID!!