Cimbel

4-star hotel – 0-star customer care. A deeply disappointing and frightening stay. We stayed at the Hotel Cimbel for four nights and, unfortunately, our experience was extremely disappointing. The hotel has a fantastic location, good facilities and a very nice breakfast. However, these positives were completely overshadowed by what we experienced with the staff and management. We are two women in our 60s and neither of us drinks alcohol. We were back at the hotel around 10pm each evening. We paid a considerable amount for a four-star hotel and expected, at the very least, basic courtesy, communication and concern for our safety. Sadly, that was not our experience. Before arriving, we contacted the hotel regarding my 68-year-old disabled sister and her need for a mobility scooter. Despite the hotel being aware of this beforehand, the scooter was not available when we arrived. We were told it would be provided the following day because the hire company was closed. Even something as simple as asking reception for directions to a local shop resulted in us being sent in completely the wrong direction. Then came an incident that could have had very serious consequences. On our first day, my sister had an accident on the mobility scooter. The scooter was jerky and difficult to control. She went off the promenade and fell approximately three feet onto the beach, with the scooter landing on top of her. The police attended and were clearly very concerned about the circumstances. My sister is 68 years old and has osteoarthritis, COPD and a mild heart condition. To say we were shaken is an understatement. On returning to the hotel, we did exactly what the police instructed and reported the accident to reception. The response? A shrug. No obvious concern. No meaningful assistance. No sense that staff appreciated the seriousness of what had happened to one of their guests. I asked to speak to someone who could speak English. Eventually another member of staff appeared and told us they would telephone the scooter company the following morning. The next day, when we asked about a replacement, we were initially told that the scooter was "alright". I explained again what had happened and why we were not prepared to allow my sister to use the same scooter. After a protracted discussion, the staff member agreed to telephone the hire company. He spoke to them in Spanish and then told us that they had said the scooter was fine. I asked for the telephone and spoke to the hire company myself. Within 10 minutes, they agreed to replace the scooter. To be fair, the hire company did exactly what they said they would. The replacement was provided promptly. But the hotel's response to what had happened was, in my view, completely unacceptable. Then, on another night, things became genuinely frightening. At approximately 3am, a very drunk man began trying to get into our room. He was repeatedly shouting for us to open the door and attempting the door handle. There was no peephole in our room, so we had no way of seeing who was outside. We were two women in our 60s, alone in the room, with a stranger attempting to gain entry in the middle of the night. We were frightened. I called reception. We were told that they were aware of the situation and that the man would be removed. A few minutes later the shouting stopped — but then he returned and began kicking our door. I called reception again and specifically explained that we were two older women alone in the room and that we were frightened. We were told that staff were watching the man on CCTV and that the police had been called. Approximately 25 minutes later, we heard muffled voices and eventually the man was taken away. We subsequently contacted reception for an update and were told that the police had removed him. But this is where I find the hotel's behaviour particularly difficult to understand. Nobody came to our room to check that we were okay. Nobody apologised. Nobody offered any reassurance. Nobody followed up with us the following morning. Nobody even mentioned the incident again. We were simply left to get on with it. For a hotel advertising itself as four-star accommodation, I find that level of customer care astonishing. When a disabled 68-year-old guest has a serious mobility scooter accident and the police attend, surely some level of concern would be expected. When two women in their 60s are woken at 3am by a stranger attempting to enter their room and subsequently kicking the door, surely someone from management should at least check that their guests are safe and okay. We received none of this. The hotel may have a brilliant location and good facilities, but a four-star hotel should be about more than the building and the view. It should also be about how guests are treated when something goes wrong. Our experience was that when we genuinely needed help, empathy and reassurance, it was simply not forthcoming. We left feeling extremely disappointed and, frankly, very let down by the hotel. Good location. Good breakfast. Good facilities. But in our experience, an unacceptable level of customer care. We would not recommend the Hotel Cimbel based on our experience, and we certainly would not stay there again.

This was my first stay at this hotel, though I visit Benidorm every year. I am in my 70s, and I must say it was the best hotel room I have ever stayed at. It was also the most expensive hotel room I’ve ever had, but you get what you pay for. The room was spacious, modern with all the mod cons, including free safe, fridge of free drinks, and tea/coffee making facilities. Then on the enormous balcony (which gets the sun all day), there’s two sun beds, two chairs and a table, and amazingly a dip pool. The view from the room of the promenade, beach, and sea, is fantastic, and the hotel is perfectly positioned in Benidorm for all its facilities. It is very much a Spanish hotel for the Spaniards, but there were a few English people there and they made us very welcome. There were a few minor problems, eg the dinner starts late at 8pm, and apart from the lovely hot soups, most of the “hot” food is cold. The main problem, especially for newbies like us, was that there was so little information offered eg the times of the meals, WiFi code, how to get a porter, or room service, whether the drinks in the fridge are free, the time the room has to be vacated, etc, etc. Most hotels have this information in a little booklet in the hotel room, but this hotel does not. Also, the dip pool was a tad dirty with sand, leaves, and peoples’ sweat in it, although the main pool was cleaned and checked every day, the was no sign that the dip pool had any such attention.