Mercure Benidorm Hotel

staff seem very good , polite and helpful, We booked a delux room @ €1340 for 4 nights dinner and breakfast. We arrived at 1pm to be told our room wasn’t ready (fair enough really as states 3pm) they let us store our cases but no where to shower / change etc so was a disabled toilet job and a quick change ..Not ideal as 37° and really needed to shower and change but couple of hours we would be sorted. 3.45pm the room was eventually ready and we went up. Floors wet ,mini bar empty , no toilet roll! .. again not end of the world but not what you expect from a 4 star with a price tag like that ! Room ok but very strangely set out with toilet in living/ room sofa but also facing the bed and a glass door on it ! 😂😂, my mrs was delighted! Good news is we had some free bottles of warm water that’s left on top of the fridge ..! The shower rooms ok though you can’t see that really just ya white bum through the toilet door as your giving it a wipe !! 😂😂😂 I see the funny side of most things but this we have never experienced and very well travelled in the 4/5 star hotel bracket so to speak .. Air con great by the way in the rooms and not on timers so if you go out you can leave it on. Food : Breakfast pretty good and always something to suit everyone i noticed. PAID for restaurant food was excellent and plenty with lots to choose from. Non paid for (as in dinner in the buffet) I personally found terrible! A choice of 4 /5 trays of luke warm rubbish tbh! Oh and a really poor grill will cheap cuts of meat that was inedible to me tbh ! Don’t get me wrong there was loads of salads and cheese if that’s your thing but for me and the other half we don’t travel 1650 miles to eat lettuce.. Don’t be expecting a sleep in either as at 8.07am the builders start across the road with some machine that punches the floor to make foundations for a carpark they have decided to build in August peak season ! Unbearable around the pool but don’t worry it’s only another €18 a day for the sunbeds on the beach where if you walk far enough down you can’t hear the pounding of concrete! Anyway great news was the toilet roll turned up at 6.45 after 2 calls to reception and an email to booking.com ! , happiest I had seen the Mrs since we arrived 😂😂 Our final mistake was booking a taxi with the hotel back to the airport.. Some old guy turned up so we went out to be very nicely greeted and he even put his fag out to throw our cases in the back of some car/van with no taxi plates or meter .. We made the airport in 30 mins as the complete lunatic was going 140-160kmh , he then told us “it’s Saturday “ (I already knew that ) but then explained the price would be €100 as he was knocking us €5 euros off with a wink. €80 going to the hotel with the airport taxis .. ! Good luck but NEVER again for us

We really enjoyed our stay at the Mercure Benidorm overall. It’s a beautiful, modern and very clean hotel, with lots of lovely greenery throughout the property.

The staff were lovely and welcoming, and being given champagne upon check-in was a really nice touch. Our room was modern and clean, the beds were really comfortable and the air conditioning was fantastic. The only issue with the room was that the toilet door wouldn’t lock.

The location was great too. It was within walking distance of everything we wanted, but far enough away from the main areas that it was nice and peaceful and away from the noise.

We also loved the iced coffees, and the pizzas and salads we ordered at lunchtime were lovely.

The biggest issue for us was definitely the sunbed situation. The rules were ridiculously strict. A hotel worker would actually time how long you were away from your sunbed, and when we were away for only around 20 minutes, we came back to a note saying that we could buy a sunbed instead.

It honestly felt like being back at school rather than being on holiday, and was the complete opposite of relaxing. This wouldn’t have been an issue if there were enough sunbeds for the guests in the first place, but there simply weren’t enough. I’ve never experienced this anywhere else I’ve stayed and I think the whole system is quite silly. The alternative was to pay a ridiculous price for a bed for the entire day, which also felt unreasonable.

The pool itself was a bit strange too, as hardly anyone seemed to be swimming in it. There was also some construction noise during our stay.

The food was another slight disappointment. It was cold, although there was a decent selection considering it’s a smaller buffet.

Overall, we really liked the hotel. The staff, modern and comfortable rooms, fantastic air conditioning, location and beautiful surroundings were all great. The sunbed situation was definitely the biggest downside and took away from what should have been a relaxing pool experience, but aside from that, we had a lovely stay and would still consider staying here again.