Best City-Break Stays in Benidorm

Finding a hot tub and spa bath in what we expected to be a fairly standard aparthotel was a genuine surprise, and it became the evening routine most nights of our stay. The dishwasher made a week of self-catering far less of a chore than usual, and being two minutes from Poniente Beach meant the kids could be in the water within minutes of deciding to go. Plaza Mayor Square's cafés were an easy walk for the mornings we wanted breakfast out instead.

The four-minute walk to both Poniente Beach and Plaza Mayor Square meant we barely used a map after the first day, and the breakfast lived up to the ratings that had drawn us to book here in the first place. The tour desk helped us sort a Guadalest day trip in ten minutes rather than researching it ourselves, and the child-friendly buffet took the stress out of feeding a fussy six-year-old each morning. Parking off-site was a minor inconvenience but manageable.

The renovation showed in small details that mattered over a longer stay, a kitchenette that actually felt current and a washing machine that meant we packed half the clothes we normally would. Being five minutes from Poniente Beach and 300 metres from Plaza Mayor Square meant the location did most of the work, and express check-out on departure day saved us a stressful wait with bags and a flight to catch.

Having a genuinely full kitchen, not a scaled-down kitchenette, made the week feel more like staying in an actual home than a typical short-let apartment, and the washing machine meant we did not overpack for a family of four. The two kilometres to Levante Beach meant we used the paid shuttle a couple of times rather than walking every day, but concierge sorting our Aqualandia tickets made up for the extra distance.

Being two minutes from Plaza Mayor Square and four from Poniente Beach meant we never planned our days far in advance, everything within an easy walk. The kitchenette handled breakfasts and the odd lunch, keeping costs down over a longer stay, and the soundproofing genuinely mattered given how central the location is. Reception's fluent English and Spanish made every check-in and question simple.

For the price, being 300 metres from Poniente Beach and 350 from the old town felt like excellent value, and the short walk to Hotel Melina for the pool and buffet restaurant meant we still had full resort access despite the simpler room. The balcony was a nice extra for morning coffee, and the lounge bar downstairs covered the odd snack without needing to head out. Not glamorous, but the location did the heavy lifting.

The paella nights were the highlight of the all-inclusive menu, a proper regional touch rather than the generic international buffet we had half expected, and being 400 metres from both Levante Beach and the old town meant the fixed package never felt limiting. We hired bikes for one afternoon to see more of the coast, and the sauna became a regular stop after the beach. By the last couple of nights we wandered into the old town for a change of scenery instead.

The lagoon-style pools were unlike anything else we saw across Benidorm, curved rather than the standard rectangular shape, and the view over Benidorm Island from our terrace became a daily fixture of the trip. The year-round entertainment programme meant even a shoulder-season visit had live music some evenings, and the kids' disco kept our children busy while we had a quieter dinner at the restaurant. Elche Park and the old town were both an easy walk away.

The indoor play area saved one grey afternoon that would otherwise have been difficult to fill, and the twelve-minute drive to Terra Mítica via the AP-7 made a full theme-park day genuinely manageable without an early start. Being 400 metres from both Levante Beach and the old town meant we split our time evenly between the two without ever feeling like either was a hassle to reach. Don Jaime Restaurant's buffet covered dinner most nights without complaint from anyone in the family.

The sauna and fitness centre got more use than we expected across a week that also included plenty of pool time, a good balance for a stay that was not purely about lying on a lounger. Being 350 metres from Levante Beach meant the walk down never felt long, and the weekly live music gave us an easy, no-planning-required evening more than once. Aqualandia's 2.6-kilometre distance made for a straightforward half-day trip with the kids.

The rooftop pool's panoramic view over both the town and the bay became our favourite spot for a late-afternoon swim, and being fifty metres from the old town meant an evening wander into the Casco Antiguo cost us nothing in travel time. The sea-facing room we requested looked straight over Poniente Beach, and the discounted parking nearby made the whole stay noticeably easier for a trip we did by car rather than plane.