Winter Sunshine in Benidorm

With almost year-round sunshine, Benidorm is certainly the place if you want to brighten up a miserable winter! Having got fed up of the terrible snow and cold weather we were enduring during early February, husband Ken and I booked ourselves over to Benidorm for 4 nights! Being only a 2 1/2 hour flight from Doncaster, it is so easy to take a short break and shows it doesn't always have to be one or two weeks. Our other reason for going was to surprise my Dad who'd gone over there for two weeks on his own, and needless to say he was delighted to see us.

We stayed at the Ambassador Playa which has a superb location in the midst of Benidorm's "night-life" - although for some this may not be an ideal location in the height of summer. Although the hotel is a little old-fashioned it is exceptionally clean, very friendly staff and the food was excellent. It is a buffet-style restaurant but the staff ensure the dishes are well replenished and there was always a good selection and choice.

Whilst over in Benidorm I decided to do some "work" and looked up some hotels which clients have either asked about or indeed stayed in. All were in the same area of Benidorm known as Levante being La Perla, Rosamar, Nereo and Presidente.

Benidorm is most famous for some of its nightlife - particularly after now having a sitcom named after it starring Johnny Vegas. The night club where most of this is filmed is called "Morgans". This is a large club, lots of comfortable seating and entertainment going on from around 9pm into the wee small hours. Here we saw great acts like Chrissy Rock (who actually appears on "BENIDORM"), a Take That tribute band, and the Soul Family. Another well located hotel with its own nightclub is the Presidente - which has the UK cabaret bar on-site where we saw a fabulous comedian called Ricky Stevens - he has a puppet called Fred and although he is not the best ventriloquist in the world he was extremely funny. The one thing to be aware of when going into the nightclubs is that although you won't pay for entry you will pay well over the odds for a drink. For an example two bottles of Magners was €12!

Having said this there are still many choices of places to eat and drink inexpensively in Benidorm. A very popular bar during the day, as it's on the "sunny side of the street" is Jumping Jacks - where a pint of beer still costs just €1.

If you're looking for just a relaxing drink in comfortable surroundings and with some excellent music without having to pay "megabucks" for a drink then pop into the Pig and Whistle in the old town.

One of the best restaurants we've found on our many visits to Benidorm is “Michael’s” which is in the old town. Michael used to own a restaurant called Two Palms but has now moved to bigger premises. You can eat a three course meal in here for as little as €6 during the day and around €10 at night. The staff have been with Michael for years and are all very attentive. The food is cooked to order and is all home made - absolutely superb!

So if you're looking for a break from routine and can't afford to take a week off work - then why not consider a few days in Benidorm? With a little bit of sunshine, fabulous entertainment, good food and drink, I can recommend it.