Meliá Benidorm

The centrepiece of Meliá Benidorm is the free-form lagoon pool — a large, curving outdoor pool with waterfalls, rockwork and thick tropical planting that makes the whole ground floor feel more like a resort in the Canaries than a town-centre hotel. Most bedrooms in both towers look directly down onto it.

The gardens around the pool are mature and generous, with palms, sun terraces and quieter shaded corners for reading. A heated pool is available in the cooler months, and there are dedicated shallow areas for younger children.

Rooms are decorated in a modern Mediterranean palette — warm neutrals, wood finishes and accent colours — and every room has a private balcony or terrace, most looking over the lagoon pool or the surrounding gardens. Standard rooms come with two single beds or a double, a 32" LCD TV, individually controlled air conditioning, safe, minibar, and a functional workspace with Wi-Fi and a dedicated laptop socket.

Sofa beds are standard in most categories, so many rooms can flex up to a small family. Upgraded suites add a separate lounge and a much larger terrace, with the top-floor layouts featuring a private jacuzzi and skyline views across Benidorm and the mountains.

The main restaurant is a bright, spacious buffet with live cooking stations, a large cold section (salads, tapas, cured meats, gazpacho) and daily hot dishes covering Mediterranean and international cuisines. Themed evenings run throughout the week.

Bed and breakfast, half board and full board are all offered. Around the pool there are additional bars and snack points for lighter lunches and drinks without needing to head back inside.

Meliá Benidorm runs a full daytime activities programme around the pool and a nightly entertainment show inside — a mix of live music, dance shows and family-friendly performances. It's professionally run and, unlike some Benidorm hotels, doesn't feel like an add-on.

For families there's a dedicated kids' club with themed decoration and a proper outdoor playground within the gardens, plus a shallow pool section. It's a hotel that genuinely works for a young family without pushing adults out.

One of the reasons Meliá Benidorm attracts business travellers — unusual for the resort — is the scale of its meeting facilities. There are 10 meeting rooms of various sizes plus banquet space, all supported by the standard Meliá catering and AV setup. Combined with the desk and Wi-Fi in every guest room, it works well for conferences, incentive trips and small corporate events.

On-site parking is available for guests (with charge), and there's a taxi and bus stop directly in front of the hotel, which makes airport transfers and day trips to Alicante or the theme parks straightforward.

The hotel is set in the Rincón de Loix, the eastern end of Benidorm. It's about a 10-minute walk (900 m) down to Levante Beach and roughly the same to the top of Calle Gerona and the main strip of British and Irish bars, so you get a quieter, greener base without being cut off from the nightlife.

Aqualandia and Mundomar are a short walk further up the hill, and the Old Town is around 25 minutes on foot along the seafront promenade. Alicante Airport is around 45 km away — a 45-minute pre-booked transfer.