adminI am calling this June update but technically we arrived on 31 May leaving 8 June to take in my birthday on 1 June (remember for next year in case you want to buy me a beer 😉
So we booked an early flight outbound (about 6:40) as we are both early risers and like to arrive early in the day to make an extra day of it. It is the opposite when leaving we like to grab breakfast and fly around lunchtime so not hanging around all day thinking we do want to leave, which we have done before.
Airport Transfers
Airport to hotel, I didn’t even know who we were with I just went to the first desk and it was the right one. We have been let down before by the cheap bus transfers and I can remember which one it was so I try not to use them but on this occasion, it was airport to hotel so they had to have a bus waiting and it was ealy so there was no rush to get to the hotel to only be told there is no room ready. So take your pick Hoppa, Benitransfers, Shuttle Direct or any of the others there really is nothing between them.
Hotel to airport was another thing we always use mytransfersbenidorm.com I have them on WhatsApp and they are always reliable and helpful, I have even asked them to pick me up a little later at times so I can get breakfast first and they always accommodate.
Voramor Hotel
We arrived at Voramor, been here many times before but not recently and little has changed on first sight. My wife had called from the UK asking that we have a room as far away from Vincents as possible and once again Voramor pulled it out the bag. Our room was ready when we arrived which was a bonus so quickly changed and out for some refreshments, it was great that the Restaurant Manager saw us and came out to welcome us back to Voramor quickly followed by the Head Waiter who we regularly see around Benidorm when we are not staying at the Voramor and he always speaks.
I will say we had a room on the 5th floor and there was no view but there was zero noise, I think some of that was due to the set-back balcony. Weird this but the balcony was set back about 4 feet from the edge of the building which does restrict your view of the street but does seem to cut out all noise. Anyway, Voramor rooms are basic but very clean and well kept with everything you need from fridge to aircon, since our last visit they have added liquid soap and bodywash.
We were half board and I think they have cut down the selection a little but really upped the quality of the food whilst my wife a picky eater did moan a bit (she is female so what would you expect?) I had some very nice meals poached salmon, huge prawns off the plancha and duck. The wine list at Voramor is also very competitive with a House wine in white, red or rose at only 5e.
Weather
It was very hot, I believe on Thursday it was actually 30c in the shade. There was a Calima where sand and dust from the Sahara Desert were lifted into the clouds turning then a colour of anything from yellow to red but it forms a layer which traps in the heat, it can eventually fall like rain which it did leaving everything covered in a red sandy dust as you would expect. Temperatures were called a heatwave but to the duration, it could not officially be called a heatwave. Whilst we have had phenomenal weather since 9th June they have had some biblical rain.
Tapas
Due to the weather, we were not really that hungry during the day, we did manage a visit to La Mina but due to the time of day there was not much choice so we did tend to go down Tapas Alley. Now I have called Tapas Alley a tourist trap in the past and commented about their prices but we tend to eat at the Aurrera Grupo as we know some of the staff who had disappeared in March but were all back in June, can only guess they were at a different restaurant. Now I am going to backtrack and say the food in Tapas Alley (read Aurrera) was very good prices seem to have dropped maybe it’s just my expectations, but the portion sizes are large and the quality of the ingredients was second to none and whilst we did not eat loads our bill was never above 15e for drinks and few tapa.
Not tapas but I have to mention a new ice cream parlour on the main road that runs from the Old Town down to the sea, it’s called Waffle & Wraps so they do more than ice cream but the staff are lovely getting me to try all the flavours and the ice cream tastes amazing, whilst not too expensive as ice cream in Benidrom is generally expensive.
Bars
All the bars were busy, Tiki Beach (or whatever they call it now) was quieter than normal, I do feel this bar has lost some of its appeal but everybody seems to want to visit and drink at Tiki Beach and it’s a great spot, with entertainment and cheap drinks bonus is you can sit on the steps again rather than the plastic chairs which make you sweat. Sticking with the Tiki group we did stop at Tiki Town a few times we never used to like this bar no real reason why but since it has expanded there is a bit more room, the staff are great, drinks are cheap, food looks ok if you want pizza and the toilets are clean. There is a new bar on the seafront called Jolly Roger is was not open whilst we were there. It is owned by the KU group so it should be a good bar it has a nice frontage so you can catch some rays but the real differentiator is they are bringing cabaret to the Old Town and seafront, I just hope that it can keep the vibe of the Old Town whilst bringing the benefits of entertainment in the evening, if you want more info Lucy @ Benidorm Enthusiast did a great video.
Going Home
Obvs. We are planning our next trip, but we did sit the the taxi going to the airport contemplating if we should go somewhere different on our next trip but came to the conclusion that Benidorm is our happy place and what were we looking for elsewhere? The next big question is hotel or apartment, personally I think we will get a good hotel with breakfast and maybe evening meal for the same price as an apartment where we have to make beds, cook or find places to eat sounds like hard work.
