I'm not going to pfaff about with a concise essay type review.I'm just going to list the good and bad points about this accommodation....unfortunately the bad points far outweigh the good points as far as we were concerned.

Good points

1.Fab pool
2.Decent sized studio apartment
3.Really comfy beds
4.Well equipped kitchen
5.Fairly close to beach
6.Lovely gardens
7.Plenty of sunbeds and space on grassed area to lay towels for sunbathing.

Bad Points

1.Pool doesn't open until 10am
2.Sunbeds are 3 euro
3.Pool swim up bar doesn't open until 12pm
4.70% of complex is residential and owned by Spanish.
5.At weekends they let in hoards of local teenagers for free and they take over the pool area.
6.Pool slides and flumes are closed on a Sunday
7.Bathroom cramped and pokey,poorly lit
8.Complex is miles from anywhere a good mile trek uphill to Bonanza square.
9.Nowhere doing breakfasts nearby(pool cafe not open until 10am) nearest establishment doing a decent English breakfast about half a mile away
10.Don't expect maid service daily you won't get one ,our room wasn't cleaned once in the week we were there
11.No beds made and no clean bed linen given.
12.Towels only changed once during our stay
13.Bins only emptied once and that was because we left it ouside the door
14.No air con
15.No ceiling fan in room and no fans for hire
16.No tv
17.No air con in any public area
18.No seating in reception
19.No lounge bar
20.No money exchange service at reception

This is the 2nd time my husband and I have stayed in the Benal Beach. The location is great,really central. The best thing about the place is the swimming pools. There are slides everywhere and a pool bar. There are plenty of sun lounges (although it was september). We booked the holiday ourselves which was excellent value for money, half the price of booking through a travel firm. There was no entertainment there in september which was a shame as the place was still full. The staff on reception are not at all freindly and we noticed this both times we stayed there. The room will never be ready for you what ever time you arrive they always say to come back in about 2 hours, which is a bit annoying.
I would still highly recomend the Benal beach and we are hoping to return again next year.

Great place to stay very clean and user friendly, great location to be central to most things.

We booked a 2 star, so were not expecting the ritz. We had 8 days. We were on the 9th floor, and by the lift, which is what we asked for. Our accomodation was a Studio. It was lovely, obviously just decorated, and had a huge balcony with a view of Benalmadena and the sea.

Check in was a bit slow, but we got there in the end.

The hotel mail pool was closed for maintenence, whice was not a problem, the two small pools were open, but were very dirty. the area around the pools was not that bad, there were only a small amount of sunbeds available as the majorety were locked up.

We used the Hotel Bar most night and the staff in there were brilliant. Cannot fault this at all.

Room maids, What maids??? There are maids??

What ever you do, if you fancy a walk round the gardens, don't let the door close behind you! The exterior doors are one way and once you are out, your out! Its a long walk round the 4 blocks to find a door that is open!! (after chasing the frogs)

As for Entertainment, well, as i said about the maids, what entertainment??

I made friends with a cocroach that was getting in the lift as I got out. Was the only one I saw! He's Called Kelvin if you see him!!

Ok, so there is a bit of a hill. Nothing Evil. Have a drink in a bar at the bottom, and the hill just disappears!!!

Timeshare!! AAAHHHGGGHHHH!! They sit and wait by the entrance to the hotel. Take a gun and shoot them! They will insist its "not timeshare". Just give em a slap!!

We stayed in a private rental apartment which was clean but was "tired" and could have done with upgrading especially in the bathroom but had a lovely big balcony overlooking the sea.

We found the complex grounds were well looked after and would be lovely during the summer months. The building communal areas were clean but again showing their age.

As the complex is very large it could do with better information signs and the reception did not have many information leaflets on the amenities in the complex.

It is a pity that there was not a gate at the front of the complex as we went down to the restaurants on the main road and it seems quite a long walk round to get back round to the front of the complex.


We did not find the reception staff to be very helpful, although the night porter was jovial and his english was very good and understood our questions.

I don't know if we would ever go back Benal Beach again, if we did we would probably wait until the main areas of the building had been upgraded.

Benal Beach complex was very clean. Hotel Restaurant cannot comment on as it was shut.

Hotel location could'nt be better,it is in a super location with good views all around. Beautiful gardens and water falls.

Hotel pools are super especially when it is summer season with kids when they will no doubt really enjoy the pool,slides and the bar area especially for the adults!!!

Hotel located about a 5 minute walk to a lovely beach area with bars restaurants and the usual seaside things to do.One downside was that everyday the timeshare mob wait at the enterance to the hotel complex and can get a little fed up with it!!

Hotel staff we found friendly and helpful.

Entertainment cannot comment on this as it was out of season.

The apartment was situated close to the beach and is very large, split into 4 blocks. We were in block 4 and had a fantastic view of the beach and local chapel from our balcony.

The hill which is talked about a great deal on the reviews is not as bad as people make out, we had no problems and certainly wouldnt call it a steep hill more like a slope. The hotel was clean of rubbish but was in need of a good mopping down.

The hotel staff were on hand 24hrs and on the couple of occassions we needed to speak to them they was very helpful.

The apartment is mainly resident to the Spanish holiday makers from the North on there summer holidays and the pool area can become very packed.

The corridors can become very noisy at times especially about 1am when everyone seems to be going out and then returning back early hours of the morning, but the security staff are there on hand if required.

Found it difficult to sleep at night with the noise and the banging of the apartment doors (very heavy doors) and the corridors echo. Carnt say much about the entertaiment as we didnt stay for it as we went into the town most nights.

The pools are very good with regards to there size and the shutes however the pool did need a good clean and we never saw the pool area get a hose down. When walking around the pool area it was clearly very dirty and bits of rubbish was scattered around.

It was very expensive in the little huts around the pool which sold drinks and ice creams etc, we only spent a couple of hours around the pool in the 2wks we were there with our two 14 yr olds.

Doubt it very much if we will return.

We rented a privately owned apartment. There was no air conditioning and the kitchen consisded of two hobs a fridge microwave toaster and kettle. Apartment was only cleaned once a week. The shower was on a heater so did not last long and took a while to heat back up. The apartment was spacious but felt empty due to lack of furnishings.

With no air conditioning it was uncomfortable and leaving the window left it noisy till about 2am with lots of spanish staying out on the terraces till late.

The pool area was nice but tended to get overcrowded, it was also very dirty, With lots of ciggerette ende lying about with most still lit. The pool bar was a let down, it was mainly crowded with people messing about round it.

Another minus was the sunbeds which were charged for and even though the pool closed at 8 they were collected about 6 so you were left to lie on the grass.

The toilets round the pool in the bar area were disgusting and smelly and one day had a trail of excrement leading from the tolet to the steps. The facilities were hit and miss. We never went to the rataurant so cannot comment but the bars were expensive.

The supermarket was resonably priced. There was an onsite laundrette which was bearly open. We had to use an external one. The lifts were very erratic with not much room. The barbed wire fench gave it a prison camp feel

Probably the worst accomadation I have had since I sstarted going away. Would return to the resort but not here.

There was 7 of us altogether and booked independently via the web.

The 2 rooms we rented where similar with what they had in furnishings and fittings.on the 1st floor overlooking the gardens it was functional though small.

There was airconditioning which was a must with it being so warm.the temp rarely dropped below 25oC at night.

It is mainly used by the Spanish for short breaks and there was comings and goings at all hours off the day and night. The corridors echo a lot and there was some banging doors. The location off the place is,nt too bad it is close to the beach but a good mile or so from the main marina area. Its not far from the cable car to the top off the mountain or tivoli world. That hill which is mentioned a lot on here but not in the online brochure for the place began to take its toll on the legs and lungs in the 2nd week, especially pushing a wheelchair.

Its as well at the top of it across the road theres a park with a cafe/bar before going back to the apartment area.there is a taxi rank as well which is handy and the reception staff will buzz for one for you free off charge.

We did'nt eat much in the place but what we had we thought was basic and expensive. After 10pm there is an extra 50cent charge on everything at the pool bar so a beer at E3.80 gets a bit steep. The lounge is ok but quiet as after happy hour 7-8pm people head on out.

What we did find out about the place that everything there shop,supermarket bars etc where all franchised and nothing to do with the whole set up, but all the staff in whatever capacity they where employed where very helpful.

I noticed the cleaners sweeping and mopping emptying bins etc from 8am and the pool being cleaned by an underwater vax type thing, so no complaints there.

The area suoounding the pool nice as it is could have done with a thorough good clean off dog ends etc but again bins where empty. It does get busy but no early bird near continentals up and claiming prime spots with the sunbeds am afraid that when it did happen 4 days in a row it was a brit family responsible which i found a bit ironic.

The pools themselves where spot on slides and flumes for the kids and life guards on duty. No lilos in the water either only armbands and rings for the little ones. Pool bar I found was ok and not over busy .

There is a pool side hut but again you are gonna pay for it,E3.00 for a portion of chips and the ice's are nigh on double the price off the kiosk at the top off the hill.

There is no entertainment in the complex lounge bar but they do have a karaoke on a sat night at the pool side bar/restaurant and everynight they have something on albeit for half an hour and thats yer whack.

We would consider going back but only for a week.

This was our second time at Benal Beach. This time I was very disappointed. Yes, the pools are great and my daughter had a great time in them, but the pool area and grass area were very dirty. We were there for two weeks and in that whole time the pool area wasn't swept once and certainly wasn't hosed down at all. There were cigarette ends, plasters and various litter round all the pools. I didn't walk anywhere without my pool shoes. Complained 3 times to the administation office, but it didn't change anything.

Our apartment was, however, very nice. Fully fitted kitchen, our air conditioning unit broke down after day 2 and it took 8 days for the unit to be replaced. They gave us 2 fans, though, but we missed it. Towels changed every other day. No problem at all with the apartment we had.

Entertainment at night not really for kids. Restaurant food looked okay although we ate out most nights.

Because of dirtiness of pool area would not go back here.