Hotel Flamingo Oasis, Benidorm

I have just recently got home from the Flamingo Oasis hotel in Benidorm, which is an all inclusive hotel which has been an absolute pleasure staying in.

I arrived just before ten o clock on Saturday 30th June after a very long one hour bus journey from the airport. I immediately walked into an extremely large and spacious reception area where the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful and they all speak fantastic English. Because it was so late we were given a temporary room card which we could use to get our free drinks for the night, these were replaced in the morning by cards which had a photo of me on it which was taken there and then using a digital camera connected to a pc. These are used to prove to the security guards and bar staff that you stay in the hotel and they are also rooms cards which is handy as I didn’t need to bother my mum and dad all the time for a card.

Because we had arrived so late we had missed dinner however the restaurant was still open and was serving snacks which I found very practical.

When we went to our room, which was on the 14th floor, we found two very large single beds pushed together to make one very large double bed and two very large couches which me and my little brother slept on very comfortably. The room also had a big television with many English speaking channels including BBC 1, Sky Sports, CNN and British Eurosport which was good to keep us entertained while getting ready to go for dinner. The room also has air conditioning which is manually controlled. It works extremely well and in the first night my mum actually had to get up and turn it off because she was so cold which is a first on a holiday abroad. The storage space was good as well, there is a huge built in wardrobe with four sections to put each others clothes me my mum, dad, and little brother all had a section each. There are two class sliding doors in front of these sections and two plain ones so there is no lack of mirrors in the room for vain people like me.

The rooms also have extremely spacious and clean bathrooms which have a bath with a shower attached, his and her sinks which was useful as they was usually four of us squabbling to brush our teeth at the same time, WC and bidet the bath has a glass screen and not a curtain which I found good as curtains are extremely annoying, There is a plug for electric shavers and a hairdryer and the mirror takes up the full wall. The hotel also supplies the usual little sachets of shampoo, conditioner and soap. There is a cleaner who goes round every day and changes your towels unless you request otherwise.

The hotel has a very large pool which at first is really cold however it does get warmer as the day goes on as the sun heats it up. It starts off shallow with barely a centimetre of water in in and gets deeper until it is round about one metre twenty centimetres deep which is deep enough to dive and bomb into. There is also two life guards on at all times. There is a very shallow children’s pool next to a small play park which is useful for keeping the children away from the deep pool and harms way. There is also a small Jacuzzi at the side which is switched on and off by a button. The sunbathing area is very large with plenty of sun beds for everyone. The bar next to the pool opens from 11am to 6pm and serves burgers, chips and chicken nuggets from 12 onwards.

There is also plenty to do at this hotel as there are a couple of bars scattered about . There is a café style bar at the entrance which serves everything from beer to tea there is a veranda just next to this which had four pool tables on it and also access to the crazy golf and football pitch which doubles as a tennis court,
There is also a piano bar which opens from eight till two and also serves a wide range of drinks this is an adults only bar and is always very quite. The skyline bar is based on the 25th floor and is also adults only however you had to pay at this bar and seeing as all the other bars were all inclusive I failed to see the point in it. There was also the Flamingo Fiesta bar which was more lively and had a big screen which showed films during the day such as Mission Impossible III and Superman Returns. At night there was either a disco or karaoke on which was always fun. However, after 12am you have to pay for all drinks which was a downside.

The entertainment staff always made sure there was a great show on at night and they performed there own versions of the hit musicals Grease and Mamma Mia which were extremely enjoyable. After they finished there was entertainment for the adults which was either a singer or a stand up comic or a hypnotist.

There is also a games room for the children which contains more pool tables and many more enjoyable games however everything cost a euro and my mum and dad were soon fed up with me and my brother asking them for money all the time. There is also an internet café which you pay a euro for 15mins which was slightly dear I think. There is a lounge area with two big screen televisions to watch and there is a hairdressers and a shop which were quite steeply priced.

The hotel is advertised saying it has two restaurants however this is really one big one with different décor on each side however the food served here was amazing there was so much choice that I cant even begin to describe it. There was always a chefs special which was always a meat or fish dish but there was plenty more main course dishes to choose from. The fact that it was all inclusive meant that you could try a bit of everything each night.

The hotel is only a ten minute walk away from the beach and a 15 minute walk from the square which is where all the best clubs and pubs are situated.

The only downside with the hotel sometimes you have to wait a long time for the lifts which can be frustrating and annoying at times.