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Earn commission on the cabaret show at Benidorm Palace
s Hotel The Barcelo Asia Garden l retreat & Thai Spa is a tranqui
SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW... BENIDORM B
Jeannine Williamson takes a look at how the Costa Blanca has blossomed .co.uk/de st in travelwe ekly t travelweekly.co.uk — 22 March 2012
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ig, brash and bawdy – or at least that was Benidorm’s reputation. A destination that developed from the first sun, sand and sangria packages in the 1950s, the British love affair with the Costa Blanca – the ‘white coast’ halfway along Spain’s eastern shoreline – continues today. With good weather, a wide choice of flights, varied accommodation, reasonable prices and more than 60 miles of sandy beaches, it has lost none of its original appeal, and about 40% of visitors are Brits. And while many of the small fishing villages that spawned the tourism boom are unrecognisable today – most noticeably Benidorm – clients can also discover a very different side to the Costa Blanca. Rural villas, five-star hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants, golf courses and spas are all within easy reach of the airline gateway Alicante. An increase in purse-friendly all-inclusive hotels has also prompted some operators to return to the region. Patricia Birmingham, Shearings Europe and worldwide holidays manager, says: “The increasing
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The port city of Denia is a popular place to stay and is overlooked by an 11th-century castle
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COSTA BLANCA NEWS This winter the all-inclusive four-star Sandos Monaco became the latest Benidorm hotel to offer adult-only holidays and has revised its spa and entertainment programme to cater for this market.
O BENIDORM It’s still easy to ďŹ nd all-day British breakfasts and chips with everything, but with about 400 restaurants Benidorm has something to cater for all tastes, and not just as far as food is concerned. According to client surveys carried out by operators, Benidorm has some of the best three-star hotels in the Med, and they continue to be a great option for families. Thomson sells one of the most famous of them all, Sol Pelicanos/Ocas – the backdrop for the ITV comedy series Benidorm. But the last decade has also provided the resort with top-end accommodation and attractions, something that may come as a surprise to ďŹ rst-time clients or repeat visitors who haven’t been back for a few years. A 10-minute drive from
the 5,000 sunbeds that line Levante beach in the height of the season brings visitors to a clutch of luxury properties. The Barcelo Asia Gardens & Thai Spa is a tranquil eastern-inspired retreat with top-notch dining. Melia Hotels International has added the nearby Villaitana resort (main picture), consisting of a four and a ďŹ ve-star hotel, to its portfolio. With 25 separate buildings creating the feel of a Mediterranean Village, there are 455 rooms alongside a church, a main square, 12 restaurants and bars, tennis courts, a spa and two 18hole golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus. “Benidorm has been a favourite holiday destination for almost 50 years, since holidaymakers ďŹ rst started to arrive, but do people really know what’s on offer – or do they think they know?,â€? says Yolanda Pickett, director of Visit Benidorm. “Benidorm keeps updating itself. We have more four and ďŹ ve-star hotels, and most hotels have been Thomson sells Sol Pelicanos/Ocas, where popular ITV show Benidorm is ďŹ lmed refurbished, so we can be
Shearings, which revived its Benidorm programme in 2010, is offering two all-inclusive hotels in 2012: the three-star Regent, a few minutes from the beach and shops; and four-star Palm Beach, 750 metres from Levante beach. The luxury SHA Wellness Clinic in the resort of Albir, between Benidorm and Altea, has received a string of awards since it opened in 2008, and recently unveiled new facilities including a larger spa, more treatment rooms and a new gym and ďŹ tness room. The inďŹ nity pool at the SHA Wellness Clinic
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PICTURE: REX FEATURES/ITV
popularity of all-inclusive holidays led Shearings to revive its programme to Benidorm in 2010.�
The award-winning new promenade has been designed to imitate waves
SAMPLE PACKAGES Thomas Cook Holidays with Style offers seven nights’ B&B at the 25-room five-star Villa Venecia Hotel Boutique, Benidorm, from £558 for travel in May, including flights from Gatwick. thomascookworld.com 0871 230 2399 Thomson has seven nights’ full board at Benidorm’s four-star Hotel Flamingo Oasis from £755 per adult with the first child place free, subject to availability, and second child from £505 based on the family sharing for travel in July, including flights from Gatwick. thomson.co.uk 0871 200 7799 Design Holidays has 280 properties to rent at La Manga Club resort in the southernmost part of the Costa Blanca. A two-bedroom pool villa starts at £899 per week and a sixbedroom pool villa overlooking the golf course from £4,500 for travel in spring, excluding flights. designholidays.co.uk 01444 872200
Customers can rent a La Manga Club Villa for a bit more privacy
e of five Terra Mitica – on nidorm theme parks in Be
proud of the quality and value for money they provide. “The newly-built promenade, a spectacular design imitating the waves of the sea, has won numerous awards and we have five theme parks. How many resorts can boast that amount? There are plenty of walking and cycling routes nearby, including the protected nature park of Serra
TOP T B e n i do I P rm two ma has bays . L in e m e a n s v a n te su a n d Po n r i s e , n ie n s u n s e t te ,
Gelada, and in the Old Town, visitors can try the tapas route and the gastronomy on offer.” A wide range of excursions are available from Benidorm. Culture vultures will be interested in the city of Elche, with its Moorish architecture, while families will want to take the plunge at the Aqualandia water park. Commissionable excursions sold
News from across Spain O Melia Hotels International has started work on a major project in Magaluf, with the first phase ready to open in June. Calvia Beach Resort by Sol Hotels will integrate four different hotels: the Sol Antillas and Sol Barbados, and the two hotels added in 2011 through a joint venture with partner Evert: the Royal Beach and Majorca Beach. Two new wave pools and three bars will be added to Royal Beach Hotel, where guest rooms and public areas will also be upgraded. The Majorca Beach
Hotel, which will change its name to Beach House Hotel by Sol, will add a Nikki Beach club, sister to the entertainment venues in Miami, Marbella, Saint Tropez and Marrakech. solmelia.com O Insight Vacations has a new tour in northern Spain. The 11-day itinerary starts from £1,785 and includes VIP door-to-door transfers, accommodation and some meals. The trip visits the green hills of Galicia and Asturias, laid-back Basque beach resorts
t travelweekly.co.uk — 22 March 2012
Insight Vacations visits Asturias in northern Spain
and the cities of Oviedo and Santiago de Compostela. insightvacations.com/uk O Converted medieval abbey Abadia Retuerta La Domaine, a boutique hotel with 22 rooms and suites
opens this week. It sits on the banks of the Duero River near Valladolid in an estate slightly larger than the size of Gibraltar. The restaurant serves the Abbey’s own wines. ledomaine.es O Cosmos Holidays and Avro Flights have added an additional departure from Manchester to Ibiza this summer, bringing the weekly total to six including two flights on Mondays. Flight only prices lead in at £90 return. avroagents.co.uk
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SHA Wellness Clinic oers a range of massages and therapies from around the world
coastline has wide beaches anked by palm trees with rugged cliffs and hidden coves further north. Places to stay include the port city of Denia, overlooked by an 11th-century castle, where clients can take a ferry to Ibiza and Majorca. Javea is a small historic town free from high-rise buildings and Moraira is an old ďŹ shing town, which has also been O THE COAST sympathetically developed. Away from the big resorts there’s David Aledo, promotions a contrasting side to the Costa executive from the Valencia Blanca with medieval towns, Region Tourist Board, which covers Moorish villages, orange and olive the Costa Blanca, says: “The Costa groves and uncrowded beaches. Blanca has an ever increasing offer Suited to couples looking for a quieter holiday and mature clients of luxury holidays and visitors can pamper themselves in spas, enjoy in search of sun and culture, exclusive accommodation properties lean towards smaller in old palatial houses or four-star hotels and villas sold charming country retreats, through operators including First dinner in Michelin-starred Choice and Thomson, restaurants and and specialists such as shopping in the Villas4You, which is best boutiques. El due to launch to Poblet, in Denia, the trade in the is the only next month. restaurant in Set against a the region backdrop of with two mountains the Altea and its Parochial Church is just Michelin four miles northeast of Benidorm stars.â€? TW southern by Attraction World include the spectacular Vegas-style variety show that’s on nightly at the Benidorm Palace, the Terra Mitica theme park, one of the largest in Spain, which takes visitors on a thrilling ride around ďŹ ve ancient civilisations, and a Segway tour through Benidorm’s famous sights and hidden corners.
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