- Costa del Sol Holidays
- Benalmadena
- Holiday World Polynesia, Affiliated by Meliá
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Holiday World Polynesia, Affiliated by Meliá
Spain, Europe
Benalmadena
This marvellous holiday complex is situated in Benalmadena Costa. It lies approximately 10 minutes away from Fuengirola by public transport, and is only 15 km away from Málaga Airport. The property is surrounded by vegetation creating the tranquillity that makes it ideal for a stress-free getaway. The most outstanding element is unquestionably the variety of leisure options, with activities designed for all ages and tastes. The outdoor pool area will be certainly everyone’s favourite. Various health and beauty treatments are provided for visitors who wish to feel refreshed. The rooms are perfectly decorated to create a comfortable atmosphere and make each stay the most pleasant and unforgettable one.
Due to the surrounding area and the number of steps around the hotel, it may not be suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
The Local Area
Tripadvisor Reviews
4.0 Very Good4,368 reviews
Excellent
35%
Very Good
32%
Average
18%
Poor
8%
Terrible
7%
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Boring and hungary
Worst thing to happen was being took over before it was decent food better snack bar better quality food part from decor it's worst than before terrible entertainment for adults got sit there like plum watching some boring solo singer sing crap.paper cups on holiday terrible idea and what he'll going on with butter new stuff got cheese taste real butter please gone down hill since take over
An honest review of the full experience
Just returned from a week all inclusive at Holiday World Polynesia and given the mixed reviews, wanted to share an honest experience. If I could, I would rate this as 3.5 however can only choose between 3 and 4 and I do feel 3 is harsh.
First of all, check in does take quite a while and we arrived prior to our room being ready but were able to go for some lunch straight away. On return, our room was still unavailable despite being 45 minutes past the check in time. I did however ask if another room was available and the staff were quick to accommodate and move us to a room which was ready. This was great!
As described at the time of booking, the site is a hotel complex made up of 3 hotels, apartments and the beach splash park. The splash park is a 10 minute walk. They run regular shuttles but it’s actually an okay walk if you’re able to manage it. The splash park is brilliant, as is the hotel pool. Yes they’re on the colder side but actually you adjust very quickly. Our 4 year old wasn’t bothered at all.
The food is average. We always found something to eat but I didn't really enjoy a meal. I enjoyed some of the snacks but that was it. I can’t comment on the drinks too much as me and my husband mostly stuck to soft drinks. The rose wine is nice, and it’s Cruzcampo on draft. We didn’t try any cocktails. I think some reviews which slate the food have too high expectations of an all inclusive in Spain to be honest.
Yes there are ants however, reviews make it sound like the hotel and your bedroom is infested. There are ant trails on the ground if you eat outside at the restaurant and sometimes we had some on our patio but rarely saw them inside, and this would be a singular one which has crept in. Due to the location and setting of the hotel, I think ants are a standard and we didn’t feel this was due to uncleanliness.
The rooms are attended to every day. Your bed is made fresh and new towels are given for the ones you want to change. I wouldn’t necessarily say much more is cleaned about the room during your stay.
The hotel is a distance from other towns however the bus system is very easy to use and not expensive at all. You don’t need to get taxis. Some reviews complain about buses being unreliable or unsure of the timetable. You literally put it into google maps and it gives the next bus time.
Hotel staff are friendly and the animation team are always putting on a range of activities for children and adults.
We travelled with a baby (6.5 months). I did email prior to ensure a travel cot would be available in our room and asked about the mattress. The hotel was slow to reply and replied to say the mattress was thin and therefore, I assumed this was the mattress board which typically comes with most travel cots. We therefore asked for dimensions to order a travel mattress. I never got a response to this email and therefore had to take a punt. However, it is a proper style mattress that comes with the cot so this was a wasted purchase. What I would also say is you need to bring your own cot sheets as the sheets provided are just single not fitted sheets and therefore, if your baby fidgets like ours, the sheets become loose and therefore not a safe sleeping environment.
I would agree with some reviews that the hotel requires a little maintenance to bring some things back to when it probably first opened. Some wallpaper is peeling or some areas damaged, but it’s only things you notice when paying close attention.
Overall, we had a lovely week on holiday as a family of 4.
Review by Ellie J Cramlington, United Kingdom
Birthday
So stayed here for my birthday we were ai nothing around hotel which we knew before we went did walk to beach to the left ok walking down but on a hill so hard walking back up didnt use hv or splash park .when we arrived massive queue was a queue to check out queue to check in an information queue and another queue noone really knew where to queue as all desk seemed to be checking in did ask if we checked in on.line wasnt an option cause it was 11am room wasnt ready to be expected gave us our bands which had chip in key for door room ready for 2 so went back to get room no queue was twice as long as before noway was i qeuing in that again so myself and another lady went straight to front people didnt like it cause theyd queued an hr but like we said wed already checked in just needed room no so this needs to be addressed to expect people to queue again for room no is unacceptable .its a really busy hotel thought would be quieter for sept loads children .very loud with entertainment team all day very crowded so we use to go up by children pool / whirlpool which was much quieter until afternoon .took our own cups for day time fill much easier then queuing to get tokens back .food was 1 of the best hotels ai ive stayed in couldnt fault anything loads choice gets busy but if u choose timings correct though not so bad .evenings were a bit boring as didnt like the shows nice piano bar sat outside was nice did have a softer type singer here. which was nice .rooms are lovely and compfy all the staff are lovely and friendly .all in all a lovely hotel with just few issues mainly check in very good for families as always something on in day theres an arcade too .theres a small shop bit overpriced for souvenirs so didnt buy much .i would recommend i would stay again if price is right .
Review by 640leeann55 Cardiff, United Kingdom
won’t be back unfortunately
me and my partner stayed here, as well as his family as they were getting married in benalmadena. the architecture of the hotel is beautiful and the breakfast was lovely but that’s the only positives. the location of the hotel is quite far out from the centre of benalmadena so we spent an absolute fortune on ubers to get to even the nearest shop. i paid a significant amount of money to stay here for 3 nights all inclusive and the dinner was shocking. the majority of the meats were almost raw and inedible. i’m currently pregnant so i have to be extra careful with meats so i couldn’t even eat the dinner and the other selections of food was very poor. it’s especially bad if you have children as there’s nothing simple like nuggets. there’s burgers but they were fully pink, even the outside of them. there was also minor issues such as the tv having absolutely zero channels in english and the tv remote didn’t even have batteries. the air conditioning was good but was so confusing to get working. our shower was hanging lopsided from the roof and the water pressure just made it spray every direction even out of the shower. for a 4 star hotel i would have to say it’s a 2 star.
Yes for families
We stayed here for a week in August as a family of 5 including young 16 month twins . The staff (especially in restaurant) were so friendly and helpful. They always went above and beyond to welcome the children. Good was varied and appropriate for both adults and children.
Entertainment staff were excellent!
Shop is very well stocked
Bar staff are friendly and measures on spirits were certainly impressive. cruzcampo beer in tap was good.
Our room was absolutely what we expected and the air con was excellent.
We spent hours in the pool every day, both main pool and smaller toddler pool. Water was warm, especially late afternoon. Water park was excellent and you can definitely walk there down the hill.
Our only minor point for improvement would be the check in speed on arrival. The queue was small but took a long time to be seen and given room key.
Would recommend for families, especially those with young children
