Ambassador Playa I

The hotel itself is perfectly located, within easy walking distance of some of Benidorm’s best entertainment venues. The property was spotlessly clean, modernly decorated and generally well presented. The rooms were comfortable, the hotel had a pleasant overall appearance, and on first impressions, it seemed to tick all the right boxes.

Sadly, that’s where the positives end.

Let’s start with the negatives.

The room safe: This is one of the only hotels I’ve stayed at recently that charges a staggering €20 per week just to use the room safe. Quite frankly, I find this absolutely ridiculous. A basic facility like this should be included in the room price, not treated as an opportunity to squeeze even more money out of guests. Nothing short of daylight robbery!

Tea and coffee facilities: Once you’ve used the tea and coffee amenities in your room, you have to pay €4 to have them replenished. Again, this is an unnecessary additional charge that leaves a sour taste and detracts from the overall guest experience.

The lifts: One of the lifts appeared to be constantly out of order, resulting in lengthy delays and frustration for guests. On one occasion, the lift doors opened, only for a member of the cleaning staff to barge past two elderly guests who had already been waiting some time. As the doors were closing on them, the staff member said, and I quote, “You wait, I busy.” Absolutely appalling behaviour, particularly towards elderly guests who had already been inconvenienced.

Restaurant management: On one evening, the restaurant manager took a drinks order from a guest and then simply walked off, leaving the guest without their drinks and a queue of other guests standing around waiting. There seemed to be little urgency or consideration for the people being served.

The food: The food was generally nice enough and perfectly edible, but it was repetitive and lacked variety. Breakfast, however, was particularly disappointing when it came to certain items. The hash browns were a soggy mess, the fried bread crumbled the moment you put a fork to it, and the churros were so hard you could practically knock a nail into a wall with them! I genuinely struggle to understand how churros can be got so wrong in Spain.

Restaurant layout: The restaurant was poorly laid out, with little thought given to the flow of guests. You could find yourself moving from hot food to cold food, then desserts, only to end up back at the hot food again. The layout felt disorganised and unnecessarily confusing. The tables were equally poorly arranged, with reserved signs scattered everywhere, many of which appeared to be completely ignored anyway. Overall, the dining experience felt chaotic rather than comfortable.

The biggest disappointment: the staff

Unfortunately, the staff were by far the worst aspect of our stay.

The attitude of the restaurant staff and chefs was, at times, nothing short of shocking. There was little to no greeting, no thank you, no eye contact and very little basic courtesy. Staff would rush around with trolleys, bumping into guests and tables without so much as an apology.

On one occasion, a member of staff trying to get through a particularly busy walkway simply shouted, “Oi!” rather than politely asking people to move.

On another occasion, a chef was holding a cloth and wanted to wipe down the buffet surface. Rather than waiting a moment for me to finish selecting my food, she simply told me, “Move,” and pushed past me to wipe away a couple of crumbs. A little patience and basic manners would have gone a long way.

Hand on heart, I have never stayed at a hotel where the standard of customer service was so poor. To say the experience was disappointing would be a massive understatement. The overwhelming impression was that basic courtesy towards guests was simply too much to ask.

In fact, throughout my entire week-long stay, there was just one member of staff who made eye contact and offered a smile. He was a gentleman with tattoos and earrings, who I believe worked in the pot-wash or kitchen area and was pushing a trolley collecting dirty cutlery. Out of all the staff members I encountered, he was the only one who made that small but meaningful effort to acknowledge guests.

Just one, and I’m truly frustrated I didn’t catch his name, so I could at least acknowledge his service

I’m certainly no snob, nor do I expect five-star service from every member of staff. However, I do expect basic politeness, respect and common courtesy, particularly when guests are paying to stay at a hotel. Unfortunately, the attitude displayed by so many of the staff was genuinely shocking.

What makes this experience all the more frustrating is that the hotel itself has so much potential. The location is excellent, the property is modern, and the cleanliness was very good. On paper, it should have been a fantastic place to stay.

Sadly, the poor service, unnecessary additional charges and disorganised restaurant experience completely overshadowed those positives.

It’s such a shame that what could have been an excellent hotel experience was let down so badly by the people responsible for making guests feel welcome.

A lovely hotel in a fantastic location, but an extremely disappointing experience. Until the attitude towards guests improves, I would struggle to recommend it.

Disappointed my friends went last year said was fantastic but were also disappointed this year. No day time entertainment , pool area not clean, food options sparce and sane food every second night and the noise from room Was terrible every night till 1 am thought the singer was in my room Was so loud was disappointed and my friends had said year before was so different not sure why it changed