- Benidorm Holidays
- Costa Blanca
- Gran Hotel Bali
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Gran Hotel Bali
Spain, Europe
Costa Blanca
It is the most emblematic of Benidorm and the tallest hotel in Europe. With stunning architecture, restaurants and pool area including a large lagoon pool ,also a children's pool. The rooms and suites offer a perfect combination of design, functionality and comfort. They are modern and comfortable rooms, all outdoors. *** CHILDREN: 2 TO 12 YEARS
Facilities
- Wheelchair-accessible
- Car park*
- Garage*
- 24-hour reception
- Late Check-out*
- Mobile phone coverage
- Wi-Fi*
- Local and international calls*
- Room service*
- Laundry service*
- *Some facilities may incur an additional fee
The Local Area
Tripadvisor Reviews
4.0 Very Good480 reviews
Excellent
51%
Very Good
19%
Average
10%
Poor
4%
Terrible
15%
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
⭐️⭐️ Gran Hotel Bali, Benidorm – 4 Stars… Apparently Someone Got Carried Away With the Sticker Machine
⭐️⭐️ Gran Hotel Bali, Benidorm – 4 Stars… Apparently Someone Got Carried Away With the Sticker Machine Where do I begin with the Gran Hotel Bali? First impressions are actually impressive. You walk through the entrance and think, “Wow, this place is huge!” And it is. Absolutely enormous. Unfortunately, after a few days you start wondering whether half the hotel was designed by someone whose main brief was: “Whatever you do, make sure there’s loads of space… just don’t do anything useful with it.” There is SO much wasted space here that with a bit of imagination, better management and some investment, this hotel could genuinely be ten times better. Reception: The Gran Hotel Bali Avoidance Championships 🏆 Check-in was our first introduction to the rather unique concept of customer service here. There were SIX members of staff at reception. Three appeared to be doing absolutely nothing other than chatting and wandering backwards and forwards. Spanish guests were being served while we stood there apparently wearing Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak. This became something of a theme. On our second day, I realised the wrong amount of money had been loaded onto my room card, so back to reception I went. I stood there for around TEN MINUTES while a receptionist, who had already seen me waiting, continued having a lovely conversation with another member of staff from a different department. Eventually, the gentleman she was speaking to noticed the look on my face — presumably somewhere between “Are you actually serious?” and “Should I just apply for a job here and serve myself?” — and suddenly I was acknowledged. Miraculous. Smiles from staff also appear to be an optional extra. Unless, of course, you're handing over a tip. Then facial muscles previously thought to be dormant suddenly spring into action. The Elevators: Alton Towers Without the Safety Briefing 🎢 We stayed in the older of the two towers. The room itself was comfortable enough, but very dated. It felt like we'd accidentally booked a holiday with a complimentary trip back in time. Then there were the elevators. Good grief. They move around so much that every journey feels like the hotel has included a free theme-park attraction with your stay. Some of the floor displays don't work either, so rather than knowing where you are, you simply wait for the doors to open and discover your destination like some sort of vertical mystery tour. On one occasion, we got into the lift, pressed floor 11, the doors closed… …and absolutely nothing happened. Excellent. Just me, my friends and an elevator apparently reconsidering its career choices. Staff told us the smaller elevators can take more than four people. Technically, perhaps. But unless four of those people are garden gnomes, I'd disagree. With four adults inside, you're already standing close enough to complete strangers that you feel obliged to introduce yourself, exchange Christmas cards and possibly meet each other's parents. The Pools: Actually Really Good! 😲 Credit where it’s due: the pools were great. Unfortunately, the waterfall pool — one of the pools we had particularly been looking forward to — was closed during our stay. Still, the pool areas themselves were one of the hotel's better features. The Bar: Bring a Book 🍺📖 Bar service was painfully slow. On our second day we stood waiting for around 15 minutes while Spanish guests who arrived AFTER us were served before us. Four members of staff repeatedly walked past us. At one point I genuinely started wondering whether becoming invisible was one of the hotel's complimentary services. Eventually you start questioning everything. Am I actually standing at the bar? Can they see me? Have I died? Is this purgatory? Nope. Just waiting for a drink at the Gran Hotel Bali. The Buffet: Hot Food Apparently Sold Separately 🍽️ There is plenty of choice at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, "choice" doesn't necessarily mean "good". We found the food consistently cold and bland. There might be ten different things on your plate, but somehow they all manage to taste remarkably similar: of very little. We ended up eating across the road at New York quite a lot because eventually you realise that being all-inclusive doesn't mean you have to keep punishing yourself. I've seen responses to other negative reviews saying the food meets the hotel's standards. That may well be true. The problem might therefore be the standards. The Pool Café/Ice-Cream Situation 🍦 This one genuinely baffled me. There's a café/ice-cream area right beside the pool. Perfect, you'd think. Except you can't go inside unless you're dry and covered up. It's… beside… the… pool. Surely the entire point of having a café/ice-cream area next to a swimming pool is so guests can grab a coffee, drink or ice cream and take it back to their sunlounger? We saw children wanting ice creams who couldn't simply go in and get one because they'd been swimming. At a family resort. Beside the swimming pool. Someone please make it make sense. This policy seriously needs reconsidering. Either provide a poolside serving point or allow guests to quickly purchase takeaway items without having to prepare themselves as though they're heading out for dinner. Other Guests & Queueing: Apparently More of a Suggestion Than a Rule Our stay also coincided with a Spanish holiday period, so the hotel was extremely busy with domestic tourists. Obviously I wouldn't judge an entire nationality based on guests at one hotel, but some of the behaviour we personally encountered was unbelievably rude. People repeatedly pushed ahead of us at coffee stations and bars when we were clearly queueing. Others pushed past without so much as an apology, and we witnessed people openly pointing at and gossiping about other guests. What made it particularly frustrating was that staff often saw the queue-jumping and simply did nothing about it. After enough times, you start wondering why you're bothering to queue at all. Maybe I misunderstood the system. Perhaps it's less "wait your turn" and more "Hunger Games: Benidorm Edition." The Biggest Problem: The Attitude And this is ultimately what lets the hotel down. A dated room can be renovated. An elevator can be repaired. Food can be improved. Policies can be changed. But poor customer service completely changes how you feel about a hotel. Apart from two members of staff who were genuinely pleasant, most of the staff we personally dealt with came across as arrogant, uninterested or simply annoyed that guests expected to be served. And that's a shame because this hotel has enormous potential. The building is impressive. The pools are good. The rooms, although dated, are comfortable. There's an incredible amount of space. With better management, warmer customer service, improved food, modernisation and a rethink of some frankly bizarre policies, this place could be fantastic. ⭐ Final Verdict I've read several negative TripAdvisor reviews mentioning the staff and food, and I've also noticed hotel responses strongly defending both. Well, our experience certainly wasn't imaginary. We waited. We were ignored. We watched other guests arriving after us being served first. We ate cold, bland food. We experienced temperamental elevators. We encountered dated rooms. And somewhere during all of this, the fourth star apparently escaped and is currently hiding in one of the enormous unused spaces downstairs. For us, this absolutely did not feel like a four-star experience. I've already emailed Jet2 with a complaint regarding our stay and, unfortunately, the Gran Hotel Bali will firmly be on our "avoid in future" list. The saddest thing? It genuinely could be a brilliant hotel. The potential is enormous. Unfortunately, so is the reception queue.
Not a great visit
We checked into our triple room with sky view. The bathroom is the smallest I've seen and can do with an over hall. There was no hot water for a warm shower. Plastic cups in the bathrooms All wooden furniture very dated Cupboard doesn't close where the fridge is in. Basic amenities
Also came up with hotel has no internet. So doesn't offer free internet WiFi (they said they was changing supplier but that's not a good thing to mention free WiFi if it's not.
We stayed at the Four points by Sheraton in Benidorm for 3 nights prior and the facilities are so much grander and bathroom bigger and cleaner.
Went for a snack, around 1pm, no toasties and no fries. Really????!!!!; Quite a small room and balcony for such a grand hotel and the amazing facilities.
Glad only staying one night as would be depressed if longer.
Skybar expensive just to have one drink on the top floor. €56 for 3 drinks and scenery.
Very noisy neighbours.
Finally went to sleep at 3am for 3 hours.
Breakfast very minimal. Staff all looked miserable. One staff member spilt something on the floor and walked away. Took someone 15 mins to come and clean it up.
Don't get me started on the lift issues. Waited 20 mins for the lift, on 31st floor, then stopped on every floor to get to reception. No AC in lift and squashed.
Would not return to this hotel. Made a complaint to be offered 2 glasses of cava.
Love this hotel
This is my second stay at the Gran Hotel Bali. The first time was in August 2024. This time I booked 18 nights in a suite on the 40th floor.
On arrival me and my daughter knew what was what. Reported to the check in desk around 2pm only to be told that the the computers had gone down and they couldn't check us in. The check in lady Suzanne said we could leave our luggage in the secure area and have a free lunch on the hotel whilst waiting for the system to come back online. Fantastic. We went back an hour and a half later and was able to check in. We were allocated a suite on the 40th floor.
The suite was everything I wanted it to be and more. Two seperate bedrooms, separate bathroom, separate wardrobe area, living room and spacious hallway. We had commanding views of the hotel grounds, beach and towards Benidorm as well as the mountains to the front of the hotel. The bedding, bathroom and floors were spotless. The aircon was easy enough to set myself, you can set it to your desired temperature and we found that 22c was best for sleeping at night after one night of freezing after setting the temperature to 16c! Haa! The fridge in the room was my only complaint. It would cool down then switch off producing a pool of water and warming up the contents. Reported second day, fourth and sixth, no action taken. Other than that, the extra cost for the suite is well worth it if you want separate rooms.
The food. We were on half board. We only ever made it to breakfast once in the whole 18 days! Breakfast is a mix of continental and meats such as sausages, bacon, baked beans, mushrooms etc. Everyone can be catered for. My daughter had pancakes and toast. I had a full English with toast and coffee. It met expectations. We attended dinner around 12 times. I'm lost at some of the comments on here regarding the food. There is a MASSIVE choice to cater for everyone's palate. There are two salad bars complete with smoked salmon. There are two chefs on hot grills grilling food in front of you, one doing burgers and pizza, the other doing grilled chicken. Piping hot. Top tip, if you want your burgers done a certain way, rare, medium etc, ASK the chef! One of the food bars does a different food type every night such as Thai and one night I had a lovely Argentina meal! There is plenty of fresh fruit and a lovely dessert and cake bar. In another room next to the restaurant is the American buffet room which is BBQ spare ribs, burgers, mac & cheese etc and this was always delicious. My only tiny, tiny complaint was that the coffee machines are switched off at dinner but that didn't spoil the meal just my desire for caffeine!
The hotel grounds. To me, these are massive! The foyer, the bar area and the pool area. There are loads of seating. You can always get a sun lounger or a seat in the sun. The whole areas are kept clean and whilst there, the cleaning lady always had a massive smile on her face and always always wished us Hola! The main pool is large enough to get a few lengths in if you want to work off breakfast and lunch. There is a medium sized pool for kids. None of these pools were ever packed out. Music is piped out around the pool, mostly Spanish traditional/modern music and if you listen enough you end up enjoying it! There is also British music too, mostly 80s/90s which suited me fine.
Night time in the hotel. This is a SPANISH run hotel. The singers at night are SPANISH. Every night is a different singer(s). They sing a mix of traditional and modern and some of the songs are sung in English. I'll add, they're all okay, but they're not the best of entertainers I've heard. For me it was background entertainment. There is a kiddies entertainment inside the bar area. It was well attended each night.
The bars. Well stocked, a large variety of different alcohol brands, even Strongbow for the Brits! Its priced good too. They had more staff on duty at night on the bars than what they had two years ago, but what slows the whole thing down is making cocktails. If there is a queue, its usually because some customers have ordered loads of cocktails at the same time! The bars also offer basic foods, pizzas, hotdogs, crisps and nuts. Top Tip - You can add credit to your room key card. This then gets you discount at the bar. Well worth doing plus you are not carrying cash or debit cards around all the time.
The gym. Yeah, its semi basic, needed a revamp, more space, but it has everything one would need for a good workout including music and aircon. Weights start at 2kg dumbells right up to (I think) 100kg weight bars for chest presses. Pulley weights, running machine, mats for sit ups etc. Its a basic gym with everything you need for a good workout and if you are a fitness god, the gym is on the 19th floor. Use the stairs to get up there if you REALLY want a good workout, I dare you! I managed 8 floors before admitting defeat in the heat!
The staff. Everyone, the ladies on check in, the security, the cleaners, the bar staff, literally everyone had a smile on their faces. All were attentive and well mannered. We felt so welcome. I really don't know what some of the comments are about when criticizing some of the staff. We found none of them to be negative. I know Brits have a poor reputation in Spain, but none of the staff showed this to me. Suzanne and Danielle are two ladies who are very attentive and know the whole area if you need help or advice.
The location. The hotel is not in Benidorm (thank the lord!). Its around a half hour walk or 15 minutes in a taxi. Taxi is around 10 euro, loads outside the hotel. This is what I would call a quiet area, mainly Spanish residents. Suits me. Across from the hotel are many restaurants, ALL are perfect for a meal. There is also a Mercadona supermarket across from the hotel which has everything you may need from food, drink, hygiene products, hair products, beauty etc. There are also 'trinket' shops dotted around the area. The beach is around a ten minute walk away, plenty of space on it, and you can rent a sun lounger for a few euros for the day.
The negatives. I have to compare 2024 with this holiday in August 2026. I believe management has changed many things at the hotel since 2024. First off, the bars in 2024 had a hot and cold food service which was perfect for lunches. The chef was from Iraq, a lovely man. He made 'club sandwiches' which were delicious as well as other lovely food. In 2024 me and my daughter dined on club sandwiches and fries almost every lunch time! The management has stopped the whole service and replaced with frozen pizza and hot dogs. Missed a trick there me thinks. That's a whole revenue generator lost and replaced with piping hot pizzas that are still frozen in the middle!! 0 out of 10 for that. Next, the night time entertainment. In 2024 it would start with a kiddies show, usually a Disney themed sing along. That's now stopped on the main stage. The singer(s) they have on now, hardly anyone is getting up to dance! In 2024 the dance floor would be packed, but these singers seem to put most people off. I would like to think that the management has a rethink about the evenings entertainment. Most nights the bar area would be half empty and I think people went elsewhere for entertainment which shouldn't be the case! A strong evenings entertainment is a revenue generator! A singer, a DJ, something for the kids, get all the family up on the dance floor instead of a man playing bongos and singing a song from the 60s! Better still, bring that bar food menu back online!! It must have been making money?!
The management. I believe the chap whose family own the hotel was there every single night in the bar area because I spoke to him one night about my 'negatives' above. Unfortunately, my Spanish and his English wasn't sufficient to convey my opinion. Lovely gentleman though. If he reads this, BRING BACK THE BAR MENU!!!
To finish. The Gran Hotel Bali is my kind of hotel. I booked in and was left alone to enjoy my holiday for 18 days. Everything was there in the hotel that I needed to do this. Its mainly Spanish holidays makers with a few Brits, Irish, French and I think, Russians! There was no drunkenness, no fighting, no trouble and very friendly holiday makers. I highly recommend this hotel to solo, couples and families. Its NOT a hotel for a gang of youngsters hellbent on getting drunk and having a party, you will be disappointed as the night time entertainment doesn't cater for this.
Thank you to everyone working at the Gran Hotel Bali. Me and my daughter had lumps in our throats the morning we checked out. I said if I won the lottery, I'd book a suite for 365 days! I wish everyone there the best of health, and see you in 2027 again!!
Review by TomMBmanchester Manchester, United Kingdom
Loved It
I stayed Monday to Friday with my grandson. The Hotel is stunning very clean rooms great choice of food entertainment in the pool I really liked it here and I am quite fussy. I would definitely recommend the Hotel and I hope to revisit in the future. There is a small beach on the one side which we preferred and then the longer stretch Levante beach the other side. Overall a great location.
Review by Juelz66 Dudley, United Kingdom
Definitely not a four-star superior hotel – very disappointing stay
I recently stayed at the Gran Hotel Bali for three nights as a solo traveler, and I have to say this was easily one of the worst four-star hotels I have ever stayed in. I definitely will not be returning. Check-In & Arrival Arrival was a frustrating experience. There were long queues at reception, and I had to wait around 20 minutes just to speak to someone. The receptionist was friendly, at least. Since I arrived around 12:30 PM, she called to check if my room was ready, but I then had to wait another 10 minutes to get confirmation. Room & View The room was the only real positive of the entire stay. Located on the 36th floor, it was large, airy, and offered a fantastic sea view. It had a very large double bed along with an extra bed. The bathroom was clean and tidy, equipped with towels, a bath with a shower, and a bidet. Lifts & Accessibility For a hotel of this size, there are nowhere near enough lifts. Getting to and from the 36th floor was a nightmare. Expect long waits in line just to get into a lift. On the way down, it stopped at virtually every floor. The lifts have no air conditioning, making them uncomfortably hot and crowded. Do not expect to get anywhere in a rush. Evening Entertainment & Service I went to check out the evening entertainment, but the resort fails to cater to international guests. I speak Spanish so it wasn't a major issue for me, but everything was strictly in Spanish—the singers performed Spanish songs with maybe one or two English tracks mixed in. Worse than the language barrier was the service: it took me over 15 minutes to get served a drink. Waiters passed by me multiple times and completely ignored my attempts to get their attention. In the end, I had to shout loudly in Spanish just to get served. Breakfast Breakfast was easily one of the worst I’ve experienced in a hotel, and I struggled to find anything edible. The fried eggs looked unappealing, and when I asked the cook for a cheese omelette, she told me to go collect the cheese from the buffet myself and bring it back to her. I have never seen that in a hotel before. On top of that, she couldn't make an omelette properly. I ended up just eating a plain yogurt and a croissant because everything else was inedible. Pool Area The pool area is very large, but despite it being peak summer, one of the three pools was completely closed off for unknown reasons. I went down around 3:00 PM and managed to find a single sunbed, but the area was completely packed. The water was so crowded that it was impossible to actually swim. There was no enforcement of basic pool rules either—people were lying on sunbeds without towels, and guests were smoking all around the pool area. Overall, this hotel does not deliver a four-star superior experience. Between the poor service, abysmal breakfast, lift issues, and overcrowded facilities, I cannot recommend it.
Review by Di-L-H Maidstone, United Kingdom
