Sol Pelicanos Ocas

Awful place, visited with my wife and 10 year old son, he only wanted to look at the pool where the program was filmed and the staff refused, 2 mins quick look and we would been gone. Terrible. Whilst I was in reception a poor girl with a baby was so upset, her room ransacked. I won't be booking or recommending the place.

Was expecting an old fashioned, need of updating kind of hotel. Arrived to a refurbished clean amazing hotel. Reception area 1st class, rooms modern & immaculately clean. Bathroom large with bath, shower over with amazing pressure, big sink area, toilet (with well stocked loo paper) and bidet. Pool area very large. People were queuing a hr before pool opening times but we did not & always got 2 beds. We only had breakfast but the selection was great from english cooked breakfast to toasts, cold meats, fruits, cereals etc. You would be hard pushed not to find something you liked. Staff are very polite. The only 2 downsides for us was arriving at 3pm and nobody can check in til 4pm so I would suggest timing your flights not to turn up too early or your luggage goes into storage & you will be walking around in the clothes youve travelled in until 4pm. The other is the lifts. Take ages (one day I was waiting nearly 10 mins for one) one lift permanently out of order I was told this had been the case for months. However the lifts certainly provide a talking point amongst guests. Overall beautiful hotel and we would stay again for sure. So central & close to beach and strip. Everything's on your doorstep. Highly recommend

We stayed at the Sol Pelicanos Ocas for 10 nights all-inclusive. We hadn't particularly had any ambition to stay here before, but we got a free child place and, despite the holiday still being majorly overpriced, it was the best deal we could get.

Having now stayed, I'd say it's nowhere near as bad as some people make out. It's not great, but there are some genuinely good features. Unfortunately, there are also some pretty significant issues.

The biggest problem for me is the condition of the Pelicanos building. We were on the 10th floor of a 14-storey building and the lifts were a nightmare. There are five lifts, but only three worked during our stay. Of those three, one had a maximum capacity of just three people. You quickly learn which lift you can and can't use, but it's not ideal when somebody new to the hotel gets in and doesn't believe/understand you when you tell them and you end up having to get out.

A fourth lift randomly started working during our stay, although it didn't exactly sound like it had just come out of the factory. What was particularly disappointing was that we never saw anybody actually come and repair or properly attend to the lifts.

Check-in wasn't great either. We arrived on a private transfer and were the only people checking in, yet it still took around 15 minutes. We've seen the queues at other times and they can be huge. I've heard people mention waits of up to two hours. The registration process seems ridiculously complicated compared with most hotels. Name, address, email, shoe size, favourite colour... OK, maybe not the last two, but it certainly feels like you're giving them your life story before they'll give you a room card.

The rooms are also looking tired. Loose shelves, walls that look like they haven't seen a coat of paint for years and, generally, a feeling that the Pelicanos building desperately needs some investment.

The contrast with the Ocas building is quite noticeable. That looks as though it has been renovated at some point and is in considerably better condition. Even the toilets tell the story: the toilets around the pool and in the Pelicanos building are pretty dreadful, whereas the Ocas toilets were actually good.

One of my biggest criticisms is that the hotel seems to be coasting on the back of the TV show. This is part of the Meliá chain and yet it feels like the poor relation.

I actually saw a clip of Benidorm where Geoff and Noreen were walking along the corridors and waiting for a lift. Before staying here, I'd always assumed those scenes had been filmed in one of the grotty apartment locations used by the show. Nope. It was the actual Sol Pelicanos. And looking at those corridors, they genuinely look almost exactly as they did in 2007.

It's such a shame because this hotel should be a jewel in the crown. It's probably one of the most recognisable hotels in Benidorm because of the TV show, and the potential is enormous. Instead, it feels like the fame of the hotel is doing the work for it.

On the plus side, the pool is fantastic. There are five pools in total, two for children and three for adults, but obviously there's only one pool everyone knows about. The huge pool from Benidorm, complete with the two jacuzzi sections, is brilliant. In my opinion it must be one of the best pools in Benidorm.

There was also no real need for the infamous sunbed rush. Some people queued before the pool opened, but honestly there was no need. As long as you weren't wandering down at 1pm expecting to find your perfect spot, you'd get a sunbed.

The pool snack bar was decent enough, offering the usual snacks and drinks, with more substantial dishes available to buy separately. What I saw looked pretty good.

Food-wise, we'd heard some horror stories before going. In reality, I'd describe it as standard hotel food. It's not going to win any awards, but it certainly isn't terrible. We always found something to eat, it was hot, and at times it was actually fairly good. Breakfast was probably the best part of the menu for us.

The all-inclusive drinks were also perfectly OK. Cocktails were available from a machine, although I didn't try them, and you could pay extra for premium brands if you wanted them.

For the drinks they have a system where you receive a token and exchange it for a plastic beaker around the pool and during the evening entertainment. You return the empty beaker when you want another drink. In the In & Out Bar, however, you can have a proper glass as long as you stay inside. It didn't bother us at all — we often just kept the same beaker until the next day — but quite a few people seemed very unhappy about it.

The entertainment was mixed. The kids' mini disco was good, with different songs each night so it didn't become repetitive. We had some decent main acts too, including ABBA and Greatest Showman themed entertainment, but other nights were less interesting.

One night the entire entertainment offering was basically a funfair with lots of bouncy castles. Great if you've got kids, but what if you don't? There wasn't really an alternative. For a hotel with such a large number of guests, I'd have expected a little more variety.

The children's activities were one of the highlights for us. There were plenty of different games, pool inflatables and activities, plus cinema nights. The adult activities were good too, with things such as aqua gym and spin classes.

The staff were generally fine. At worst they were indifferent, but nobody was actually unfriendly and some were genuinely friendly, particularly the children's entertainment team.

Housekeeping was another positive. The maids were in every day and we never encountered any problems with cleanliness, mess or bugs.

There were a couple of things that did annoy us. Despite designated smoking areas and the restrictions on smoking, we saw plenty of people lighting up wherever they felt like it, with seemingly nothing being done about it. We also saw some fairly explicit T-shirts being worn around children, again without any apparent intervention. For a hotel that is so heavily marketed towards families, I think a little more enforcement of the rules wouldn't go amiss.

There's also the famous swim-up bar, but this isn't included in the all-inclusive package. I didn't use it. Looking at the condition of that area, it's very shabby I personally don't think it is good enough to justify charging people to use it.

So, would I stay here again?

Probably not.

Unless the price came down massively or, perhaps more realistically, the hotel finally received the refurbishment it desperately needs, I can't see myself returning.

That doesn't mean I think it's a terrible hotel. It isn't. It's got a fantastic pool, plenty of activities, decent food, good housekeeping and it's a great choice if you're travelling with children and want somewhere with plenty going on.

It's just a real shame.

This hotel is so famous. It's instantly recognisable. It has one of the most iconic pools in Benidorm thanks to the TV show. It should be a jewel in the crown.

Instead, I think its potential is being wasted.

It was OK. It has some genuinely good features and it's nowhere near as bad as some reviews would have you believe. But with some serious investment, it could be so much more. Overall, I'd give the Sol Pelicanos Ocas 3 out of 5. It's not terrible by any means, and I think some of the criticism it gets is probably a bit excessive. We had a perfectly enjoyable 10-night holiday and there are some genuinely great things here, particularly that fantastic pool and the range of activities for children. But for the money, I think there are far better quality hotels in Benidorm that offer much better value. The biggest frustration is that this hotel has a lot going for it. It's famous, It should be absolutely fantastic. Instead it feel like they've simply been allowed to coast on the reputation of Benidorm. So 3/5 from us. Not bad enough to ruin your holiday, but not good enough for us to want to come back either.