Meliá Alicante — Hotel in Alicante

The first thing I noticed about this hotel was the amazing smell in reception - smelt so nice, like a spa. Checked in at around 1130am on Sunday 16th June and understandably the room wasn’t ready. Was asked for a phone number and told someone would call us when the room was ready (at around 2pm). We left our luggage with the concierge and went to find some food. After a while we went back to check if the room was ready and was told it was (although no one phoned us). We got to our room on the second floor (we’d paid for a premium sea-view room) and it was directly overlooking The Level swimming pool. The balcony was tiny and it could hardly be called a sea view. It felt quite claustrophobic and if we’d have sat on the balcony, the people at the pool would have seen directly into our room. We phoned down to reception and Christina said that they could move us, but it would be another 2 hour wait. We asked to see the new room first but we were told we couldn’t. We took the risk and accepted the new room. When we got down to reception, Christina spoke to housekeeping and told us that actually the room would be ready in 20 minutes - a welcome surprise. Christina was very helpful at sorting our new room out and we were very grateful. When we got to the new room, on the 4th floor, it was so much better. The balcony was twice the size of the first room and was directly looking over the sea, with the beach to the left. The first room was not what I could call premium, so we were so pleased we asked to move. The room even had English plugs and USB ports so no plug adapter was needed. It was light and airy and the bathroom was spacious and clean. Showergel / shampoo was provided if you wished to use them.

Pros - Good customer service when asked to move rooms Clean hotel Huge bathroom towels Super comfy bed Excellent beach and marina location, walking distance from the main restaurants and bars Good food at the pool bar - can recommend the chicken Caesar salad and tomato pasta Nice selection of drinks at the pool bar Good coffee at the reception bar and friendly staff serving Taxis available directly outside Cards in exchange for beach/pool towels Option to put extra food/drinks on to the room and settle the bill before check out Huge and tasty choice of breakfast, from fresh fruit, to cold meats, pastries, breads, doughnuts, cooked sausages/bacon/eggs etc and juices, teas and coffees. They even had alternative milks available which not everyone does

Cons - Small lifts, no room for more than 4 people Funny smell near the toilet area, opposite Trasluz restaurant Some rooms not premium as advertised Free water in room not provided (charge to use minibar) We were sent a bottle of Cava to the room from my friends’ husband (which he had paid a fair amount for) but didn’t want to drink it straight away. When we tried to get a bucket of ice the next day we were told to ask at the bar. The bar refused and said we needed to call room service. Room service wanted to charge 6euros just to bring a bucket of ice up. We found it hard work just to get a simple bucket of ice

As you can see there are not many cons and this would be my first choice of hotel if I was to visit Alicante again. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking to stay here. Thank you Meliá for...

The hotel lacks any kind of soul. Possibly some local acoustic music . would go down well for at least 1 hour at sunset. The location is great but that’s where it’s ends sadly. Here is my personal observation and suggestions. 1.we stayed on the level . An exclusive area that boasts a private pool for level 1 guests, unlimited drinks throughout the day like juices, wine , beer, champagne and water plus tapas style nibbles (very limited vegetarian available)that are provided at lunchtime and at 5.30pm that comes at a price of approximately 80euro per day above the price of your room. The level consists of approximately 150+ rooms stretching throughout a maze of corridors with the occasional smell of sewage lingering. Our room was about 300mtrs away from the pool or “clubhouse for a better word” so you need to make sure you don’t forget to take everything you need for the trip. A great selection for breakfast however there is no available space to place lids from the bay Marie while you select your food and the same while trying to open the lids on cereal additions like nuts and dried fruits. Only 1 toaster poorly positioned right next to bay Marie and chef making omelettes meant everyone is cluttered around the food area making it hard to access . The pool opens at 9am and If you aren’t there at 8.50 to start lining up like the Christmas sales on Boxing Day you won’t get one of the 30 or so sun lounges. You either lay on the tiles or go to the other 2 pools in the hotel that don’t provide the tapas and drinks package that you have paid for. Don’t try and take a bottle of water or a drink back to your room. You will be chased down the hallway by the concierge demanding you return back to the clubhouse to either drink or put your drink back. Ironically there are about 5 rooms that have access directly onto the pool area and these people were seen regularly taking their food and drinks into their rooms and honestly why wouldn’t they. The hotel needs to come up with a better system in this matter. Wristbands or another way to access your drinks package throughout the additional pools and bars would not be hard to do. Last drinks in the level is at 10.30 at night but the public bar in the lobby is open till some time after midnight . Most people don’t go out until 9-9.30 for dinner in Alacante so by the time you get back to the “clubhouse” for a coffee or nightcap you are being ushered out the door. They need to have this open till 12am. Concierge staff in the level lack customer service . More interested in looking at there phones or computer to acknowledge you with a greeting but love telling you what you are not allowed to do. The bathroom in our room regularly had a smell of sewage coming up through the drains. The friendliest people in the hotel are the room service staff. They always smiled and greeted you as you passed them in the hallways and the rooms were always clean and tidy. In summary I wouldn’t bother paying extra for level 1until they change the entire format. I wouldn’t recommend staying at this hotel for anything other...

A Hotel of two Halves. This is a bit of a long one so I’ll summarise for people that don’t want chapter and verse.

Nice Hotel, good customer service, fails on a lot of things.

Firstly I want to be as honest but as factual as I can. The Melia Hotel in Alicante is right next to the most Beautiful Mariner and also Next to the Beach. The Melia has two Pools one on the ‘Level’ and one on the first floor. We were fortunate to have booked the ‘Level’ which was kind of a inclusive service which came with the Booking. and had booked a Junior suite. This meant we had a whole floor for to enjoy and relax in. and some added extras, for most of the time it was great, but due to Safety regulations, everything was timed, there was Breakfast from 07:00 to 11:00 then limited drinks on Tap which were Fizz, Beer and Wine. Then Tapas (snacks) we’re served at 17:30 to 18:30 and finally a cocktail hour from 18:00 till 19:00. So a lot of extras. The Drinks were great in the day, and you could pretty much have what you wanted. However I reserve judgement on the Cocktail hour as this just meant service of spirits for an hour. The Hotel Claimed to have a Signature Cocktail was was inclusive but this never showed. My guess was they may have been short staffed or even forgot to take this off the ‘Benefits’ part of the website either way or Cocktail Hour was not great. Ok so by now you’re probably getting a good picture of things. So let me tell you about the Experience we had. When we first checked in we were taken straight to the reception area of the ‘Level’ the strange thing about was it right in the Level Lounge so everyone looked at you when you were checking in. (Bit disconcerting if you’re shy. The staff greeted us and we spent about 10-15 mins checking in. Going through what was inclusive and not etc. all the while people were staring at us. And this Lounge was deadly quiet. So only we were taking. Once we got to our room we were ready to tick off all that was promised. The hotel claims you have many amenities in the room including Bluetooth Speaker, Nespresso Coffee machine, Iron and Ironing board. Firstly the Ironing board is a compact one and Iron is something from the 1980’s which isn’t even a steam Iron. There wasn’t a Bluetooth speaker in the room and the Nespresso Machine only had 4 coffee pods for 2 people for the week. This was never replenished. There was a couple of issues with the floor but that would be ware and tear. The suite itself was spacious and Modern. With strip lighting all around each room. Nice lighting with modern Lamps and a very comfortable bed. So there it is, Hotel that promises a lot, but in some instances fails to deliver. I should mention Jian who served us on our final night who was very friendly and engaging. The other staff were very much Lip...