Gala Placidia

This hotel is ok, the rooms are dated. But we didn't spend our trip in the room. The staff are friendly and the food is ok, you wouldn't starve. We paid extra for premium drinks, which I'm glad we did. Overall we had a good long weekend in Benidorm.

Nice place to stay, near shops,near plenty restaurants and walking distance to the beach, lovely hotel, good breakfast and love the vegetable paella...

Went the week before Easter 26 for 9 days. Was approx £1K for 2 (incl. flights/transfers) for All Incl. hotel. Just a getaway at the end of winter, so had no unreasonable (or particularly high) expectations. I think we struck lucky with the Gala. An unassuming hotel 100 metres from busy area but very clean, well-run, good layout in rooms. Room cards work, rooms cleaned every day if required, instant hot water for shower/sink, lifts work well and quickly. Food was very good; breakfast as most 3/4* hotels. Choice of lunch/evening food much better than expected (we stayed at a 5* in Croatia last year where the choice was better, quality of food similar, but Croatia cost double). Restaurant staff excellent, tables cleared quickly. Bar staff on the ball. Special thanks to Danilo (in restaurant who tolerated my weak attempts to speak Spanish) and Lola on animation. Also, something on every evening, from live acts to quizzes etc - Gala makes an effort to do this - we have been many other places that do not. Plenty of outside space around bar pools and main pool. Note: look out for the sweet cats that live around the main pool. Regardless of cost, we will remember Gala Placidia as one of the better (2* to 5*) hotels we have stayed in the past 30 years.

Really clean and friendly hotel, good choice of food and drinks on all inclusive. Great location a few minutes walk from the strip, only downside is the walls are paper thin and you can hear everything and I mean everything that is going on around you. Spotless and nothing too much trouble

As far as 3 star Spanish hotels go, the Gala Placidia is what you would expect. It's downfalls or negative points all come from the British guests staying there. The location is ideal for those wanting to be close enough to the Strip, the beach and the main shopping area but far enough away to escape the hustle and bustle. It is situated on a small incline that some may struggle with but for those who require a mobility scooter it is accessible and the hotel do provide charging points outside the main reception. The rooms are adequate. There is no fridge, iron or tea/coffee making facilities within the rooms but there are hair dryers, cosmetics (shampoo, shower gel, etc..) a small tv, open wardrobe and safe. The major sticking point with the rooms is how thin the walls are and how the noise travels through the door. You can hear everything. We could hear our neighbours unzipping a suitcase and the guests across from us singing outside their room at 3am each night. The other people in our party had a similar experience on a different floor so it seems to be a common theme throughout the hotel. Cleanliness wise, we found no real issues. The rooms were cleaned daily, the pool area, restaurant and bar area were all kept to a decent standard too. The only downside was if you have a room towards the back of the hotel you can see the bit of land between the hotel and the footpath that seems to be a big neglected. A pool view room would definitely be an improvement if available. Food wise, whilst the selection is definitely limited compared to larger hotels we have stayed in - we didn't struggle to find things to eat. We also found the food to be quite hot compared to other reviews but we did visit the restaurant not long after it opened so the food was fresh out. It was quite strange that the breakfast is definitely more catered towards British guests but lunch and dinner service seem to be catered towards the Spanish guests. For guests on All Inclusive you are issued with a drinks token. This token needs to exchanged for any drinks you intend to take outside. Once you return your plastic cup you can either get another drink or your token back. We felt this was a good system as it definitely kept the pool area clean and tidy. Some guests didn't follow the rules with this which led to arguments and complaints to staff. The drinks selection is quite varied with the usual hot drinks, soft drinks, spirits and a decent selection of cocktails included. We found the staff to be pleasant during our stay and considering what we witnessed them put up with from some other guests, I think they do very well to remain calm. On each night of our stay we witnessed guests not following the rules and abusing the staff behind the bar. When the staff didn't give in, the guests moved their attention to the reception staff who received further abuse. Overall, we enjoyed the hotel for what it was - somewhere to sleep and eat occasional meals whilst we explored Benidorm. However, and this isn't the hotels fault, some of the British guests need to have a look at themselves and their behaviour.