Poseidon Palace Hotel, Benidorm
27th January - 10th February 2024: Full Board

The Costa Blanca (White Coast) stretches for 270 kilometres along the central section of the Spanish coastline. It is here that the little villages on green hillsides and pale sandy beaches all bask in warm winter sunshine.

It is the picturesque villages (many still almost untouched by tourism), mountains and old fortresses that give the Costa Blanca its particular charm, and is perhaps the real secret behind its incredible popularity in the 90s.

Benidorm, once a fishing village but now a thriving modern resort, is within easy reach of all of these features.

Nowhere is there a resort which changes character with the seasons as much as Benidorm. In the height of the summer it is where many young people go to enjoy the nightlife, but in the winter it attracts mainly an older clientele looking for competitively priced sunshine. Benidorm has its old town, with numerous cafés and restaurants plus lots of interesting shopping, as well as two magnificent beaches. The Levante beach has an excellent palm-fringed, marbled promenade along which to have your constitutional.

Much more than just a bustling holiday resort, Benidorm brings the attractions of the Costa Blanca within reach. The line of rugged mountains which frame Benidorm's famous skyline give a hint of what's in store: the beauty of the coastal range tinged with fragrant citrus groves and hillside villages and the white-painted fortress of Guadalest clinging to the rocky peaks.

The Poseidon Palace Hotel

The Poseidon Palace Hotel enjoys an excellent location close to the Old Town, and only 500 metres from the superb Levante Beach and promenade. The hotel is of modern design and has a small heated indoor swimming pool. All rooms at the hotel have balcony, private bathroom, central heating, telephone and satellite TV (with Sky News and CNN amongst the channels on offer). All meals in the restaurant are buffet-style offering a wide selection of main courses at lunch and dinner.

Our hotel is one of two ( Poseidon & Poseidon Palace) that make up the Poseidon Resort, sitting opposite each other across the swimming pool where entertainment, bars, pools etc are common to all clients in both hotels.

The Weather

The average maximum daily temperature in January / February is a very pleasant 17/18°C with seven hours of sunshine (compared to 6° and two hours in London).

The Bridge Programme

There will be bridge sessions every evening starting at 8.15pm (dinner is at 7pm) and finishing by 11.pm, which means that 20/21/22 boards will probably be played. Our view is that you are on holiday, not playing in a tournament, and so the finishing time is more important than playing as many boards as possible. There will also be bridge sessions available on  alternate afternoons (15/16 boards), as well as mornings/afternoons in the unlikely event of rain (subject to demand). We are of the old school in that boards will be hand dealt at the start of each session and there will not be BridgeMates. Nevertheless, results will always be available within ten minutes of the finish both on BridgeWebs and posted on the noticeboard.

Our Opinion

This will be our twenty sixth visit to the Poseidon Resort, which is a very well-appointed three-star hotel complex. We believe that it offers excellent value for a full-board package, and our previous groups which have stayed there were generally pleased with all aspects of the hotel, particularly the reasonably priced drinks in the restaurant and bars.

Benidorm should have been Spain's most beautiful resort, since its beaches are magnificent. Unfortunately they allowed too many high-rise buildings to be built. Nevertheless it has a charming old town, a magnificent promenade and a selection of shops to rival any Mediterranean seaside resort.