Hotel Ambassador Playa I&II

Hotel Ambassador Playa I & II is typical of the many large hotels found in Benidorm’s tourist district. It’s a multi-storied building with balconies facing the street and the pool area in the back of the hotel. The spacious lobby is a bit trippy: The pillars supporting the ceiling have odd organic shapes that widen at their bases and tops, and are lit with neon lights that change color. Neon is again used in a big way in the spa’s plunge pool, where lights illuminating the water and walls change from purple to red, green, and blue. During the peak summer season, the property fills with couples or families on package tours, and large groups of friends. During this time, the buffet restaurant can get crowded at meal times, and there may be a long wait for the elevators; plus, it can get tough to find unoccupied sun loungers in the pool area. The hotel is also a popular venue for bachelor and bachelorette parties, which contributes to the party atmosphere. It can be hard to get away from the loud music coming from the hotel’s five on-site bars -- even in the guest rooms.

Hotel Ambassador Playa I & II is next to other big hotel complexes, in the middle of Benidorm’s often noisy and rowdy tourist area, which is filled with many shops, cheap bars, and fast food-restaurants catering mostly to British tourists. Levante Beach and its promenade are a five-minute walk from the hotel. Several popular tourist attractions are within a short drive, such as Tierra Mitica Theme Park (a 17-minute drive) and Aqualandia water park (an eight-minute drive). Alicante Airport is a 50-minute drive from the hotel.

Of the 420 rooms at the Hotel Ambassador Playa I & II, the no-frills Twin and Double Standard Rooms are clean but sparsely furnished with the mere basics: beds, wardrobes, desks, and chairs. Decor is old-fashioned, and includes orange- or blue-floral print bedspreads and curtains; wardrobes and headboards in some rooms are covered in an unattractive patterned wood laminate. White-tile bathrooms are clean and have shower/tub combos and marble-topped vanities with enough room for storage. All rooms come with balconies overlooking the street or the pool at the back of the hotel -- those are the quieter rooms -- air-conditioning, flat-screen TVs, and free Wi-Fi. Use of safes or mini-fridges entails an extra fee.

The hotel’s large pool and sundeck area has one large and one smaller swimming pool. The on-site buffet restaurant, which serves guests on full- or half-board packages, gets high marks for the variety and freshness of the food. There's also two lounge bars, a Western-themed bar, another explorer-themed bar, and in the summer months, a large terrace bar. During the peak tourist season there's nightly live entertainment. A highlight is the swanky on-site wellness spa, Benicaldea, which has a heated pool, whirlpool bath, Turkish bath, sauna, fitness center, and massage and beauty treatments. Hotel guests receive discounts of up to 50 percent on spa treatments. Wi-Fi is free throughout the property.