Archive for February, 2010
There is French Air Traffic industrial action planned from 5am on February 23rd through to 7am on February 27th. There may be delays to flights that fly over France which include Alicante airport routes and most Spanish airports along the Costas.
There may also be delays to Alicante from some Northern UK and Scotland airports as heavy snow is expected today. Snow clearance and fog at Leeds Bradford airport this morning may also cause some departure delays.
Customers should allow sufficient extra time to get to airports to check in on-time as not all flights will be delayed by this industrial action by French air traffic controllers. Some airlines may change routes to avoid flying over France so it is important to arrive as scheduled for flights from Spanish airports.
Check with your regional departure airport for up to date information or your regional airport in Spain for expected or confirmed delays. Links to latest updates news for delays to arrivals and departures from all airports in Spain can be found if you click here.
February 24th, 2010
The Don Juan Boutique Hostal in Benidorm celebrated 10 great years on February 20th with a Champagne party for friends and regulars in the central old town venue. The gem that is the Don Juan offers what is without any doubt the smartest accommodation and quality service in Benidorm old town. An ideal location for those who want to be in the center of Benidorm and enjoy the unique atmosphere of this lively and bustling part of the Spanish resort. Only seconds from the many gay bars found in this part of town the don Juan is very much THE place to stay for those looking for a gay friendly welcome.
Philip Garnett the larger than life owner of the Don Juan can be proud indeed that the business has gone from strength to strength over the past 10 years. His dedication to customer service and dedication to his team, of staff are the two top reasons why the Don Juan has remained on the ” top list ” of unique small accommodation venues in Benidorm. This together with regular refurbishment schedules and what are without doubt the cleanest rooms in town, will ensure that this favourite little Costa Blanca Spanish Boutique Hostal enjoys another successful 10 years.
We are reliable informed that despite difficult trading conditions in Benidorm for most small businesses, the Don Juan has excellent advanced bookings for the 2010 season. With this in mind we should remind future guests that they should book as early as possible to secure a reservation. There are just 8 rooms available of which only 2 are singles. Guests will find that each room is unique in design and offers a calming and relaxed space to rest on your next Benidorm holiday or weekend break in Spain. All rooms come with air-conditioning, a mini-fridge and flat screen TV as standard and of course en-suite Shower with WC plus a top daily maid service.
Casa Don Juan – Santa Faz 28, 03501, Benidorm, Spain – Tel +34 966 809 165
Secure a room at the Don Juan today with just a 10% deposit. Book online here
For more information about Benidorm Hotels and Holidays visit the Real Benidorm Hotel Guide
February 22nd, 2010
This weeks focus is on the Castilla Hotel in Benidorm, offering a perfect Hotel for a cheap holiday in Spain. Located in the heart of the Levante Playa in Benidorm, the number one resort for a cheap Spain holiday. A 4 star hotel, part of the very popular Servi Group who know how to produce great service and quality food at affordable prices. British visitors to Benidorm know the Castilla well as it has been a firm favourite with them for many years. Even more so today since the refurbishment in 2007.
A great location for a lively adult holiday yet far enough way from the all night bars to offer some quiet time and a relaxing day around the pool, which has a large sun terrace. Facilities at the Castilla include a lounge bar, pool bar and evening entertainment. Plus of course a fitness center with Gym and Sauna.
Dining is buffet style and the restaurant serves a good selction of international dishes with Spanish favourites and show cooking nights. Reviews for the cuisine tend to be very good, especially from British guests, who seem to praise the choice on offer.
All guest rooms offer a balcony, most overlooking the pool and are well appointed as you would expect from a 4 star hotel. Facilities include a full bathroom, telephone, TV, room safe and mini bar on request. Previous guests often comment on the cleanliness of the rooms and the good daily maid service.
The Castilla really is above average for a Spanish tourist hotel and is deserving of the 4 star rating. Staff are very friendly and well trained making this an easy choice to recommend. With flights to Alicante still at really competitive fares and the room rates here also excellent, this is ideal for a cheap weekend or cheap Summer holiday in Spain.
Check availability & prices now
February 19th, 2010
As Benidorm and most of the Spanish Costas saw a huge drop in visitor numbers in 2009 expectations for 2010 looked bleak for local Benidorm Hoteliers and hard hit small businesses, who feed the tourist industry in the resort. However, a surge in bookings during January have all but put this worry to bed. Local Hotel owners have succeeded where many other resorts have failed, mainly due to their early and timely price reductions, which once again put Benidorm at the top of the best value destinations in Spain. Benidorm offers both cheap holidays and high end holidays that are cheaper! Indeed comparing room rates with those of two years ago a huge number of Hotels and Self Catering Apartments in Benidorm are cheaper now than back in 2008.
Bookings for Valentines weekend were reported to be 55% up on last year, according to Travel Republic and even more amazing Benidorm is above destinations like Paris and Rome in the romantic booking stakes. A sure sign that those who are booking, are making ” affordable ” and ” value ” top of their list of requirements. There is also a sign that higher end toursits who previously gave Benidorm a wide birth are now looking at the resort with fresh eyes. Yes, Benidorm really does cater for everyone from budget self catering to those who prefer a bit of luxury, but at simply very affordable prices. In years to come Benidorm is set to have a changed image of quality and top services for even the most demanding of visitors. This is already true today, it is just getting the message across that will take time.
With massive investment in the Spanish resort over the past three years from both the Benidorm Council and local hoteliers, those lookers who have not visited Benidorm previously will be in for a great holiday experience if they turn into Booker’s. Facilities and services are much improved and continue to improve. This makes the Costa Blanca resort see the beginning of the end of the idea that many saw Benidorm as a cheap and tacky destination.
Yes, Benidorm does cater for bargain hunters and the Levante Playa resort will always be the place for sun, sea and cheaper holidays. However, Benidorm is a city of two halves and the old quarter, Poniente Playa and Cala Finestrat already cater for those with higher expectations and bigger budgets. Many newcomers are not aware that Benidorm offers high end luxury accommodation and exceptional facilities as expected of the more demanding of tourist. There are now three 5 star hotels. A huge and stunning resort complex set in over 370,000m2 of tropical gardens with lagoon pools, the Barcelo Asia Gardens and a brand new exclusive Boutique Hotel, the Villa Veneciaset on the headland in the old quarter overlooking the Mediterranean with just 26 luxurious rooms. Set in superb grounds you will also find the Gran Hotel Villaitana a luxury Golf and Wellness village style resort. With new investment in 4 star hotels such as the new Monaco Spa Hotelfrom the Sandos Group, Benidorm is in for a great 2010 and very bright future, as more people discover the hidden gem that is the Costa Blanca, the gateway to the historic Land of Valencia.
Are you one of those who are looking but not sure if you should book? Go ahead, grab a cheap flight to Alicante and book a 4 star hotel or splash out and treat yourself to a few nights in a 5 star. For a first visit to Benidorm perhaps stay in one of the old town hotels where you will get a real taste of Spain and can enjoy the very best of Spanish food and local Wines in the many restaurantsin the old quarter. Best time to try Benidorm for a long weekend is from March to June when the weather is warm, the sun is out and there is plenty of room on the 4kms of sandy beaches. The most misunderstood Costa Blanca resort will welcome you and if like the many regulars of which there are millions! You too may find that there simply is nowhere else that feels like and becomes home, again and again.
With over 250 Hotels and self catering apartment complexes whatever your budget, whatever your perfect holiday is , Benidorm will have something for you and at a price that will leave you smiling.
Check live availability and room rates for all Benidorm accommodation, grab a last minute cheap flight and grab a hire car from Alicante airport from everyone´s favourite independent guide to Benidorm. www.realbenidorm.net
About The Author
February 11th, 2010
Steve Jones owner and creative Chef at Esteban´s Restaurant in Benidorm old town, talks of the delights of Winter Comfort food. And offers readers an insight into preparing this seasons customers choice from Esteban´s new menu.
“ As TV chefs become more famous and cookery programmes more popular, comfort food and “old school” become phrases well used by the likes of Gordon Ramsey & Gary Rhodes. So what is comfort food? Well, comfort food to me takes me back to the long, cold winter nights in the UK, stuck in a traffic jam, on the way home from work, fantasising about what I would love to eat. Sausage & mash, stew & dumplings, curry & rice, mmmmmmm!
So, during the surprisingly cool winter months here in Benidorm, I try to bring a little “comfort food” to the menu at Esteban’s, restaurant – but with a twist! One of the dishes we are currently running with at the restaurant is Lamb & Root Vegetable Crumble, which sounds straight forward enough, but is a surprisingly complex dish. What I love to do is take old traditional recipes, strip them down into ingredients, then put them back together using slightly different ingredients, cooking techniques & presentation. This particular dish has been taken from the Traditional Lamb Hotpot, from turn of the century Northern England.
As a Welshman, lamb has always been my most popular meat to both eat and cook with, when I moved to Benidorm to set up my own restaurant, it was hard to find good Lamb. Spain certainly isn´t as green as the valleys of Wales, and, it doesn’t rain every day like it does there! The lamb here is certainly much smaller and more fatty, so New Zealand or imported is more widely used by the restaurants of Benidorm. Also the cost element comes into the equation too, so I tend to go for the lesser cuts and work on them a little more.
Here is how you can prepare this delicious comfort dish, for foodies, yourself: For the Esteban´s new lamb dish, use shoulder of lamb, which is readily available from local Benidorm butchers. I buy the whole shoulder and trim back quite a lot of the surface fat, then marinate it in local Jalon Valley Vino Tinto, with fresh garlic & rosemary for at least 24 hours. Then, take it from the marinade, dry and brown in a really hot pan until nice and brown. Slightly different to the Traditional lamb hotpot recipe. The shoulder should then be braised in the marinade for 5 hours in a really low oven, this cooks the meat really slowly and renders any fat away, leaving simply delicious and tender Lamb. It also gives you a chance to go and have a siesta!
Once the meat is cook, take it from the cooking liquid, and strip the meat from the bone while it is still hot. This allows it to be stripped really easily. The meat is now beautifully tender and flavoured with the wonderful local wine, rosemary & garlic. Leaving the Lamb to cool, the liquid should then be boiled rapidly until it has reduced, this concentrates the flavour.
Then take local seasonal root vegetables such as carrot, swede, turnip & parsnip, straight from the local market, peel and dice them, then blanch them in salted water, until half cooked. Drain thoroughly then roast in a hot oven with black pepper and organic honey until nicely browned and slightly caramelised. While the vegetables are roasting and the lamb cooling, along with the marinade reducing, I TOLD YOU IT WAS COMPLEX, make a simple mashed potato, add a little cream & butter, then some chopped spring onions, for some crunch.
To assemble the dish. Take a nice oven proof dish, pipe the mash in the bottom, then arrange the roasted vegetables over the mash and season to your taste with cracked black Pepper and Sea salt. Arrange the ripped lamb over the top then ladle over some of the now full flavoured and thickened reduced marinade. To finish add some dried bread which has been roughly tumbled in a food processor, with olive oil, salt n pepper and mixed herbs. The secret here is to leave some lumps in the bread and not blend them too fine crumbs. Scatter over the finished dish, then return to the oven for 20 minute to toast and crisp the crumble top. Take to the table and serve or as we do in the restaurant serve in individual dishes. The good thing about this dish is it’s an all in one type dish with the meat, vegetable and potatoes together. This is great served with some steamed savoy cabbage with bacon or some wilted spinach. The perfect Benidorm comfort food available this season at Esteban´s restaurant, in the old town – our signature dish – Not so simple, simply Lovely Lamb with Root vegetable Crumble.
I hope you have a go at this because it is a dish that is easy to do once all the ingredients are ready. Great for a family meal or dinner party. A really good Local Rioja is perfect with this, best enjoyed with friends, good conversation and of course Al Fresco on a warm Spring evening in Benidorm. Enjoy.”
Estebans Restaurant is located in the old town of Benidorm just 2o meters from the Levante Beach. Offering a 3 course set menu at 13.95€ plus a´la carte specialities. Open from 7pm daily expect Sunday
Carrer De La Purissima 4, Old Town, Levante, Benidorm 03501
Reservations Telephone 965 853 883 Reserve by Text (Mobile) 615 453 866
Website www.realbenidorm.net/estebans
February 9th, 2010
