Hotel Bonalba Alicante

"I DID NOT GET TO STAY THERE FOR THE FOLLOWING REASON...Absolutely awful customer care. Had a loft suite booked for a long weekend with the family, who were flying out on Saturday morning and staying until Tuesday (I had been in Denia with a mate for the previous week). On the Friday evening at 6pm (less than 24 hours to checking-in) I get a message from their WhatApp business account stating the loft suites had "technical issues" and were not available. I was offered replacement rooms OR a full refund. So, I opted for a full refund which they stated in writing had been actioned. 3 weeks later (after 2 phone calls, 2 ignored emails and an ignored WhatsApp) and no refund. I have now had to get my credit card issuer to begin a dispute claim. Whatever you do, book with your credit card as at least you have the reassurance that you can claim, should this happen to anyone else. If they could have reassured me that the refund was in progress, it wouldn't have bothered me. But three weeks later and completely ignoring the situation is unprofessional and doesn't bode well for future recommendations."

"We recently stayed at Hotel Bonalba and unfortunately our experience didn’t live up to 4* expectations. Room We stayed in the duplex suite which was genuinely amazing — spacious, modern, and faultless. HOWEVER, if you book directly through Ryanair, be aware: upgrading your room removes your all-inclusive food package. We were not told this until check-in, and were shocked to find we had to pay extra to upgrade our board basis back to all-inclusive - however we do understand this not the hotels fault but worth a mention. Food & Restaurants Only one of the three restaurants was open during our stay Food options were very limited: lunch was a set menu with just a few choices, and dinner offered only around five main dishes, to chose from. (Not even chips for any fussy eaters!). Service also felt disorganised and inconsistent — we were once asked for our order before receiving menus, bread was served without butter, and when ordering two salads and two steaks we were brought one salad and one steak to share. The pool bar was closed during our whole stay, meaning all drinks had to be collected from inside - again just annoying when you've paid for 4* experience and paid expecting these facilities. All-Inclusive The all-inclusive package is not worth the money. When we raised concerns about closed facilities, staff explained it was “mid-season” rather than high season. While we understand this, paying guests should still receive the full all-inclusive experience, or at the very least be informed prior to booking that there are facility and restaurant closures. As if this was the case we would have more than likely booked a hotel more local to the town centre where it was easier to eat out for each meal. Nowhere on the website or social media does it mention that facilities may be closed out of high season, which feels misleading. We did speak to management and politely expressed our disappointment - asking we keep our all inclusive board but out of goodwill have a refund as otherwise we would have to go into the nearest town or pay for food in the hotel which would have been more cost to us, which the hotel said no and honestly where not very apologetic to our concerns or wouldn't offer anything apart from taking us off all inclusive to help or compensate us. We were told by the bar staff only 3 cocktails were included in all inclusive which were blue lagoon and two others - again just another disappointment, would've been nice to have more choice. Food in general was poor. Breakfast and dinner buffets were always cold/luke warm. Facilities & Atmosphere The hotel lacked atmosphere. There was no music or daytime activities around the pool, despite advertising aqua aerobics and games. The so-called “games room” consisted of just two machines in a hallway and a few table games outside. Evening entertainment began around 10pm leaving long, dull gaps after dinner - again the atmosphere in the evening was lacking in between entertainment. The host was friendly, but the entertainment itself was very poor (one night’s “activity” was simply guessing the host’s age). Service/staff We found communication difficult as few staff spoke good English. Service was inconsistent: some staff were pleasant, while others walked past without serving or were rude. Staff also didn't seem to know rules, or what was going on in the hotel whilst on 'mid season' for example when we asked why the restaurants were shut the staff at reception they didn't even know they were shut. One staff member charged us for food at the snack bar even though we were all inclusive and should've had it inclusive as we were ordering it 'out of meal times'. Just seems to be constant miscommunication throughout the hotel. It was also quite disheartening to see the special treatment given to 'influencers' that were staying in the hotel — drinks and snacks delivered poolside, free extras like mini bar snacks in their rooms which hotel staff sharing their content on Instagram which is how we saw it and realised some of the perks they were getting. As paying guests, this made us feel overlooked and less appreciated than influencers. Overall While the room itself was fantastic and the hotel had potential such as nice decor, lovely and large pool area, the overall experience was very disappointing. The all-inclusive package was poor value, and the hotel did not provide the service, atmosphere, or variety expected of a 4* holiday. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to stay here, and fully believe during our stay the hotel was acting more at a 2/3* standard. Photos - - shut restaurant - cocktail options all inclusive - lunch time set menu - dinner time buffet options"

"This is not a 4 Star Hotel!!!! we did decided to stay at what looked like a beautiful four star hotel all inclusive for our wedding anniversary. The hotel itself was very clean and tidy but on arrival only one member of staff checking in and one member of staff checking out when we arrived we waited 40 minutes to be checked in to be told that our room was not ready until 4 o’clock. No offer of holding our bags whilst we went and got some lunch or a drink. when we did go down to the bar to get some lunch, we were advised that this was not possible because we had silver bands after explaining and showing the card we did actually just get a drink. We also found out later on in the holiday, that all inclusive food does not mean all inclusive as you will have to pay for bar food , but after a couple of nights of cold buffet food and a forced to eat a 3 course lunch because buffet was closed (frankly in the heat we did not want a three course meal for lunch but there where no other options) they did have two lovely looking restaurants but we were unable to book into those even if you were willing to pay apparently it was for people that have booked a romantic weekend with a spa . (a lot of the all-inclusive residence went out to restaurants, just up the hill as you come out of the hotel there is a lovely French restaurant and Indian restaurant and a couple of bars. We did go to these most nights which I felt was pointless as we were supposed to be all inclusive. )We had not been told about towels that we could hire for the pool side, no music no atmosphere. information on arrival was lacking. We had a kettle in our room with no tea coffee or milk, but two complimentary small bottles of water. I would not recommend going all inclusive at this hotel. They were short staffed. There was one member of staff doing the bar and restaurant dipping in helping out when busy the entertainment was very poor bingo, Quizes as we were leaving on the Friday they had salsa and a big corporate do in a large building across the way from the pool so whilst on lookers who paid full price for all inclusive was able to watch a Spanish corporate company having a great time, but we sat and waited for our entertainment which didn’t start until 1030 every night. also the pool bar is only open at weekends so we arrived on the Saturday. It closed on the Sunday and didn’t open again until the Friday. we left early hours of the Saturday morning. This is definitely not value for money although I must say the hotel was very clean and tidy. That was the best bit about it and of course the weather. Massively disappointed for the money that we paid!"