Sandos Monaco - Adults Only

The rooms are tired and need a refurb. Select Lounge is ok but very poor selection of snacks and not refilled often enough. Entertainment could be much better. Very few staff. Food is very low standard with little choice. I’ve been here a few times but this will be my last. No longer a 4* in my opinion at best a 3*. We booked select and our room was not even ready when we arrived. Issues with room location were unresolved. Select is not worth the extra cost. Still here now but looking forward to going home. General hotel area is clean and most staff are helpful.

We've just returned from a really lovely break at the Sandos Monaco. The communal areas of the hotel are beautifully maintained and kept spotless. The pool area was lovely, a very restful environment for the most part, broken up by occasional games of water volleyball and the like, which were fun to cheer on! We were very happy with our room, it was clean and well-appointed and had everything we needed including the entirely essential kettle for making tea! The room we booked as a double had two twin beds pushed together - we would have preferred an actual double, but the beds were wider than normal twin beds and so we both still had plenty of space and slept well. Our room overlooked the pool and entertainment area, which meant it was very loud in the evenings while the entertainment was on, however this finished by midnight every single night so absolutely wasn't disruptive to our sleep. The absolute high points for me personally were the hotel staff and the restaurant. The staff were amazing, absolutely nothing was too much trouble for them, and they were polite, professional and cheerful at all times. In particular, Raul, Carlos, Nelly and Debora all went out of their way to help us in different ways. An absolute credit to the hotel in every way. The restaurant was superb. We went all inclusive for the first time, having heard good things about the hotel's provision for dietary needs and were not disappointed. I am gluten intolerant so was, as always, apprehensive before we arrived - I didn't need to be. On our very first night I talked to Raul, the amazing Maitre d', who immediately fetched one of the chefs from the kitchen (Carlos, I think?) to give me a complete guided tour of what was and wasn't safe for me to eat from the food available that night - this was repeated at every meal that I asked for it (a few times I didn't need it as I wanted something I'd had and enjoyed previously). On the first night there was no gluten free dessert available, so Raul provided me with a box of GF chocolate biscuits to take to our room instead and I was delighted! After that, GF chocolate cake was available every day if I wanted it. The food in general was widely varied and beautifully prepared. Different main courses appeared each night throughout the week, there was fresh fruit, salad, cheese, cold meats and yoghurt available at every meal, and everything I tried was fantastic. I felt completely safe eating in the restaurant, and made it to the end of the week without a single gluten reaction, which is almost unprecedented. Overall we were delighted by our stay here, and wouldn't hesitate to book again if revisiting Benidorm in the future. 10/10 !

My mum and I are just home from a 5 night stay at the Sandos Monaco, all inclusive. We had a good time and break away from cloudy Scotland. We stayed on the 7th floor and had a good view on the balcony which was a plus, also the room was clean and spacious enough for us. The bathroom was pretty big compared to other hotels we have stayed at previously which was also nice. No teabags, coffee or sugar by the kettle but these could be requested at the drinks bar and taken up to your room, which we did. The housekeeper came daily and supplied us with fresh towels. Pool area was nice although the sun didn’t come around until the afternoon, the pool was a decent size as well as cool and refreshing. There is a bit of a dive to put towels on sun beds in the morning even though the hotel has multiple signs throughout to state that this was forbidden. Nothing was done to enforce this rule. The outdoor seating area had plenty of tables and chairs, although it did become very messy with empty cups left on tables for up to an hour or two before they’d be cleared, as well as rubbish left on tables or blown onto the ground. Whilst this could be better kept tidied if people would return their empty glasses to the bar and binned their rubbish, the staff were in no hurry to clear up. Ashtrays were also poorly available with only a few tables allocated to the ‘smoking are.’ The ashtrays would get taken away to be emptied and then weren’t brought back out for a while. My mum asked for one at the bar and received a grumble in response and pointed out to the smoking area which had none out. Some members of staff were rude and not very accommodating whilst others were more welcoming. We arrived late and didn’t fancy any of the food in the restaurant for dinner, and upon arriving we received a letter explaining the meal times and snack bar times. We decided to check out the snack bar but didn’t know if it was the main bar or not. When we asked the receptionist where the snack bar was and what snacks were available, the man pointed in the direction and bluntly stated “why don’t you go ask the bar staff.” No menu available at bar for snacks, 10pm-12am it stated on our letter and although it was 10 the lady on bar mumbled that there was no snacks but then proceeded to tell us it was a cheese toastie or a ham and cheese toastie. We ordered 2 toasties and then were told we would have to wait 20 mins, unclear whether she meant 20 mins until it opened or 20 mins to cook a toastie we waited around for a bit and did end up receiving them although barley toasted. Plain crisps were also available all day which were stale and tasteless. Breakfast in the restaurant was okay, a selection of fried and continental, we were always able to find something to eat in the mornings although this couldn’t be said for lunch or dinner. Maybe okay if you aren’t picky and don’t mind trying new things but it wasn’t to our taste. We mainly ate lunch at the outdoor snack bar which had chicke