Costa Blanca

Hacienda Miguel--Cabo Roig, near Torrovieja
Mr Bentham, ad in Disabilitynow --September 1996
Submitted April 2001 Client--G.Wilkinson - Derbyshire

You have go up a short ramp to get into the front door and it opens outwards, the apartments is very spacious and well equipped with monkey poles in bedrooms, bars at toilet and it has a wheelin shower. Use of swimming pool, and electric wheelchair when I was there. On the minus side it presents you with another steep ramp when you want to go anywhere, only one restaurant and if you want to get to the only supermarket it was up a very very steep hill, we never found any other shops etc and had to have a taxi to torroviejja to see anything else, although the area is very nice and may have benefitted from more developement since our visit.

I am concerned about the owner of this accommodation, although the apartment was very good I did write to him (in Sept. 1996) suggesting that he ought to inform potential clients of the very steep hill and that there was only one supermarket and one restaurant within about one mile, but I didn't get a reply. I have in the last few weeks emailed him to see if there has been any more shops etc built, but to this date 7th August 2001 I have not had a reply.

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Vina del Mar. Apartments - Benidorm
Found on Internet - October 2001
Submitted Nov. 2001 - Client--Jed & Michelle - Swadlincote

The lounge in the appartment was spacious and had two sofa beds if needed, the kitchen was very small. This was stated as wheelchair friendly, although I could get to the bathroom door OK it was a squeeze to get any further, once there it was difficult to turn round, bedroom was also cramped. Anyone with a w/chair bigger than a 16in seat and unable to stand should forget this place, no adaptions. Benidorm is a shoppers paradise with loads of shops, bars, cafes and resteraunts. The footpath along the front is flat, I have never seen so many wheelchairs, so that must be testimony as to the suitability of the resort but there is speeding traffic quite close as you go along the front, and forget the young teenagers in UK being mad, they are angels compared to these drivers, you have to vertually make them stop on zebra crossings.

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Vina del Mar. Apartments - Benidorm
Arranged by a friend - October 2001
Submitted March. 2002 - Client--Andy - Rosliston, Staffs

The lounge in the appartment was large and had sofa beds if needed, the kitchen was quite small, I didn't need to use my wheelchair in the appartment which was as well because my friend that is a full time wheelchair user could only just get in the bathroom and the bedrooms were very limited for space. The resort itself was very good for wheelchairs with lots of bars etc.

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Regente Hotel - Benidorm
Thompson - June 2003
Submitted June. 2003 - Client-Joan Forrest, Staffs

Benidorm is a lovely place we stayed in an excelent hotel the Regente, the food was very good, buffet style plenty of choice and as much as you wanted. I was able to get around the counters very well in my wheelchair and seating was spacious I also found it easy to move around the bedroom and into the bathroom. The lifts were a major problem only two lifts for 179 bedrooms often there was a very long wait. We hired electric wheelchairs, we found it very easy to go from the hotel to the beach each day but the roads are fairly hazardous and the many jay walkers caused a few problems, some kerbs were high but once at the beach the footpath was a delight, about a mile of marbled prominard lots of things happening all the beaches have wooden pathways running along to enable wheelchairs or pushchairs access to the beach chairs, there are many cafe's there some of them you can easily get into with a wheelchair but many of them and the shops have steps wich make it difficult. One day we went along to what was the old part of Benidorm, I really liked it with it's white ballustrades and marble terraces I found it quite lovely and well worth a visit, another day we went to a place called mundomar, again well a worth a visit, we saw various sea animals such as seals we followed a path which took us into a man made cave with windows were we could see the seals and dolphins swimming under the water and also penguins, there was also an excellent dolphin show which delighted us. Sadly although we were able to get to that park fairly easily in our wheelchairs we found a few problems getting around in there mainly because had to climb upwards to see the dolphin show and coming down was quite traumatic we also found that food and drinks were very expensive there so I suggest that if you visit take a picnic we all really enjoyed the day. We hired a taxi to take us to and from the airport but as it was a high vehicle I had great difficulty in getting in andson-in-law who can't get out of his wheelchair was just pushed up the ramp at the back. I really enjoyed Benidorm.
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