I was never really one for a Costa del Sol kinda holiday but, during the February half term 2025, we were looking for some sun with the family. The south of Spain is often one of the best deals when it comes to winter sun breaks, and we found an excellent deal in Benalmadena, at the Medplaya Bali.
Although I’m a big fan of Spain and Spanish culture (I even lived in Valencia briefly), I’d never been to Andalucia. So we braved the package tour option and booked the trip.
How did it go?
About the Medplaya Bali Hotel
Medplaya are a Spanish resort chain, with several hotels across the country and several on the Costa del Sol. Based in the heart of Benalmadena, a popular coastal resort town close to Malaga, the Medplaya Bali Hotel is well situated for summer and winter sun breaks.
Many of the hotels in Medplaya’s portfolio are either three star or four star rated. This means that they offer a reliable standard and quality – with the three star resorts offering the best value in terms of low cost. The differences are often in the hotel facilities and services, rather than the quality of the room.
The Medplaya Bali in Benalmadena is a three star hotel – but don’t write it off yet. While it is a little worn around the edges, the hotel is generally well maintained. We thought the facilities were sufficient, for the price point and what was expected.
Talking of which…
Whats on offer at the Medplaya Bali?
The hotel rooms are decent, with a comfy beds and nice sea facing balconies in every room. In fact, the sea facing aspect was one of the best things about the hotel as you could sit on the balcony and watch the sunset with a cool drink. The view extended down the coast, so you could see most of the town landscape and the sea, but not too far into the distance. The rooms also overlook the main pool area which is right in front of the hotel.
For pools, you have a good selection. At the back of the hotel is a deeper pool for serious swimmers and grown ups only. The pools at the front are more suited to casual swimmers, sunbathers and children. In fact there is a good sized kids pool, with some nice play features which our little ones enjoyed. There is also a cafe next to the pool, but it wasn’t open when we visited in February half term 2025. Most people bought drinks from the main bar (about 2 floors up) or went to one of the nearby shops.
There was a games room which was looking a bit tired. There were arcade machines, but half of them were out of service and in some cases the positioning meant that you couldn’t really access the games machines or tables.
There was also a bit of an ant infestation when we visited. This was mostly in the games room, but we also noticed a few in our room on the sixth floor. We did mention it to the staff and they said it would get looked at, but we’re not sure it was…
The hotel also featured a nice big bar where they had some lively activities. This seemed to be where most of the animation/event stuff happened
Check out Medplaya Bali Hotel packages at Love Holidays.
Medplaya Bali; Is the food good?
We stayed with a half board package at the Medplaya Bali Benalmadena, so we got to enjoy both the breakfast buffet and the evening buffet. And we thought the food was of a very good standard. Of course, the competition for customers in the Costa del Sol package holiday market is pretty fierce, so of course the food does need to be decent.
The breakfast selection was pretty much as you’d expect: a standard line up of continental offerings including pastries, bread, jams, nutella, a good choice of cheese and ham and all the juices and tea and coffee you might expect. The juice was very much of the low quality concentrate variety, so if freshly squeezed juice is a must have, you are going to be disappointed…
Breakfast also featured a very solid British offering of eggs, bacon and British style sausages – which obviously catered to the heavily represented UK crowd. But there was also a lot of the Spanish classics too, such as sobresada, pan con tomate, chistorra sausages and quince jam and curd cheese.
Our kids LOVED the breakfast… But…
It was the evening meal where they really got to go wild. The dinner buffet was a revolving theme of main dishes, usually with a freshly grilled meat such as burgers, kebabs or chicken. There was also always a fish option, pasta and sauce (usually a plain tomato or cheese type sauce) and sometimes a Spanish classic like a paella. They even had curry on one evening – don’t get too excited though it was pretty bland.
The dessert section was obviously a major draw for the kids,with three ice creams and a selection of cakes, fruit and yogurt. All of which were tempting enough for me to over do it and my kids to always want another serving (obviously).
Generally speaking the food was of a pretty decent standard and the staff worked hard to keep it well stocked and clean.
For alcohol or drinks, we didn’t have any included in our package and we had to buy drinks from the bar. These were, for Spain, quite expensive, as I recall. Water was free though with the evening meal, although you had to request it from the surly barman.
Enjoying Benalmadena
One thing about the Medplaya Bali is the proximity to the beach. It’s barely a five minute walk down the hill and onto the beach, although the walk back up can be arduous with tired children. The hotel is also around 15 minutes from the Marina and the attractions there such as the Sealife, boat cruises, restaurants and shops.
It’s a nice walk along the promenade to the marina which goes all the way down to nearby Torremolinos. This is lined all the way with bars and restaurants, so there is plenty to keep you fuelled if you do decide to go and explore.
Is the Medplaya Bali a good hotel?
While the rooms are a little tired, and basic, we thought the Medplaya Bali Benalmadena was a pleasant place to stay for a week. It’s best suited to those who are going to be out and about exploring or on the beach, as the hotel itself is a little basic with the facilities. There is no gym on site, and the pools, while fine for little ones, might get a bit long in the tooth after a few days.
There are plenty of options for excursions though, and we had a great day out in nearby Malaga – a city which is well worth exploring.
All in all, in our review of Medplaya Bali, we’d give the hotel thee out of five.
