Pierre & Vacances Benidorm Horizon

The views from the apartment were amazing, and we liked the shuttle bus and access to the hotel pool. The location was good, and our room was clean, tidy, modern and great. We really enjoyed staying here. We checked out on 16 October, eight working days ago, and still haven't received our €200 deposit back. That's disappointing.

Getting around was easy enough by taxi, and the fares to the beach, town or wherever you need to go were very reasonable. There's also a small supermarket five to ten minutes away on foot. The apartments were a good size with decent balconies, but ours was dirty and not properly cleaned. There was no hot water, the bathrooms were very dated, and the shower itself was so tiny it was hard to wash without soaking the whole shower room. The building sits on a big hill, with lots of stairs and lifts that weren't working. There are four lifts, but only two worked. At busy times we waited 10-15 minutes, and there was no apology, note or effort to fix them. The little pool area was a bit dirty and shaded for at least all morning and longer. There were only 16 sunbeds for a 34-floor building with four apartments on each floor. The hotel across the road has more beds, but gets very crowded, with everyone crammed together and patches of shade. Checkout is at 10 a.m. We asked about a late checkout the day we arrived and were told no, so be ready to wait around. The indoor pool is where they let you shower and change on checkout day, but it's not great and they provide nothing.

The view from the top floor is worth a look. I've stayed here a few times and would come again. The free shuttle from next door, Benidorm East, runs to near the market and Burger King from 10:00-14:00 and 17:20-20:20. The walk back from town is a bit of a trek, which you'd think would be obvious, but it still catches people out. The rooms are fine rather than special, and they do the job. The blackout blinds work brilliantly, the shower pressure is great, and having a washing machine is handy when travelling light. Breakfast at Benidorm East was good. The fried food was a bit hit and miss, but the fruit, salad, bread, cheese and meats were very nice, and the coffee and juice were decent. It took over a week to get my deposit back, which isn't ideal. They accept cash or credit card too if you'd rather keep the balance on your debit card.

The rooms were perfect, with an amazing view, and we honestly loved the holiday. The only issue with the hotel itself was its position at the top of a massive hill. The deposit is a much bigger problem. We left the room spotless, bagged all the rubbish, and hadn't damaged anything. I paid €200 by card and was told it would be back in 5-7 days. That time passed and I still didn't get it back. I emailed them and got no response. Since the room was in perfect shape and we'd caused no issues, we should have received the refund. I won't return because of this.