Having read some of the comments prior to travelling, we went to Best Benalmedena with fear and trepidation. Nothing could have prepared us for the kindness, attention and standard of the hotel and staff. We did have a problem on arrival - the door card wouldn't work. Reported to Reception and straight away batteries were replaced. It still wouldn't work [by which time one hot sweaty Englishman was loosing it big time!] Within minutes the whole lock was replaced and by way of apology fresh fruit and more water was brought to our room. You don't get that sort of attention in an English Holiday Hotel.
The food is excellent and well presented, they refer to it as national and international cuisine. OK it's not English but hey! This is Spain. If you wanted chips with everything it was there for the taking.
The pool area is very adequate with more than enough sunbeds and although the main pool isn't large [or deep] there were never more than 6 people at any one time and there was always the beach within easy walking distance.
"The Road" is a problem [ the new Motorway will make little difference] and gives a continuous background noise but close the balcony doors [that's when the air con works!] and it's no worse than some cities we've visited in this country - including seagulls at Scarborough!
A little removed from the shops, but there is a Supermarket and ATM opposite and E1.20 takes you by frequent bus either to Torremolinos or Fuengirola. We would suggest get a travel card as the cheapest option as with many transport systems [including London] There were many trips to go on, Nerja, Ronda, Gibralter, Grenada, but adopt the attitude you're on holiday. Have another cervesa, maybe tomorrow.
The staff are predominantly spanish speaking - not really suprising - but most speak a little English, or French, or German, or Russian so communication is not a problem but you must remember everything just takes a little longer. A first class experience.

Having read some bad reviews about this hotel we decided to book anyway.Good points- the room was a good standard and most of the staff were very nice. Now the bad-Air con never worked for 8 of the 10 days we stayed.The reception desk were dismissive of our complaints and blaming us for the problem.The window had to be left open because the AIR CON did not work so we had to listen to road traffic all night.This is a 3 star hotel with much better REAL 4 star hotels nearby

If you are lucky enough to have a pool/seaview room then it would be quiet, but we had a room on the front aproach to the hotel facing a very busy dual carriageway. It was bad enough this month, would not have liked it in the high season. During the night we would either have a noisey airconditioning, or with the patio door open the noise of the traffic.
Food and cleanliness was second to none, and we did have a small fridge in the room, with complimentary 2 small bottles of water, 1 pepsi and 1 fanta. any other drinks you would have to pay for. Entertainment spanish speaking....includ childrens entertainment.
Pool smallish and metre and half deep.All-inclus good, branded drinks, baileys etc Great supermarket with good reasonable prices across the dual carriageway- crossing. We were halfboard. Pepsi at hotel was 1 euro 80 and packet walkers crisps 1 euro 30, pepsi at supermarket was 81cents, great prices. Recomend bus transport. Bus to fuengerola 1euro 70 and then 1euro 20 to miljas was great day out on Wednesday- quaint spanish village, 20euro horse and carriage, and if early enough flamenco dacing in the square. We was told to watch pick-pockets in fuengerola by the bus depot ticket man.

After reading one or two of the earlier reviews of the hotel we were a bit worried as to what to expect, but we were in for a very pleasant surprise. The room was very large and spacious with 2 big double beds. Bathroom very good with hot water as and when required. The air conditioning just about did its job as well. The hotel is right at the top of the strip, but the rest of the resort is a 5 minute bus ride away. The bus stops right outside the hotel and the bus drivers can all speak a bit of English so nothing to worry about and its very cheap at just over a Euro a head (1.15). If you like to have a nice walk (like us), you can walk the full length of Benalmadena Costa in about 30-40 minutes. You can also get the bus up to Mijas (Bus number 121, down near the Marina), which is an absolute must to visit. The food in the hotel is spot on as well, with about 3-4 different meats to chose from each evening. The chef also cooks a variation of meats and fish each night "live" as well. We are going to try to get the same hotel this summer, but will probably go Bed and Breakfast because we ate far too much on the evening and could hardly manage a drink afterwards !! The staff were very friendly and all spoke good English. No bother getting sun beds during the day as well, with no need whatsover to run down early to chuck a towel down. The hotel does get loads of Spanish guests so you can earn a few brownie points with them by at least saying "hello" and "good morning" in Spanish. Lets face it we are visiting Spain afterall and we would expect them to say a few English words if they come over here, wouldn't we? The strength of the Euro has got us stuffed at the minute, but most of the local pubs have a happy hour on their drinks so you can save a few bob by taking advantage. To sum up a very nice hotel, that we are looking forward to visit again. If you like nice food, a quiet place to stay and don't mind the odd little 50 year old Spanish Senora muscling you out of the way of the toasting machine first thing on a morning, then this is the place for you.