Celebrating a big birthday in Benidorm: what should we do?

Will much be open in March?

Yes. March is shoulder season, not winter shutdown: the cabaret and tribute bars on Calle Gerona and in Rincón de Loix run every night, and Benidorm Palace runs its show four nights a week. In March 2026 hotels averaged €81 a room and 61% of beds were filled, so there are people about. The catch is the weather: March is the wettest month here, with rain on about 8 days in a typical year and highs around 17.7°C. Keep the day trip flexible and have an indoor plan.

What's the best birthday night out for ten?

Benidorm Palace, by a distance: it's the birthday night visitors name more than any other. The show, TRIVIUM, starts at 22:00 (22:15 on Saturday), doors open at 20:00, and you must be seated by 21:15 or dinner isn't served. A show-only ticket is €40 but your table may be shared; with ten of you, book a dinner package together so you sit as one group. The €60 Gran Palace has a pork menu; the €90 Platinum has fillet steak, cava, wine and the VIP area. On the other nights, the free cabaret bars carry the party, and Cafe Benidorm on the Rincón de Loix strip is a favourite last stop.

Where should we go for the birthday meal?

The Old Town, at lunchtime. Rice and paella are lunch dishes in the local restaurants, so a long birthday lunch beats a late dinner. Bar Mal Pas, a stone tavern below the Mirador, does rice, cuttlefish and seafood for €20 to €30 a head and takes bookings, but it's closed on Tuesdays. Malaspina, in the Mercure on Poniente, has a Repsol Solete and serves rice at lunch only, €30 to €60 a head. For a livelier group graze, walk Tapas Alley on Calle Santo Domingo in the Old Town.

What day out would make it different?

A trip inland or up the coast. Guadalest and the Algar waterfalls is the classic, from about £29 a head on a coach tour, and a full-day off-road jeep tour runs from about £68. Altea's old town, with its blue-domed church, is 15 minutes away on TRAM line 9 (hourly) or on bus 10 to the end of the line (every 20 minutes, €2). Boats to Benidorm Island leave the harbour below the Old Town from 10:00, €22 return.

How do we get flowers or a cake in the room?

Ask the hotel. Email reception a week ahead with your arrival date and room names, and ask them to arrange flowers, a cake or a bottle of cava; visitors say hotels have done it for them. If the hotel can't, visitors pointed to a florist near the Venus and Orange hotels in Rincón de Loix (check it's still open). The indoor market is open every day except Sunday if you'd rather pick your own.

Where should five couples stay?

Near the shows if he wants a party, near the Old Town if he wants a gentler week. Around Avenida Filipinas and Calle Gerona you can walk to the cabaret bars and the Palace; visitors praise the refurbished Hotel Presidente for its location and entertainment. For an Old Town feel, stay at the Levante end of the old quarter. Tell the hotel it's a 60th for five couples when you book; some limit large groups.