Ljs: Benidorm ? the new costa del cool?

Benidorm, one of Spain's most maligned resorts, is reinventing itself with a five-star boutique hotel, Balinese chill-out lounges and swanky gin bars

First of all, I have to admit to a guilty secret: I quite like Benidorm. This is not something one tends to shout from the rooftops, especially polite, chattering-class rooftops, but there you have it.

The experiences you have in a place shape your opinions to such an extent that it's impossible to be objective. For me, Benidorm was the town where, as a young man, I started working in journalism, for an expat newspaper. I would busily scribble down stories by day while exploring the world of flamenco and getting caught up in a passionate and doomed love affair with a married woman by night.

So the 1960s tower blocks with their rusting balcony rails, chip shops, dance halls and pubs are all lodged in a colourful, thrilling part of my memory next to images of stomping feet and breathless midnight trysts.

Which was where I had left them. Despite now living a couple of hours' drive north of Benidorm, in Valencia, I hadn't been back in over 15 years.

And times have changed. Spain's Costas have been going through a hard time lately. Changing attitudes and continuing recession mean that the once-packed resorts like Torremolinos, Tossa de Mar and Marbella are struggling as tourist numbers dwindle.

Is this a mere dip in fortunes or a sign of more terminal decline? Can the Spanish Mediterranean ever return to the late-20th-century boom years?

It was in the early 1950s that Mayor Pedro Zaragoza revolutionised this former fishing village by famously hopping on his Vespa and riding 300 miles to Madrid to get Generalissimo Franco's permission for female tourists to wear their revealing bathing costumes on his beaches. The archbishops were outraged, but Franco acquiesced, and a legend was born as Benidorm became the first seaside town in Spain to allow bikinis.

That aside, Benidorm's success was built largely on two main attractions ? long stretches of near-white sand and a microclimate that guarantees almost 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. These things were pretty much the same as the last time I was here. It was as sunny as ever when I arrived, and crystal-clear waters lapped the beaches as sunbathers ? mostly elderly Spaniards ? lay on loungers beneath the palm trees.

And the tower blocks are still there. Some taller ones have been added ? somewhat sturdier and cleaner-looking than their older siblings. Nothing, it appeared, was very different. The recession was no doubt taking its toll, as a handful of boarded up shops and bars confirmed.

But then ... what's this? A new hotel, the Villa Venecia, with five stars above its door. It is a boutique spa hotel, to boot, with spectacular views out to sea and to the wedge-shaped island that punctuates the Benidorm horizon ? La Isla de los Periodistas.

"We opened a year and a half ago," said employee Tito as he took me to the chill-out terrace, gym, massage room and Jacuzzi. "We get a lot of couples wanting to recharge their batteries." The head chef, Victor Conus Cervantes, from Barcelona, is aiming to get a Michelin star within the next couple of years. "That's the way Benidorm is going," said Tito.

As if by way of confirmation, later that day I had lunch with an old friend, Jorge, at Taita (Calle Primavera 8, +34 965 852 148), one of a new generation of high-class restaurants in the town. Others include El Mes�n (Calle Gerona 5, +34 965 858 521), and Rias Baixas (Plaza del Torre� 3, +34 965 855 022), known for its excellent seafood.

As we sat on the terrace eating crispy grilled duck breast with dauphinoise potatoes, Jorge told me Benidorm really was changing. "Take this place," he said. "Was there anything like this restaurant when you were last here?"

There wasn't. Nor were there Balinese chill-out lounges, designer boutiques or swanky gin bars like the one I'd seen as I crossed town.

Perhaps even more surprising than the town attempting to clamber upmarket is the assertion that it could become a model for sustainable, mass-market tourism.

"Ah, yes, the Benidorm model ? everyone's talking about it," Jorge said. "By building vertically rather than horizontally you get more people in, but you cause less damage to the landscape. Imagine if you had to fit all the millions who come here into low-rise accommodation. It would be a disaster."

I had my doubts. Many would say that Benidorm is already a disaster. But a number of respected architects, including Luis Fern�ndez-Galiano of Madrid's Universidad Polit�cnica, are claiming that the resort is an example of sustainable urban development. Alfonso Vegara, the former president of the International Society of City and Regional Planners, says Benidorm and Manhattan are both sustainable "intelligent terrains".

Perceptions of Benidorm are changing, and much of the impulse behind this appears to be coming from the town authorities themselves. While the resort still caters principally for families and the elderly, the new administration is keen to attract sophisticated and independent travellers. To this end they're targeting students and the gay market, as well as people interested in adventure and sport (the scuba diving is among the best along the coastline).

As part of this programme, last July saw the first Low Cost Festival (21-23 July 2011, festivallowcost.com), a three-day music event with more than 40 acts, including bands such as Placebo and Editors. A sister techno festival, Electrobeach (24-27 August 2011, electrobeachfestival.com), is held in August.

"Benidorm is adapting to survive," a Town Hall spokesman assured me. "In five years' time we will still be the Med's number-one resort."

? Hotel Villa Venecia (+34 902 165 454, hotelvillavenecia.com) charges from ?192 for a room half-board or ?155 B&B. Budget airlines fly to Alicante from several UK airports. Further information from benidorm.org

Jason Webster is the author of four travel books on Spain, and a detective novel set in Valencia (jasonwebster.net)

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