This is how you completely reinvent Benidorm for your clients

It’s early morning in Benidorm, and aside from a jogger bobbing along the pristine promenade, I have one of the city’s long strands of urban beach to myself. The powdery sand is pricked with palm trees and sunrise licks the sky in fiery crimson tongues. I slip into the warm Mediterranean, remembering that it’s late October, and sigh contentedly. The Spanish resort that everyone has an opinion about is making a good first impression.

Today’s Benidorm caters for many types of holidaymaker, according to Visit Benidorm. Cyclists, hikers, spa-goers, golfers, snorkellers, scuba divers, families and couples of all ages – and not just the stags and hens and party groups who’ve given the resort its notorious reputation. And Benidorm can add accessibility to this list – this is one of the most accessible European beach cities I’ve visited, and it also has scores of gay-friendly bars, many of them in the Old Town.

I’ve come with an open mind and a keen appetite for activities. My friendly three-star hotel, Hotel Agir, is on the arterial Avenida del Mediterraneo, which runs parallel to Levante Beach. This formerly traffic-choked road is now a leafy pedestrianised street with seating, a cycle lane and striking lighting. After breakfast, I walk to Tao Bikes, where I hire an e-bike to get me up and around the coastal cliffs. At €20 for a half day and €30 for a full day, rates are reasonable.

If I were here for a couple more days, I would cycle to the pretty coastal village of Althea, or give the guided Gastronomic, or Wine Cellar routes a whirl. Instead, I pay for a two-hour hire and follow the Route of the Coves, which winds its way up from the eastern edge of Levante Beach to the Sierra Helada mountain range. Signposts lead to hiking routes, short and long. Fifteen minutes in, I stop at a vantage point to look down on the beach coves of Tio Ximo and Almadabra, and for spectacular views across the city and its swathe of urban beach.

Those clear rocky coves invite snorkelling, but I’m saving that for a trip to Benidorm Island, after lunch. I meet Sergio Frau from Visit Benidorm at Ulia, a fish restaurant at the western tip of Poniente Beach. An incredible 105 metres wide at its broadest point, Poniente is a quieter alternative to Levante and its promenade is lined with restaurants, bars and beach shops.