Place most Stag & Hens end their evening - The Square

 Alicante arrivals is full of them every Friday - yep, no prizes for guessing... Stag & Hen groups. Love them or hate them, they do help to keep many businesses in Benidorm afloat, particularly in these economically difficult times. I would say that the vast majority are harmless and are just here to have a good time... yes they sometimes get a bit rowdy after a few drinks but nothing worse than that in most cases.

So apart from the obvious, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, what else do they get up to. Well a group of 13 stags came over from Great Yarmouth at the beginning of May - arriving on Saturday lunchtime and going back on the early morning Tuesday flight. So how much could they pack into 3 days - and nights you are wondering.... plenty!

Stag Chris with his "entourage"

The group arrived on the 6am Easyjet flight from London Luton, determined to make the most of their time here. I met them at their hotel in the early afternoon and they looked surprisingly alert as they waited for the stretch limo to arrive to take them to the first activity booked - Go Karting. As the limo pulled up outside the Hotel Levante Club, with the music system turned up to full volume, it attracted the attention of many passer-bys - in fact, a Spanish family that happen to be walking by had their picture taken in front of it and took a peek inside too.

Lucky me surrounded by 13 stags!

Once they arrived at the Go Karting they had to sign an insurance form, which is provided by the karting company then off they went to the track. It was a fairly busy afternoon, with quite a few other stag groups there too. They each picked a helmet and waited their groups turn - they had a 10 minute warm up session which determines what position they go in for the race, take a short break then go back out for their 10 minute race - a printout of the lap times is given to the track boy to line them up correctly at the start point... then off they went!

Stag Chris getting a drenching....

They certainly appeared to enjoy themselves - boys and their toys etc.... I asked them if it was long enough as I have often had many groups asking for longer but they said definitely yes. Its amazing how long 10 minutes is when whizzing around they said, plus its not like driving a comfy car - you are virtually on the ground in a plastic seat.... I must say its not something that I have tried, nor intend to! A printout of the finishing positions is given to each group with an impromptu ceremony - winners cava provided by the karting company! Afterwards they enjoyed a typical Spanish lunch.... jamon, cheeses and salad followed by a bbq selection, dessert and drinks before being whisked back to their hotel to rest and change before their first night out!

Poor Chris "suffered" as you can see

The boys made their way down to the Grill House on the Avd Mediterraneo for a meal in "The Jail" - a favourite with Stag & Hen groups! It literally looks like a jail and they tucked into a shared tex-mex starter and slabs of ribs afterwards... real man food! Afterwards, unbeknown to the stag, best man Gavin had booked some "entertainment" and the group were invited upstairs to the private bar area which has stunning views from the balcony... not that the boys were looking at those mind.
"Kinky Karen" certainly delighted the group with a 25 minute show - which included a bit of audience participation!

Fully protected and ready to go....

Sunday and the boys were up and ready for an afternoon at the Air-Soft range, a 15 minutes drive out of Benidorm. Air soft is the new paint balling..... far more realistic and using guns! I was surprised at how many girls participate too - unfortunately heels are a distinct disadvantage for this activity so I just waved them off from the comfort of a chair! They had a briefing session on health & safety and how to use the guns and collected their protective clothing - most of the lads had shorts on and decided to take the option of borrowing some long trousers.

The most important safety message was DO NOT remove your protective face mask - anyone caught without it on would be sent back. Armed and dangerous they set off into the acres of land - split into two groups to "play".

After arriving back in Benidorm the group freshened up and went out to hit and enjoy the Benidorm nightlife, together with hundreds of others... staying out into the early hours!

Monday was a slow and relaxed day around the pool - mainly spent recovering from the late night. The last night was another surprise for the group - they had a minibus pick them up and headed off the Alicante... to spend a night at the casino located in the harbour. They were each given a glass of complimentary cava and toasted the Stag on his forthcoming nuptials before hitting the tables - at which point I bade farewell to them.

They had an early pick up on Tuesday morning and all managed to arrive safely back. Sensibly they had the following day booked off work - some had the rest of the week! I received a lovely  email from Gavin the following day part of which read the following "Hi Irena, first of all from myself and all the lads a big thank you for all your work, it paid off and the stag was extremely overwhelmed - great value service and the guys loved you". Chris I wish you all the best for a happy married future - maybe pick Benidorm for your honeymoon?

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