Guest User
October 2, 2024
This hotel has an impressive façade, spacious lobby area and is conveniently located - roughly midway between Albufeira old town and "The *****", close to major supermarkets, taxi rank, sight-seeing hop-on-hop-off point, and tourist train. The staff were, generally, helpful, and polite. Our self-catering apartment was also spacious, but the bathroom could do with an upgrade - chrome fittings either loose or tarnished, leaky shower-curtain facility within the bath creating a slip hazard on wet tiles. The kitchen had the bare essentials but no teapot, wine glasses, egg cups. The fridge door shelves were also missing. It did have a dish washer that looked like it had never been used. (Is a dishwasher really necessary in a holiday apartment?) Teapot, wine glasses and fridge door shelves were eventually provided on request. An iron and ironing board also had to be requested and were provided on receipt of a refundable deposit. Despite a similar request to provide a hair dryer, it never materialised. Admittedly, none of these circumstances would jeopardise the overall enjoyment of a holiday but, in a hotel that promotes itself as a 4-star venue, they should not occur. However, one circumstance that could jeopardise your enjoyment is the foul smell of drains that wafts intermittently through the outdoor pool area. To be fair, this may not be exclusively the hotel's fault as the smell persists in the wider area outside of the hotel and there is visual evidence of sewage effluent discharge into a dry riverbed nearby. Perhaps the €2/person/day tourist tax which is being levied by the Municipio de Albufeira could be used to address this. One other issue to watch out for in Albufeira generally is the state of the footpaths. They are mainly constructed of small stones arranged, mosaic style, in a sandy substrate. You have to admire the skill of the people who put them there but, over time, they have become hazardous - elevated in places by tree roots, sunken in others by vehicles parking on them, holes in others through decades of wear and tear. If you are planning on walking around the area, bring sturdy footwear!