Alfagar, Albufeira

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Excellent
Quality of Rooms	Excellent
Standard of Service	Excellent
Quality of Facilities	Excellent

Advantages:	Clean, Cheap, Lots Of Facilities, Beach,
Disadvantages:	25 Minutes Walk To Town, Not A Lot To Do Outside Complex

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

We booked our holiday at the Alfagar Apartments via www.otbeach.com - the paperwork was all email based and we took our paper confirmation to reception on arrival. It is approximately 40 minutes from the airport, 5 minutes from the beach and a 10 minute drive or 20/25minute walk to Albufeira town.

Reception

The reception area is open 24 hours a day; it has a large desk to the right and tables and chairs to the left. Facilities accessible via reception include a telephone/fax service, taxi calling service for 0.40cents per call, postal service, money exchange and the opportunity to book excursions (something we chose to do through our holiday rep). Also available at reception is a wake up service which has to be booked a day in advance, a babysitting service which must also be booked in advance, medical assistance, the rental of television satellite and safety deposit box keys. Other information and leaflets plus a library of books are also available. We found the staff to be extremely helpful and friendly. Passports are held overnight on arrival of the Alfagar, something which seems to be standard nowadays at any resort.

Accommodation

Having previously printed off the site aerial view of the complex it appeared to be quite large, however this wasn't the case and we were pleasantly surprised by how compact the complex was, though not cramped. Our apartment was #301 level 3 or 3 and the 9th apartment in the block - the top floor was nice and peaceful though I don't think it would have made much difference as the whole place was generally quite quiet volume wise.

Our apartment had a kitchen/diner area with table and chair and a modern microwave/oven built in under hobs, all your basic self catering cooking equipment and enough cutlery/crockery for 5 people. We had to purchase cleaning items such as washing up liquid and a sponge as bacon sarnies were top of our breakfast agenda on our 1st morning. The bedroom had 2 single beds pushed together to create a double, with a decent amount of bedding available and stored in the wardrobe - which was rather large. It also had 2 bedside tables, 2 lamps and a safe in the wardrobe. In order to use the safe we were required to rent a key from reception for €10 and a €30 deposit which was returned to us when we returned the key).

The lounge section was open from the kitchen and had a sofa bed which was uncomfortable to sit on I can't imagine what it would have been like to sleep on, 2 armchairs, a lamp and a coffee table. There was also a television and whilst you had to pay for satellite we managed to get what was effectively "free view". Channels included BBC1 ITN London, Zone TV, Sky News, BBC3, ITV4, CBeebies, CNN and BBC News 24.

The bathroom was kitted out with a full bath with shower facilities attached, a toilet, sink and bidet - there was also a cupboard with a bin in it. 1 bar of soap was provided by the complex and toilet roll was provided when needed by the chambermaids as they cleaned. Chambermaids cleaned the apartments 5 times a week, daily mon-fri between 9 and 6pm, towels were changed twice a week and bed linen was changed once a week. Each day they made the beds and washed the floors in all living areas.

A key unlocked the apartment and no electricity was activated until the key was placed in a base on the wall next to the door. In addition to the standard lock on the door was a chain lock which went across the door. I felt very safe in the apartment and at no time did I question the security. The steps into the apartment block were open with no door or monitoring system but again this wasn't a problem.

There was no air conditioning in our apartment. This however was not a problem as the room was always cool. In-fact on some occasions i even ended up putting a jumper on as it tended to be much warmer outside than in.

On Site Facilities

The complex has 3 swimming pools open between 8-8pm depending on the season. Swimming pool 1 is near the bar and is suitable for both adults and children, this was the busiest pool and we tried to avoid the screaming, splashing children. Swimming pool 2 is placed near the cliffs with a sea view (if you stand up), whilst swimming pool 3 is a large children's pool next to the kids playground by the bar. There is also excavation work going on for the placement of an additional pool.

The playground was the type with a wooden structure including slides and ropes - ideal for keeping the children amused - but far to near the pool for my liking. If I had kids I would be worried that they would wander towards the water - something no parent at the complex appeared to be worried about judging by the number of small kids left unsupervised in this area.

The complex also has 2 tennis courts, which had to be booked in advance with a fee and a deposit, the cost I do not know as it didn't interest me, but it didn't appear to be very popular and I saw nobody playing Tennis throughout the duration of our stay. The Alfagar also boasts a games room though we struggled to find it and decided that the 2 pool tables (1 of which seemed to be out of order depending on the day of the week), 1 ice-hockey table and a mini kids carousel must have constituted a games room. We spent many Euros on the pool tables and can promise a little person will without fail try and grab the balls on the table or watch and get under your feet.

There is a mini supermarket on site and it stocks all your basic needs from food to washing powder, tampax to newspapers. The bread and fruit was all fresh and the supermarket appeared to open between 8-8pm though residents are advised the times change depending on the season.

The bar opens between 8-1am daily and offers a wide range of meals and bar snacks, coffee, ice-cream and alcoholic/soft beverages. The bar offers both indoor and outdoor seating and we could always get a seat and be served promptly regardless of how busy it was.
The complex restaurant opens between 6.00pm - 11pm from the end of February to the beginning of December. It offered Portuguese specialities as well as International cuisine (English food) and also had indoor and outdoor seating. We dined there once. I ordered chicken in mushroom sauce with tagliatellie (I forget what it was called) and it tasted like cheesy feet - or what I imagine that to taste like). My boyfriend ordered steak and enjoyed it very much. He also polished off my chicken so I suppose that was down to personal taste.

The complex offers entertainment 7 nights a week in the bar area and it wasn't all bad. Monday was 60's night, Tuesday, International Music, Wednesday, Karaoke Night, Thursday, Folklore Group of Montenegro, Friday, Country & Irish Music, Saturday, Karaoke Night and Sunday was International Music. I really enjoyed the folklore group. It was a group of approximately 20 Algarvian dancers/singers who performed dances/songs from the 19th century in the Algarve - they also work authentic Algarvian clothes. I thought they were excellent.

Transport & Access To Town

There was a minibus which ran daily from the complex into Albufeira at 10am, 2.30pm and returned at 3pm. Tickets had to be purchased from reception (and the timetable varies depending on the season). We didn't use this minibus as the times didn't suit us, instead we walked the 25minute walk into Albufeira which wasn't really worth the walk as there wasn't a lot there to see or do. There is a bus stop just outside the complex which runs buses into town on a 30minute schedule every 30minutes. The reception staff were very helpful and provided us with a bus timetable for the public transport - again we didn't use it as we walked but it was reassuring to know it was there. Our rep told us that it cost approximately €2 for a trip to town.

Excursions

Excursions are readily available either at reception, or from your holiday rep, chances are if you walk into town you will be approached by somebody trying to sell you "cheaper" excursions than anywhere else. We didn't find out if this was true and booked ours though our rep.

The Beach & The Cliffs

The Alfagar Apartments are situated high up on the cliff tops and boast a private set of steps leading to the Santa Eulalia beach. However due to erosion they were unsafe and had tape preventing access. They were not blocked off from the beach end though and we used the safe (but allegedly unsafe) steps to make our way back up to the complex, daily. Our only reason for avoiding them on the trip to the beach was that they led to a small section of beach which was blocked off from the rest by the sea when the tide was in (almost all day). However when the tide was out in the evening we could walk around and use the steps to get back to the apartment. The cliffs are not safe to walk in - they are fenced off in most places to prevent people abusing them and encouraging them to crumble and erode. On the edge of the complex right on the cliff top is a bench which was lovely to sit on and watch the sea from. This was a great view point.

Overall Opinion

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Alfagar Apartments to anybody. The complex was clean and tidy, the staff were friendly and efficient, the food was generally quite good and it was quite quiet and not overrun with too many kids at this time of year. It was also a very cheap holiday which overall including flights cost under £400 for 2 adults. Despite my praises I had two concerns. 1 was the lonesome cockroach we saw in the bar which was rather large but well away from the food areas and I put it down to not always being able to be 100% free of them - this one seemed to live behind the picture frame by the front door. We promptly moved when we noticed it.

My second concern is that if you are looking for a busy week to do, unless you have a lot of money to spend on excursions you may find yourself bored. There isn't a lot to do after a while unless you want a beach/pool holiday, in that case this would be ideal for you.
I thoroughly enjoyed my week at the Alfagar and wouldn't hesitate to go back or recommend it to others.