LTI Alfamar Beach & Sport Resort, Albufeira

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	Location
Disadvantages:	Too quiet for some

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

We stayed at this hotel for 2 weeks in July 2007. We had previously spent a week here in 1997 and remembered it as a comfortable, quiet and well-positioned hotel. Our memories were correct and in the intervening years the place had been improved with a new pool, better access to the beach, as well as a general freshening up (it is probably 30 years old).

On our latest visit we booked half-board, land view room. The rooms are very acceptable. Most of the rooms are linked by walkways around a 6-floor high inside atrium which give a great feeling of openness when seated in public areas. We actually got a very good deal through Travel Republic so we were already feeling good about the place. We are not sports minded and as this hotel is marketed as a sports resort I think anyone looking for modern. high-tech facilities would be disappointed.

There are 3 key points I want to make -
- the food is great. Both breakfast and dinner is served as a buffet and sometimes this can lead to bland and uninspiring food, but at the Alfamar the food was superb. The choice is huge - starters, main and desserts in great abundance, and so well presented that among our holiday photos are some of the buffet tables. I cannot praise it highly enough. In fact we ate far too much.

- which leads me to the second point. The location is superb. From the hotel to the beach ai a walk of about 100 metres. The Falesia beach stretches about 5 miles from Vilamoura in the east to Ohlos D'Agua to the west, and the hotel is about halfway along this beach. If you like beach walking then this is definately the place. You can walk into Vilamoura in about an hour, or you can just walk the beach as do hundreds of people every day. The beach is so long that you will always find a secluded spot. The sunsets are superb - the red sandstone cliffs positively erupt in colour in the evening and the whole area is very restfull and quiet. Its not a place for clubbers and lovers of nightlife but if you like open air, great views and a fabulous ocean then this place cannot be beaten.

- and finally. The hotel staff are fantastic, very friendly and helpful. The guests when we were there were mainly I think portugese, which I felt enhanced the holiday experience. Second most were germans followed a long way behind by british.

I closing if you like good food, peace and quiet and a great beach location, the this hotel cannot be beaten for the price. If you go, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.