"The staff were excellent; polite and very helpful, especially in reception.
Housekeeping did a great job, although I was a bit annoyed by one team that insisted on pulling the card for the electricity supply, even though we had been told it was specifically for that purpose by reception when checking in, and we never left anything switched on when we left the apartment.
The bathroom was a good size and had a bath with shower over, which was powerful with plenty of hot water. However, the toilet roll provided was obviously a cheap variety and small, so barely enough to last between housekeeping visits. You might want to bring a couple of spares.
The grounds are well kept and the apartments a very good size with plenty of storage space. All apartments have a patio or balcony, but ours was in shade all day. If you want one that catches the sun at a particular time, make sure to place a special request for that.
Be aware that the sliding doors have a lock bolt at the top in the centre which has to be pulled at the same time as operating the normal door catch. I think this is to stop the doors being shut when you’re outside and trapping you out there, but if your height and arm stretch is on the short side, it will need two of you to open the door!
On a similar note, if you need any of the utensils from the top shelf of the kitchen units, you will need to be about 5ft 10in or more unless you are prepared to climb on one of the dining chairs to reach.
There was a good selection of cooking equipment and utensils. There is a small hob, kettle, toaster, coffee machine and a combined microwave/grill. The latter is quite small, just about big enough for a 12-inch pizza. There were no instructions – I managed to find a user manual on the internet. Make sure the clock is set, otherwise nothing works. Don’t plan on cooking anything significant.
Don’t leave crumbs on the patio/balcony or feed the birds. If you do, you will have seagulls tapping on your patio doors demanding to be fed!
The sink drained very slowly and there was no draining board which made washing up a bit awkward. There were a couple of tea-towels in the drawer, but I suspect these may have been left by previous tenants. There was no dishcloth or washing-up liquid so plan to bring these or buy when you get here.
The lounge and bedrooms have a heater/air-conditioning unit. However, there were no instructions on how to use them. If you need heat, set the mode on the remote to the sunshine symbol and, importantly, then wait for several minutes for the unit to get the message! Make sure you always point the remote at the unit when making a change to settings, otherwise they get out of sync.
There were some maintenance issues. One bedside lamp was broken from its base, and both would flicker if you touched the cable. This didn’t seem particularly safe and wasn’t fixed although reported to reception. We had to tighten the legs on both beds to prevent them from wobbling about.
The TV in the bedroom had no batteries in the remote, confirmed after removing the piece of tape holding the broken battery cover. The TV could be switched on via a switch on the TV, but none of the other switches worked and the only way then of switching off the TV was to drag the desk away from the wall and unplug the supply! The batteries were replaced when we reported the problem, which fixed it, but it obviously wasn’t tested at the time as it remained unplugged and we had to reconnect it.
There was a safe in the bedroom wardrobe which was free to use.
The free wifi generally worked well, although it did slow down noticeably as more people arrived.
The pools are stunning, but at this time of year (March) are somewhat cold. The board stated 24degC but they felt colder. A few brave souls chanced a dip but none lasted more than a minute or so. There is no life guard on duty. We were disappointed to see a couple of guests taking glasses from the free water dispenser in reception to use around the pool area – definitely a safety issue!
The array of sunbeds is impressive; they appeared to be quite new. However, the arms on them made getting on and off awkward and they weren’t particularly comfortable. No cushions were provided and no pool towels available. You’re not supposed to use towels from the room so you will need to bring your own, which eats into the luggage allowance. There are plenty of very large parasols which are fixed firmly into the ground, but there is plenty of space and it is simple enough to move the beds to get the sun or shade you prefer.
The seats around the bar area are also hard and quite uncomfortable, although a few cushions did appear part way through our stay.
Uber is your friend! Make sure you load the app before you get here.
The mini-market on site has minimal stock. Food-wise it is pretty much limited to cheese, ham, milk, fruit juice and sliced bread. There was no beer that I could see. All stock was very expensive, the cheapest bottle of wine being about 8 Euros.
There are small supermarkets down by the harbour, or Lidl/Aldi/Continente are about a 20-30 minute walk away in the other direction. The small supermarket by the harbour just off the square is closed Wednesdays and Sundays. If on foot, in all cases you will need to haul your shopping back uphill. For Lidl etc. use one of the rear entrances to the village. For the harbour, exit via reception, cross the road and turn left initially. Then take the walkway to the right, cross the first small road, then turn right at the next bigger road and head downhill – this takes you directly to the harbour.
Alternatively, do a grocery order on the Uber app and meet the driver at reception.
We booked B&B as the price seemed fair. Breakfast was a very good selection of both hot and cold items. However, the hot items were only ever luke warm and the plates were cold which didn’t help. Around 9.30 it could get busy and you might have to wait for a table.
The restaurant seems to be trying to be upmarket and has a fairly limited menu. It is expensive compared to similar meals available by the harbour. It does provide take-away pizza and burger options, but again these are quite expensive. There was also some confusion over availability since the QR-code link provided in the room suggested service was only afternoons, but the printed menu delivered half-way through our stay stated afternoons and evenings. In any case, Uber Eats provides an excellent choice of take-away type meals at a lower cost and efficient delivery – just arrange to collect at reception.
There are some excellent restaurants by the harbour. You can walk down the hill and get an Uber back. Note there are very few taxis – I think we saw two in ten days, you really do need the Uber app or your own car if you can’t face the walk back up. There is a free courtesy bus to the harbour and beaches beyond. However, this only runs about three times a day and the last bus back is too early for returning after an evening meal.
The hotel can help with car hire. You pay about 32 Euros in cash to reception as a reservation deposit, but that comes off the final hire. The car is delivered to the hotel and you complete the paperwork in reception. As well as your driving licence you will need your passport and a credit card (not a debit card). A week’s hire for a small class A car works out about £200 if you take the full insurance option, which means you don’t need to worry about taking pictures or videos of existing damage and you can just leave the keys at reception at the end of the hire. There are cheaper options, especially at the airport, but reviews are not great, particularly if you have your own insurance or choose just to leave a credit card deposit. Frankly, we didn’t want the hassle so used the hotel option and were very pleased with the service.
There is ample free parking at the hotel, and there is an EV charger just around the corner. There is a BP fuel station opposite the Continente supermarket.
Would we go back? Probably not. They’d need to offer a wider food selection at prices closer to the restaurants in town and/or perhaps run a late bus back from the harbour; offer a pool towel service and/or provide cushions for the sunbeds; replace at least some of the sunbeds with ones that don’t have arms on them; not be so tight with the toilet rolls!"
