"We have just returned from 11 nights at these apartments and what follows is an honest review of the hotel, staff, facilities and area.
The Area
The Arcos is located very close to the beach and borders a residential area with a bus stop meters away from the front door. The beach is absolutely beautiful, clean with sunbeds that are never full. It is 15.50 euros for 2 sunbeds and an umbrella-compared to further up the beach this is good value. The surroundings of The Arcos is extremely noisy. Barking dogs, motorbikes, bin wagons and birds will do their best to keep you awake all night long and because it is so hot, you have no choice than keeping the windows open-we were quite badly bitten by mosquitoes while staying here because of this. The staircases to the rooms are open to the public street enabling anyone to access the stairwell. If I had children with me, I would not have been happy about how secure this is, although I never felt unsafe, this was a little unsettling. The local residents are protesting at the moment about how their Mayor has abandoned the area. Do not worry to see banners tied to railings-this is not against tourists.
Tips - -Take a good pair of earplugs to help you sleep-you will be glad you did
-Shop at the Spar shop instead of the yellow Rapid Supermarket. He is much cheaper and so friendly, ‘It’s a local shop!’ he would tell us lol.
The Apartment
There is no lift, so be ready to carry your suitcases up far too many stairs. The apartment is large and cleanish. I had read reviews that said it was very dirty so I took cleaning materials with me-it wasn’t too bad. I think because everything is so old and worn, it makes it look more dirty than it is? For me, the smell was extremely unpleasant, really fusty. I went to the shop and bought a few gel air fresheners to help this. The furniture is sparse and in poor condition. There was a bed settee and 2 chairs in the main area and I refused to sit on a single seat of any of them. They looked like they had been brought in from the street and I’m pretty sure the source of the smell came solely from them. They only have single beds that are extremely hard with springs that dig in just in the right places to wake up up-pillow is lovely and soft. Sheets are worn, a few holes here and there but not bad. Shower was AMAZING and considering we were having around 3 showers a day due to the heat, this was very welcome. Towels can be exchanged every 3 days and sheets once a week. This becomes pretty grim pretty quick., The kitchen is not fit for purpose in my opinion. You have around 30cm either side of the hob as your worktop, so no space for anything more than making a sandwich or some toast. We did however, have a brand new fridge with a small freezer compartment, which was lovely considering the ones I’d seen on social media. You have to empty your bins into the large communal bins on the street around the corner. Its not far, but a little inconvenient. We used carrier bags to save us having to ask in reception for them all the time for more bin bags. No wifi in the rooms which wasn’t the best. TV plug was broken, this didn’t bother us, but I did let the staff know just in case the next people wanted to watch it. The biggest thing that needs to be looked at is the lack of air con. Now, we knew about it before we went-but we never could have predicted the heat dome that sat over the top of us for our entire stay. It was truly exhausting. I don’t think anyone can fully appreciate how it can affect your comfort so much? We hired a fan, but the heat was a killer. Please think about this if you consider staying here. Ants will find every single crumb you drop so be mindful when you are eating and dispose of your rubbish regularly or you will pay the price.
Tips- -Take a mug for your tea/coffee. They only have tiny ones, You will thank me trust me.
-Take a pack of anti-bac wipes, a tea towel and dispense some washing up liquid into a little travel bottle. Yes, you can buy it there-but who wants to go shopping for cleaning products on holiday?
-There is no hairdryer. Take one or hire one there.
Pool
I did not spend long here, my partner even less. The sun loungers were held together with bungee cords and tie wraps and, as a larger lady, I was scared I would end up on the floor. They had all seen better days. The pool was small but fine with a separate part for the children. The lifeguard deserves a mention-she never took her eyes off those children, she did a wonderful job. Wifi around the pool – that was nice.
Staff
We encountered professional staff, not particularly chatty or over friendly, but answered our questions if we had any. We did not attend the bingo nights in the restaurant, not really our thing, but reviews do say they are fun? Reception is open from 8am to 5pm, make sure that if you have a problem or query you sort it in these hours otherwise your on your own.
Summary – Beautiful place, easy transport links, clean beach but I would never stay here or recommend anyone I know to stay here again. We spoke to so many people who said they had been going there every year for 4/5/6 years on the trot-I cannot lie, this baffles me? I know it is a cheap and cheerful place-but is it really? Once you have hired a fan, a hairdryer, bought cleaning materials/water/milk/pop/ant powder etc. you might as well just book into a better hotel/apartment. It makes no sense. Eating/drinking out is so expensive now and you have limited facilities to cook in your apartment unless you like dishing up in the sink? I would strongly think about what you go on holiday for. You can secure a much nicer place than this for not much more money."
