Albir Garden Resort Timeshare Release

Family of 3 (Child aged 12) stayed in a self-catering apartment for one week, thoroughly enjoyed!

Apartment was small and the kitchen was very basic, there was no oven which would have meant if we had wanted to cook in there it would have been very difficult but we did not spend much time in it. The apartment was clean and the bathroom was spotless with the best shower I have ever had when abroad. There was no kettle when we got there but one was soon brought to the apartment when requested. There is a very reasonably priced supermarket across from the Albir Gardens which stocks everything and the beach and nice restaurants are close by. The water park is entertaining for children of all ages. We were self catering but the domestic staff gave us clean towels every time we saw them, I just asked.

If self catering wine costs approximately 10 euros a bottle in the complex and you can get a delicious 3 course meal for between 14 and 17 euros which includes half a bottle of wine each and bread before the starter in nearby restaurants. I think the best place to eat for taste and value for money was Retaurante Paulinos Pizzeria which was about a 5 minute walk from Abir Gardens. You could get a three course meal including bread before your starter and wine from a special menu, menu 1 was 14 euros and menu 2 was 17 euros. An excellent holiday, I felt it was good value for money and we would definitely return to Albir Gardens!!

My time in Albir Garden had its ups and downs.

As most people will land in Alicante Airport, if you have a coach/bus transfer like we did, be prepared to drop off everyone in Benidorm first as you will probably be last dropoff. I think we seen every street, back alley and speedbump in Benidorm which took 2.5 hrs and considering our flight was only 3 hrs I would get a taxi next time. I could not sit through another 2 and half hrs on the return journey so we got a taxi that cost €80 and skipped the coach back. I know this is not the hotels problem, but just something to consider.

Our room was quite far away from the main complex and was quiet enough, it was clean and looked like it had been just refurbished, we booked a superior room for 2 adults and 2 kids, the room was large room with twin bed(s) and a large sofabed. The kitchen was very basic and to be honest you could not really prepare anything to eat and it had a fridge that sounded like it there was a combine harvester in the room, most nights I had to take out the room key to turn off the electric supply to turn off the fridge so we could get to sleep and the smoke alarm on the ceiling flashed a red light every 40 seconds that lit the room, not great when you are trying to sleep.

The bathroom was great, nice powerful shower with hot/warm water.
No safe in the room, they are down at reception and was €17 + €10 deposit for 12 nights stay.

We were self catering as we wanted to go out for dinner in to Benidorm etc, in the main restaurant there is not that great a selection for kids, and the snack hut next to the pools has the same foods everyday, (Chips, Pizza, Burgers, Hotdogs, Ham and Cheese sandwich, and fruit) its ok for stays up to 7 days etc if you are staying more than 7 nights you will proby get tired of the same foods, they only have one beer in the whole complex which is Amstel and that is including customers that want to pay, another reason I went self catering.

The best part of the hotel is obviously the pools, the kids love the pools and the life guards are very good and vigilant.

The kids entertainment is mostly for Spanish residents and I would say 60% of the residents are Spanish.

Our return flight was not until 8PM and as checkout was 10am I asked if we could keep the room for a late checkout and it was another €30 for the extra 6 hrs

The Albir town is nice with quite a few places to eat, it has a nice pebble beach so would get appropriate footwear if going down to the beach.

Prices
Taxi from Alicante airport to Albir Garden was €80
Taxi from Albir garden to Albir Beach was €4.50. (1.5 miles away)
Taxi from Albir Garden to Benidorm was €10.
1 Ice Cream in Albir Garden was €3, but in the supermarket across the road you get a box of 6 for €3.
Pint of Amstel beer in Albir Garden was €3.
JD and Coke in Albir Garden was €9.
Dinner in the restaurant was €12 for adults and €6 for kids.
Most nights we were out for dinner 2 adults two kids 5&9yrs were about €40-€50 eating out with drinks in the town.

Overall it was a nice holiday and we will proby go back next year as the kids had a ball, but it is a 3 star and you get what you pay for.

The best bit about this hotel was the aquapark, the pizza at the snack bar and the very friendly staff.

Our room was dirty and we had dozens and dozens of ants. We had travelled with friends and their apartment was exactly the same. They had enquired about moving to a newly renovated room and were told the renovations were carried out 5 years earlier, clearly not the case when another reviewer was satisfied with a freshly renovated room. On speaking to another guest I know that we weren’t the only ones with a complaint about the standard of cleanliness in our apartment.

We booked AI, and although the food in the restaurant was tasty enough, it was definitely the most basic I’ve experienced.

Albir as a resort is lovely and I would return, but certainly not to Albir Garden Resort. It wasn’t an extortionate holiday but certainly overpriced in my opinion.

Maybe it’s unfair to give a negative review when we didn’t complain and I will definitely go back to researching hotels again before I visit, but I don’t want to share my family holiday with scores of junior football teams on tour either.