Returned from a weeks holiday at Albir Gardens on 7th July, and to be honest, was happy to leave the place.

To be fair, I should, at the outset, inform that we have never stayed at such a large complex before, so my feelings on the place are perhaps a little driven by this fact, but there's still no disguising that it was not a completely pleasant holiday experience.

The transfer from the airport was approximately 40 minutes, with ours being the first stop. On arrival, we were dealt with efficiently, by the reception staff, who were courteous and friendly. We were allocated room 109, in Block I, which was a ground floor apartment, despite my request at the time of booking, and indeed a phone call to the hotel 4 days before we left, that we be put in a top floor apartment. We went back to reception immediately and asked to be moved, but were told that this was impossible, as the complex was totally full. This actually was not true, but I will return to this later.

The one-bed apartment itself was clean on arrival, but was disappointingly small and tired. In talking to another family, we found out that their block (H) had been refurbished, but ours obviously hadn't. The kitchen units were very old and the bottoms were manky, due to water penetration over a long period of time. What we originally thought was a microwave, turned out to be an overly large grill, which was riddled around the edges with rust. As others have already said, pans etc were limited. There was a new fridge, although the seal on the door was not great and consequently, our first job was to mop up puddled water over the bottom of the fridge and on the kitchen floor.

The bathroom was even worse... cracked and broken tiles were evident and the grouting had disintegrated and was in fact non-existant around the bath, where a shower would mean water getting down behind the bath... goodness knows what it was like behind there! Additionally, closing the door was an adventure in itself, as the handle would sometimes fail to open the door properly, and on a few occasions, we had to "rescue" our boys, who were "locked in"!

The main living area is very small and to be honest, would have been more suited to a couple with one small child. The small area was further compromised by a large dining table and 4 chairs and a coffee table. There was a TV, which provided about a dozen channels, mainly Spanish, but also with Eurosport and Sky News.

The balcony was small, but somehow they managed to fit a small table and 3 chairs on it, however, only 2 people could practically fit comfortably. This overlooked a garden area. My fear was that it provided a bit of a security risk, as it could easily be accessed by simply climbing over the rails, which my kids did easily on many occasions, to play ball in the garden.

The apartments' location means it is very noisy. Being right by the front communal door, which was opened and closed constantly and people running up and down the stairs. It was a particular pain after midnight, when the "entertainment" stopped and there would be people coming back, some of them the worst for wear, talking loudly, when we were trying to get to sleep. Then we would get the dragging of furniture across the ceilings above, as people got the portable beds out etc. One consolation, was that our apartment at least had air conditioning, which was very welcome during the day. The remote control for which, was available from reception, for a refundable 20 euro deposit. Safety deposit boxes are also available for hire and are situated in the reception area. These work out at about 10 euros for the week, plus an additional, refundable 10 euro deposit.

Finally, and extremely annoyingly, the cleaners NEVER visited our apartments during the whole week that we were ther! NO towel changes ... NO sheet changes and NO cleaning... NOTHING!

There are 3 pools... one paddling pool, one medium depth saltwater pool and one deep conventional pool, (the shallowest area being 1.54 metres). Despite there being in excess of 400 apartments on the complex, I counted just 15 parasols. Typically, by 8.30am, these are already "reserved" by towel, as seems the norm these days, unfortunately!

Poolside, there is a bar and also a snack bar, serving, hot dogs, burgers, chips etc.

There is a large restaurant on site, servicing all meals. We only had breakfasts in it, which cost 5.5 euros for adult and 3 euros for children. There was plenty of variety, and couldn't really be faulted. People that we spoke to who had eaten lunch and dinner there, were satisfied.

Here's a tip for you though .... we got friendly with a couple on the flight there from Belfast and on the second day, they enquired about going all-inclusive. They were offered, and received, all-inclusive for 6 days (Monday to Sunday) for two adults and two children (aged 12 and 11) for 185 euros, total... that's just 31 euros per day for a family of four!... all meals, snacks, ice-creams and drinks from 8am to midnight!

The bar area is suitably large and contains a couple of pool tables and machines and a suite of internet stations. Unfortunately, during the entire week, it was filled from morning to night with Spanish agents and customers on timeshare trips. I would say that there were about 60 people at any one time, walking around the complex in groups of 5 or 6 and viewing empty apartments (presumably the refurbished ones that we were denied), then retreating to the bar for the hard sell.

There is nightly "entertainment" which starts at about 7.30pm and goes on until midnight. The "Animation Crew" are all Spanish and to be honest, it would be kind to say that it is mediocre, but I suppose it serves its' purpose of keeping people there to buy drinks at the bar. Annoyingly though, it is aimed predominantly at the Spanish, with occasional translations into English. This includes, bingo, musical chairs and a reptile "show". There is supposed to be a full programme of daily children's entertainment as advertised in reception, but again this is Spanish orientated, and I didn't see that many British/Irish taking part. On the one occasion that my kids were approached to take part in an activity, it turned out to be a knitting class! ... just what my kids wanted on holiday....

There are car parking spaces available around the complex for the independent traveller, or for those hiring cars.

As I mentioned before, the complex staff appeared helpful and friendly at all times. However, a big let down, is that the foreign guests come second compared with the Spanish holidaymakers, which, I would say, made up 80% of occupancy while we were there! Examples would be that, despite us queueing to see a receptionist, the Spanish would simply jump the queue and walk up to the front, to be immediately dealt with. On one occasion, a receptionist walked away from an Irish woman in the middle of a query, to deal with a Spanish queue jumper... appaling. It was the same in the bar.

On one occasion, my 2 boys had booked an hour on the table tennis table and after 20 minutes, 3 Spanish boys had come over and tried to bully them off, banging on the table and generally trying to make it impossible to play. I went over to see what the problem was, and one of them told me that Reception had said they could play... I told them to clear off, but they continued to skulk around, very close to the table, putting my boys off.

On the whole, the Spanish holidaymakers themselves were rude and strutted around the place like they owned it.

There is a good supermarket opposite the apartments and the prices are reasonable. Within a couple of minutes, there is another larger, supermarket, which is used more by the locals, so is a good sign.

Although the resort isn't overly large, there are many restaurants, including quite a few Chinese, an Indian, Argentinian, Tex-Mex and others... there is also a McDonalds about 10 minutes walk away.

You can take a relaxing 2 1/2 mile stroll to the nearby resort of Altea, via the walkway alongside the pebble beach. Altea is very much a Spanish resort and working town and is actually quite busy. Alternatively, you can jump on the no. 10 bus outside the apartments and get to Altea for 1 euro. At the same bus stop (and for the same amount) you can get the bus going the other way to Benidorm, which is approximately 5 miles away. It must be an acquired taste though, because I found it to be unpleasant as a resort, dirty, overcrowded and overbearing... maybe it's just me....

We spent an enjoyable day at Terra Mitica theme park - we went on a Monday, which was a good move, as it wan't too crowded. In fact the longest we had to queue for a ride was 10 minutes. The park itself is quite expansive and is based on 5 lands .. Egyptian, Greek, Roman etc and there are a few hairy rides there to say the least, to satisfy a seasoned adrenalin junkie, as well as fun water based rides, carousels etc... very enjoyable. Entry is 32 euros for adults and 25.5 euros for kids. However, the reps in the hotel have special deals and we paid a total of 87 euros for 4 of us and also the privilege of not having to queue at the main entrance to the park.

The weather all week was fantastic ... 32-35 degrees everyday and the evenings being warm also (around 22 degrees). Although we had packed a couple of light long sleeved garments for the evenings, we didn't use them.

Having said all the above, my kids pretty much enjoyed the holiday, due largely to teaming up with a couple of likeminded kids. Nonetheless, we certainly wouldn't go back to this resort, or more particularly to the Albir Gardens ... it's just not for us!

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Albir Gardens - Albir

Operator and Date: Airtours - June 2007