We've just returned from a wonderful holiday in Calpe. We were booked to stay in the Turmalina Apartments but arrived there at 2.00am with three young children to be told by a nightime receptionist with very little English that we were in fact staying at the Larimar apartments down the road. As you can imagine this is not the ideal way to arrive at your accommodation. It also seems unnecessary. I know from reading other reviews that this has happened before so why don't Turmalina sort themselves out and stop messing people about. We had to get a cab to Larimar. In fact the Larimar apartments were far superior to the Turmalina apartments as they were brand new and extremely well-furnished. However they are further from the beach, the reception is back at Turmalina and not on site and there is no pool bar which could make you feel a little cut off and is not what had been offered to us when we made the booking, which we made through Travel Republic. In spite of all this we did have a lovely holiday and this arrival was the only aspect which marred the holiday. I do think it is an appalling way to treat travellers who are left in a helpless position once they arrive at Calpe! So I would recommend the hotel but with reservations.

Turmalina is an okay hotel, but I think if you looked around you could do better. The facilities are clean, yet basic, and the whole hotel has a feel to it that makes its hayday seem like a long time ago. On the plus side, the view from our room was very good. The actual resort of calpe is nice if all you need is a beach, but the high rise hotels that dominate the seafront (of which turmalina is one) make it slightly souless.

We booked through easyjet holidays and for just less than £400, flights and a more than adequate apartment were all in. As it was so cheap we wondered what sort of apartment it would be, but having checked the reviews on tripadvisor found that it appeared to be fine. No cockroaches by the way! Everything worked well and no complaints at all. If you like tea as I do, I used the microwave but if you're a big family of tea drinkers, just take your own kettle (a coffee perculator was supplied). Everything was there, TV with BBC and ITV, iron, ironing board, kitchen, oven, hob, hairdryer etc. It was a bit home from home which is just great for families as those pricey extras are taken care of by just doing the normal shop and stocking out the fridge. The place was clean. Was a little dated and in need of a modern uplift I'd say. I wouldn't mind buying one of the apartments and doing it myself as it has everything to offer. A word of warning, if you're driving there the entrance is hard to find initially. Its on the main road straight through Calpe, follow it past the lake and bear just continue on the road past the roundabouts. You'll see Ifach Hotel roundabout, go straight on, the hotel is hidden down a sidestreet but you must park outside on this marina road. when you see Royal India (curry house) lighted sign, then you're there. Just walk down past the curry house and you'll see a left hand entrance, that's the hotel. Reception is at the road side but the entrance is hard to find (for us anyway!). Its got a super position less than 50M from the beach. The kids used to go off ont he beach to play themselves and I could see them from my balcony which was huge! Three swimming pools which we didn't use because it was too cold, but the pools and gardens are really well maintained. The only gripe I had was the building work that was going on to improve the pools and gardens - it wasn't that bad and wasn't lots of banging etc but it made the walk to the car muddy and dirty and the workmen never seemed to clear up the mess properly. my son came back with mud all over his shoes and trampled it into the flat. i was not pleased! do hire a car. its so easy to drive around this area and it would be a shame for you to miss the easy access to Altea, Albir even Benidorm(worth a look at least!), up the other side is the way to Denia, Benissa and other such gorgeous places. Its all lovely. The motorway is close so a trip to Valencia which was also worth it was about an hour. From Alicante airport it took us about half an hour on the motorway. If anyone wants any advice please let me know. My father lived in Albir for twenty five years so I know the place well. Its terrific for the kids - so same and family orientated and just a great place for a quick holiday.h

The room was very well kitted out and a credit to its owners, slight probelm with cockroaches which upset the Mrs! lovely views of the rock, beach, salt flats and pool area, prices of food in the resort were a little high for the time of year, but the food in general was of a good standard when eating out, on a high note watching 16hrs of thunder storms and lighting was amazing to witness, down side however was the aftermath, flooding, powercuts, no water from taps,toilet ect, very awkward when you have a 3 year old child and a pile of washing! slightly worrying also watching the local emergency crews pumping flood water contaminated with sewage across a main promanade and down onto the beach into the sea, but I guess they had to pump it somewhere so they could clean up, I have some amazing pictures to show my family and friends, which i may add later, please dont use this to decide your choice of holiday, this I think was a freak storm and does not reflect calpe and alicante in general.