Reasonably small and friendly hotel. We had a 4th floor road view room - modern room with a fair sized modern bathroom with walk-in shower, but lack of storage space a bit of a problem and we had to leave many of our clothes draped over suitcase so glad we took a few of our own coat hangers. No need to take soap as bathroom is fitted with Dove soap and also Lux shower gel/shampoo dispensers.We understand this is an adults only hotel, certainly no children while we were there. Breakfast was fair and on a couple of mornings the chef cooked fresh omlettes/fried eggs to order. The charge for one sunbed on the beach was 12 Euro's so we bought a sunshade from the supermarket in town for 5 euro's and then found that previous guests leave these and other beach items behind at the bottom of the door access to the beach - so we needn't even have bought this. We stayed on the sun terrace a couple of mornings and found there was plenty spare and no towels reserving the beds. We also hired the beach towels from the hotel so if you're nearing you luggage weight limit, it's also handy to know you can hire these. Walk to Old Town is pleasant and this is a really nice place in the evenings Sunday to Thursday, but we found on Friday and Saturday nights when the weekenders arrived that unfortunately the Hen & Stag parties had arrived - even though the Montechero Strip has been purpose built for the English Hens & Stags and the whole atmosphere changed and became a less family orientated place if you stay out to midnight and beyond and where there had been live entertainment during the week, these places then turned into loud disco music booming out instead. We would definately recommend the Alisios so if you find a room available, book it quickly as we overheard that Thomson's are only allocated 11 rooms each week and even though English guests are in the minority we found everyone to be very friendly and Ashleigh, the Thomson Rep gives an informative Welcome Meeting. One tip about currency is to take Sterling travellers cheques or cash to exchange for Euro's in resolt as there is no commission, but if you take Euro Travellers Cheques there is a minimum 3 per cent commission charge.

The hotel was very nice, very clean and not too big. We loved the beach. Our room looked to the sea over the sun terrance (we got a free update from land-view room). The interior of the room was recently renovated and modern. The situation near the centre of Albufeira was good, only 5-10 min walking from the hotel either on the beach or using roads. The staff was very friendly. Breakfast was fresh and good (continental style).

The perfect retreat if you want to be just far enough away from the busy night life and like to be close to the sea (the hotel has private access to the beach but you do have to pay for sunbeds if you want them.) Not a sprawling hotel and the lack of an outdoor pool (they do have an indoor one) makes it more attractive to couples rather than families. We stayed half board as we didn't fancy the nightly jaunt to the town (too lazy really), but worked out that we couldn't have fed ourselves for what it cost through the tour operator. The staff work tirelessly to ensure that you enjoy your stay without being over-familiar. Food was excellent, although half board visitors have a limited choice from the menu. Breakfast is very continental, but still more than adequate - the majority of guests are German, and no, there is never a fight for the sunbeds! As return guests we took a travel kettle-if you like your tea i'd take one as there are no facilities in the room.
Last years room was street-side so we opted for a sea view this year. Watching the goings on in the street was actua\lly very entertaining so we probabl wouln't pay the extra
for the oean! We're booking already for next year and taking 2 children - I hope they don't spoil ti for us!

The location of this hotel is excellent! the back leads right onto the sandy beach! and the front leads to a very short walk to the old town and transport if you want to explore other parts. The service of the hotel staff was excellent, particularly Joao! The breakfast buffet was great! And fresh fruit was put in our room daily. Loved the fresh flowers placed throughout the hotel...whcih made up for some small parts of the decor which had a dated look. We would definately stay at this hotel again. (avoid the expensive £12 beach chairs and just use the hotels, as they have them for guests for free!)