Went back to the Algarve again this year to Elma Apartments for the 4th time. Once again the apartment was clean and spacious and the wonderfuly helpful Cristina ever present to make the holiday that bit easier. This is a gem of a place with a good sized pool, the beach a mere 5 minute stumble away and plenty of restaurants and shops locally. Montechoro strip is but 10mins walk away where you will find every kind of eating eastablishment possible from Chinese to Italian and beyond or, the old town of Albufeira is a mere 15mins in the opposite direction. A truly lovely spot which we will go back to time and time again without hesitation.

We stayed here for a fortnight in July, this being our second year to do so. I suppose that in itself says something.

Location. It's a four minute lazy stroll to the beach in floppy sandals. A beach that can be incredibly underused at times. Albufeira an ex fishing village now a bustling resort town is an easy 20min away by beach at low tide & 25min by road. 10min to 'The Strip' -a collection of bars, clubs & tourist shops. Tackey but very popular with the young. Buses & taxis are very easy to find & are reasonable. The immediate area is quiet (in a nice way) but well served with bars, restaurants & shops. Modelo supermarket is the only place to do a big shopping trip. Good value & full of goodies. Do it as soon as you can & get it out of the way. The pool & kiddie pool with snack bar is at the bottom of E block & not overlooked is generally calm. It seems to catch any welcome breeze going, a big plus. The area feels very safe at night.

The Apartments. They are in a rustic Portuguese style. Ours was a two double bed (en suite) with a generous sized living room & a kitchen with a large fridge & freezer, cooker, kettle, toaster etc. Lots of practical furniture & TV. Poor reception but who cares? The couch converts into a settle bed. No AC but an overhead fan in each room kept it surprisingly cool, especially when it crept up to 35C+ in week two. Although it said rooms were made up every second day, ours was daily & enough towels to dry a small army.

Eating out. The Panacea is nearest but didn't impress me, it's ok. Pedro's further up the road is friendly, very good value & has lots to please picky kids. Plain fare. At the top of the street on the main rd is La Concha, excellent food, service & value.Recomended.
If you really like you food, in a league of its own is Tres Palmieras at the roundabout, pricey (for Portugal) but Wow! Surf or turf, you can't go wrong.

Bars. Blue Bar & O Forte. The latter sells Guinness, Cafferys & Magners at a keen price which pulls a lot of Irish & British in. Kids love it. Parents left in peace.

The Manager. Christine is a warm, polite, excellent English speaking, mine of information who should be Minister for Tourism & who will tell you anything you need to know. Just ask.
Downside. Well, small TV poor reception, some fittings need replacing. Who cares.

Tips. Bring ear plugs; some of you fellow tourists can be 'full of joy' long after you've hit the hay.

we stayed in early june big airy spotless apartment 4mins walk from beach,pubs n restaurants closeby,can walk to the strip about 12 mins ,a bit too far to walk to the old town.no problem getting taxi,the lovely cristina will see to it ,we have been going to ALBUIFERIA for many years and the elma apartments and location are the best we have stayed in,will be back there again before this summer ends

We stayed in the Elma apartments in June of this year – four of us, husband, wife, son, and his school friend.

The apartments are located in a quiet residential area in Sao Joao that also has a number of bars and restaurants close-by. There are at least five blocks in the complex, which are mostly perpendicular to a one-way street that leads down from the junction where the Panacee restaurant is located to the last block about 300 metres away. In between the apartment blocks are ‘side-streets’ where cars can be parked.

The reception is in one of the blocks, and is managed by Christine, one of the most helpful people I’ve encountered anywhere on holidays. Tickets for water-parks, how to regulate the gas, where to purchase matches – she has all the answers.

The apartments themselves are somewhat on the ‘old-fashioned’ side, but don’t let that put you off. They are quite spacious, and were more than adequate for the four of us. Our apartment was two-bedded, and each bedroom had an en-suite. Each bedroom had a large ceiling fan that helped to keep the air circulating.

The kitchen area has a gas cooker with four rings and an oven. There was also a big fridge and a microwave. There was also a toaster and a kettle. The living area has a wall-fan, a couch, a TV, a side-board, a dining table and four chairs. Outside there is a small balcony with some chairs and a plastic table.

The pool area is behind the apartment blocks and is reached through an entrance off one of the side streets. The pool is nice, and well-maintained. There is a small snack-bar by the pool that sells drinks, sandwiches, burgers, and so forth. Cushions for the sun-beds can be hired for €1.50 from the bar, and there are a small number of parasols available for free.

The Panacee is a bistro-style restaurant situated in one of the blocks. The food is superb, and the waiters are very friendly, and attentive. Look out for their nightly fish specials written up on a black-board in the restaurant. Their Golden Bream is really nice.

The Sao Joao beach is a short stroll down the hill by the Monica Isabel Beach Club. You can walk right in as far The Fishermans Beach in Albufeira, in about 15/20 minutes.

It’s about a 30-minute walk by road back into the Old Town. The ‘Strip’ in Montechoro is about 15 minutes in the opposite direction. There are one or two small supermarkets in the immediate vicinity where you can pick up the essentials: water, bread, cold drinks. I recommend the local Bar Azul as a nice place to have a drink on your way out for the evening.

There is a large Modelo and Pingo Doce supermarkets about 15 minutes walk from the apartments. A taxi back costs around €3.50, or there are two bus lines (Blue/Green) which head all around Montechoro but eventually pass by the main road near to the apartments (€1.10 per trip).

If you are looking for a peaceful spot for a well-earned rest, then the Elma may be for you.