We booked a week's stay here and on checking in found the reception staff very rude, the girl looked at me as if to say "For God's sake" when I asked her the way to our room !! The room itself was clean, very spacious but basic. Furniture and decor rather dated. But the worse was to come it was crawling with mosquitos which were all in the wardrobes, cupboards etc. The apartments are near to some farmland and the apartment we were in number 405 was overloooking what could only be described as waste ground with trees and overgrown weeds and vegetation etc. We put up with it for 2 nights and asked to be moved. Must admit second apartment was better at least there were no mosquitos everywhere! I have lived in the Caribbean and travelled extensively but never have I been bitten quite so bad, even the pharmacist couldnt believe the amount of bites myself and my partner had when we went to buy cream!
The entertainment if you can call it that is basically a radio playing and a small shall we say shack which serves beers, soft drinks and the odd spirit. The pool was uninviting and there were about 10 sunbeds with about 3 parasols. We spent all our time down at the beach which is only a 5 min walk away which is lovely. Sunbeds are 10 euros for the day - 8 for half a day. Alvor is a 10 min taxi ride away - approx 5 or 6 euros. I could not believe that we had to pay the reception 50 cents in order for them to order us a taxi - over a week that is £3,50 just to call a taxi! As I said previously with the exception of one nice lady who couldnt believe the extent of our bites, we found the reception staff rude and unhelpful, not even a good morning when you went past. I would certainly not recommend these apartments and would never stay there again.
Alvor on the other hand is lovely, a small fishing village with plenty of seafood restaurants and a few bars. We also ventured into Praia da Rocha (Portuguese equivalent of Benidorm) although the beach is lovely there. This is 1.50 euros to get there on the bus and 4 euros in a taxi. We also went to Portimao again 1.50 euros each. This is more of a town and has a nice harbour.
All in all we had a lovely holidayas we do love Portugal but would definitely never stay at these apartments again, there are plenty of other much nicer places to stay in our opinion.
- Terracos Do Vau Hotel
