Cerro Mar

Superb hotel close to centre of town with a steep walk. Its a tough walk back but taxi is only a couple of euros if you dont fancy it. Rooms are spacious and clean and breakfast great. Would definately stay here again.

I love Albufeira and have stayed three times now. This is my favourite apartment so far. Facilities are excellent and location is great. There are steps to the town area but should not be viewed as a problem as there are taxis to take you back, plus the exercise helps to burn off the fabulous meals you can have in the town. The apartment was very clean with all equipment in good working order. Excellent pool and other facilities, all clean. Little supermarket over the road was good if you didn't want to walk into town. Felt safe and all areas are well lit. In the Cerro Mar Gardens areas are accessible via lifts so no need to struggle with suitcases. I would definately go back and hope to return in the summer.

Just come back from the Cerro Mar apartments in Albufeira Old Town. Actually went to the travel agents to book a different hotel but got a good deal on this one so booked without seeing the reviews. Was a little worried after seeing ScottyGirls review but I needn't have been.

On arrival we were placed in a seperate block over the road. The whole complex is surrounded by Gated fences which require a key to get through so felt very safe. There were 4 of us sharing and the reception originally gave us one key which we quickly worked out we needed an extra one. Not a problem, spare key and door card provided without question.

Being over the road we had an indoor pool, Gym, Sauna and Steam Room which had changing rooms. This came in handy for the last day as the hotel let us keep our keys and cards so after a days swimming we had showers and got on the bus refreshed and ready for our flight.

The outdoor pool was OK, nothing special but clean with readily available sunbeds. There was a bar with snacks but we never used it. Preferring to spend most of our time at the beach. Our room was very clean, had a dishwasher, decent living space, not quite enough storage for 4 people but we managed OK.

The first day we were there the sea was very calm. Then as the week rolled on the waves got bigger. There are lots of lifeguards on duty keeping an eye on people. And watersports available, probably the best value are the pedalos at £15 for an hour. Everything else is just way over the top.

Nights out and food in Albufeira Old Town is great. You can have a quiet drink in a small backstreet restaurant, or on the sea front, go to BANK and watch the rock bands or pickup any one of the numerous other acts and entertainers milling the streets and bars.

All these activities require a walk from the hotel down a lot of steps. This is why I've marked the hotel down one point. Trust me...do not book this hotel is you cannot easily walk up 100 steps !! Its not too bad on a night but in 30 degree heat its a real nightmare.

Prices in Portugal are steep now the pound is worthless so it meant a meal for 4 was around £60/60EUR every night. But what can you do about it except stay at home and moan ? The food for this price was also better quality than at home but it pays to shop around and look for the 'busier' restaurants to find value and quality.

Check JET2.COM for cheapest current prices. We booked very late and got a fantastic deal (£600 for a 7 night stay for 4 people from 9th Oct - 16th Oct, including flights, transfers, hotel, the lot.)

Great holiday, lovely location and good overall facilities. We would definitely go again. We didn't stay in the main hotel but had use of other facilities and also had an underground indoor pool and sauna facilities in our block as well as the outdoor pool over the road.

I've just returned from the Cerro Mar and am glad to be home! Booked this hotel after reading all the good reviews and was so disappointed when I got there. Everyone else who reviewed this hotel were obviously staying in the new block, I got stuck in the old one and it is horrible, even though I thought I had booked an apartment in the new block, at least that's what the booking agent told me!

The Cerro Mar consists of 3 separate blocks, all divided by busy roads. All of the travel agents and booking agents use photographs of the new block to advertise this hotel but there is no guarantee that you will be staying in the new block and I can assure you that the old block is not of the same standard and it is ridiculous that they sell all the blocks at the same price. Block 1 is ancient and in much need of refurbishment, it has a small outdoor pool with limited space for sun loungers. Block 2 only has an indoor pool and Block 3, the newest block, has a nice outdoor pool but no reception or kitchen, the waiters at the pool bar cook the snacks. The limited snack menu is the same in all 3 blocks and consists of salads, burgers and toasties, which I consider a very poor menu for the size the Cerro Mar has grown to. The staff are lazy and incompetent.

The blocks are all separated by busy roads, so you are issued with a key to get in and out of each block, which is useless when there are 4 of you and you only have 1 key. We used the pool at the new block each day but if one of us had to go back across the road to the apartment they had to take the key to get back into the other block but then nobody else could go anywhere until they got back as they wouldn't have a key to get back in. The reception closes at night and you need to enter the building by a little door further down the street, all internal doors are locked which means you need to use the old lift, which I think is a fire hazard.

They are now building another block, which is on the same side of the road as the old Block 1 and we had the pleasure of our balcony facing right onto it and being awakened very early each morning with the sound of the building site. We also had the pleasure of the noise of the building site while lying at the pool every day!

The apartment itself it fairly spacious, which is the only positive thing I can say about it. It doesn't have any of the modern facilities the new block has, ie no dishwasher, washing machine etc. Our sheets were only changed once in the 2 weeks we were there, the towels were changed twice and one of these times was because I asked for clean ones. The sockets were hanging out of the walls, there were plastic sheets on the mattress underneath the sheet and the sleeping arrangements in the lounge were the sofa and a camp bed, which was not what was described in the hotel description.

Also, there are lots of stray dogs in the area and they bark constantly.

The resort itself wasn't much better. We struggled to find a good restaurant, generally the food is awful. Particularly bad restaurants in the Old Town were O'Fernando and Oceans, bad restaurants on The Strip were Paella, Steak House, lots of flies and cockroaches at the bins downstairs and we tried a Mexican Restaurant at the Marina called El Panchito, the food was stone cold, we sent it back and they microwaved it! Also the Marina is dead, it's like a ghost town, we couldn't find a taxi to get back and had to go into a local cafe where they didn't speak much English and she gave us a taxi number to call from the payphone to get back to the Old Town. OK restaurants at the Old Town were Bank and the best restaurant we found was Za Za at the Old Town, very good Thai/Japanese Noodle Bar, Bravo had nice steaks and on the Strip Liza Pizza and Pasta was good but with quite a limited menu.

The beach is nice but the sea is quite rough and by the afternoon the large waves cause a lot of seaweed to come in. The cost of 2 sun loungers and a parasol on the beach is 15 Euros.

This is the first holiday I've ever been on when I've wanted to come home before the end of my two weeks. I definitely won't go back to Albufeira and would warn anyone against the Cerro Mar. You're taking a gamble with your money and if you're lucky you could get a nice apartment in the new block but if you're very unlucky you'll be stuck in the old block which is a complete waste of money.