Apartamentos Rafael Loft

The apartments are spacious, modern, and kept in good shape, and they’re good value for the money. The beach is just two minutes away, the central market is about ten minutes on foot, and the castle and local restaurants are easy to reach. Street noise can be pretty loud, especially on weekday mornings, and the rooms feel very dark. I’d recommend them for a holiday, though probably not for families with small children.

We were close to the port, beach, old town, and city centre, and the airport bus stop was only about half a minute away. The reception, in another building roughly 150 metres away, had really friendly and helpful staff. For what we paid, the room was very large and the stay was more than we expected for a budget place in central Alicante. There were some drawbacks in our room. A few pieces of damaged furniture no longer worked properly, and the cooker was so ineffective that we wondered if it was broken. The fridge was fine, though maybe we just got unlucky with that room. Towels were changed every four days, which wasn’t ideal, but manageable. We stayed in September and October 2019 and were satisfied overall.

The room was clean and tidy when we arrived, and everything was within a short walk, including the old town, restaurants, and the boardwalk and beach. Check-in was at Bed & Breakfast La Milagrosa, about three minutes away, and the staff there were very friendly. We stayed from Saturday to Wednesday. The cleaners came on Wednesday morning, but we were checking out later and told them we didn’t need the room cleaned. We weren’t sure where to take the rubbish bag and didn’t ask. With such a central spot, expect some noise at night and early in the morning.

The curtains didn’t block the strong light outside, and the floor was very cold. The shower was so small that even though I’m fit, I can’t imagine how I’d manage in it if I were larger.