Apartamentos Oura Parque

Very clean. The shopping centre is within walking distance, the new town is a 3-minute walk away, and the beach is 5 minutes away.

We met Jose when we arrived on Sunday. He was friendly and showed us to the apartment, which was ready before check-in. Towels, pool towels and tea towels were there, and a bottle of wine waiting for us was a nice touch. There wasn’t a kettle, though one was brought over quickly. That one didn’t work, so they replaced it. The surprise was the building work right beside the pool, coming from the property behind. Sunday was quiet, but the noise and dust started Monday, so relaxing by the pool wasn’t really possible. I raised it with Jose and explained that hotels.com hadn’t mentioned it and that we wouldn’t have booked if we’d known. He said hotels.com didn’t have a way to add that information and claimed it was on booking.com, but I checked there too and couldn’t find any mention of the work. He did try to find alternatives. One offer was a one-bedroom apartment farther away, which didn’t work for us because we needed two beds for our 18-year-old. He also offered a three-bedroom place in the old town, but said it was very dated and had neither a pool nor a terrace. He said we could look elsewhere ourselves and get the money back for the nights we didn’t stay. We didn’t take that option because finding somewhere at short notice felt too stressful, especially after unpacking and buying groceries. We stayed for the rest of the week. I knew the apartment wouldn’t be modern, but some of the furniture was in rough shape. The bedroom drawers stuck, and one front came off with the bottom; I had to clean them before putting our things away. The shower head kept dropping, and the hot water ran out in the evening, leaving the last person with a cold shower. There was only one mirror, in the bathroom, where there was no plug. Getting ready in the evening was a pain, so we did our hair in the lounge or bedroom using a tiny compact mirror we’d brought. The kitchen also needs more outlets: there was just one for the toaster, kettle and coffee machine, so we kept unplugging things. The good points were the location, about 5 minutes on foot from the strip and 20-25 from the old town, contact with management, and the gated entrance. The main problems were the construction noise and worn furniture. The place needs updating or at least a spruce-up, with mirrors in the bedrooms and ideally a small dressing table, as well as more kitchen outlets.

We expected something more modern, and after one night we decided to leave, though we had planned to stay longer. The apartment has plenty of space, and we liked the pool area, the parking and the location, which is close enough to Albufeira’s atmosphere without being right in it. I only stayed one night, so my experience is limited. The apartment itself felt old and in need of replacement parts. The blinds didn’t close fully, and since there were no curtains, street light came into the bedroom. Noise came through easily too. People passing the complex sang, shouted and made noise through the night, and our downstairs neighbours were noisy from 02:00-04:00. We barely slept and didn’t expect the next night to be any better. I wouldn’t suggest it to someone looking for a quiet night, whether the noise is from inside or outside. If you’re going out and just need somewhere cheap to sleep, it could suit you.

The ground-floor apartment was a good size, clean, and opened straight onto the pool. It’s in a great location and stays quiet. The place is a bit dated, but still awesome. The staff were amazing too, doing everything they could to make the stay comfortable. I’d definitely return.