Squash Club Apartamentos

The staff were nice and the location is perfect, close to the beach and the activities around praia da rocha. Still, I wouldn't recommend it. There was mold on the bath mattress, stains on the bathtub and towels, and the fire extinguisher was well past its maintenance date. There was also a really awful smell in the house for some unknown reason.

The apartment was very large and clean, and the service was friendly. There's a well stocked grocery shop downstairs, and the location is good. Sound carries both from inside and outside the building because there's little insulation. Furnishings are basic and a bit of a mix. The kitchen is good and has some essentials, though no toiletries or kitchen supplies are provided.

The pool area is clean, private, and great, and there's a little market downstairs that's handy for drinks and snacks. The receptionist was nice and always willing to help. The apartment is a bit run down but decent, and at least the elevator works. One drawback, the Wi-Fi only works in the lobby, not in the rooms.

We were a family with young children, and my wife was pregnant. The apartment itself was nice, and we were allowed to arrive two hours before the official check-in time. But there were a lot of problems. We had to leave a €100 cash deposit that hadn't been mentioned in the booking. Some dishes were dented, the bathroom towel rack was broken, and the laundry rack on the terrace was completely unusable. The TV cable was broken too. We were missing sheets and towels. We had requested a baby bed by phone before arriving, then asked again around 2 pm, but it didn't turn up until 10 pm, when both children were already asleep and the younger one was in the stroller. The apartment was in the club next to the squash club tower, so we could use a pool. But nobody had told us that sunbeds and parasols cost extra. The pool looked nice from a distance, yet the floor around it was filthy and covered with bird droppings that were never properly cleaned. The pool toilets were disgusting and stank, with no soap for washing hands. It seemed likely people would rather pee in the pool than use those toilets, which may explain why the water wasn't clear. We ended up going to the beach instead, despite all the logistics with two very young children and how hard it was for my pregnant wife to get there. The club was an all-inclusive complex with more than 500 apartments, though our booking didn't include that formula. Quite a few guests were drunk and loud at night. With the windows open it was nearly impossible to sleep because of the noise, but with them closed it was far too hot. A hose under the bathroom faucet leaked and ruined our belongings in the cupboard. We had to clean up ourselves, and the plumber didn't come until the end of the following day. On departure day, the shuttle to the airport, which we'd booked the day before, was over 30 minutes late. At 10, 15, 20, and 25 minutes, we were told each time it would arrive in five minutes. After half an hour we gave up. My wife asked for a refund, and we had to take a taxi that came in three minutes, with a €40 surcharge, or we would have been late. The receptionist had called it a “very serious quality shuttle service.” That was totally unacceptable. This was our fifth time in Algarve and our first disappointment, a very big one. Algarve is such a lovely region, but all we could see from the apartment was buildings, no nature at all. The pool may be big, but it was far too small for 500-plus apartments. After a certain time, people were bumping into you from every direction, which was especially unpleasant for a pregnant woman. We'll definitely never go back.