| | Praia Da Falesia Apartado 785, Albufeira, 8200 - 9, Portugal
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Overall Community Rating: |   8.5 (based on 2 user reviews) |
 Falesia: Relaxing, enjoyable and clean with great food and service by Charles Johnson |
| Posted 29 May 2006 about a visit in May 2006 | Overall rating: 7.3 |
We spent a week at the Falesia in May 2005 & were pleased to find everything as good a year later.
Paid more for a superior room this time as all standard ones were booked for the days we could go. Benefits are extra space (about 20 square metres) with a sofa, table, kettle, drink sachets, bottle of wine, bowl of fruit, 1.5l water bottle per day, free use of safe, bath robes & slippers. There was a fridge in the room that could be more useful than some of these but they charge 25 Euros if you want to put anything in it. They don't give you many tea, coffee or milk sachets and we had to ask for more. They do give you hot chocolate sachets but the type you make with milk & they aren't nice made with hot water. Was surprised they wanted the very basic slippers back as I'd prefer not to use them after someone else! Despite paying for "superior" our room was above the bar so no sleep possible before the evening entertainment finished.
Some familiar faces and some new but all staff just as friendly & helpful. Food same high standard but again some dishes could have been kept a bit warmer - there is now a microwave for guests & we used it a few times. Attractive, clean dining room with pleasant outlook from the windows end.
Entertainment possibly better than last year with fewer "Hi di Hi" level games but didn't like their policy of giving prizes to their favourite guests on the last evening as this seemed to discriminate against those who just wanted to enjoy themselves quietly. The shows after 10pm with Lesley and the Thomson team were brilliant but other acts not so good. Need to get a seat during the earlier act or you'll probably be standing after 10pm. If you do not want the hotel entertainment in the evening, there is not much else around, unfortunately. Other guests mostly aged 40+ enjoying a peaceful time and generally considerate towards each other.
A Thomson Gold hotel but we go a better price through their sister company Portland. A few bugs trying to book through their web site and it took a while to get a response from them but they resolved it in the end. The holiday cost more than last year (in addition to having better room) and we noticed some of the hotel drinks prices had increased well beyond inflation as well.
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 Falesia Reservations |
| Falesia: Mrs N. Green by Nora Green |
| Posted 06 August 2005 about a visit in June 2005 | Overall rating: 9.8 |
Hotel:
This adults only hotel is fantastic for people who want to escape kids. The towels and sheets are changed daily. Never tasted meat so tender anywhere before; unfortunatly the rest of the food was also fantastic and just added inches to the waist line. Look out for the decorated melons and such at the evening meal. We don't tend to spend much time in the hotel during the day but the few occasions we did there was always lots of room around the pool and beautiful gardens complete with stream, waterfalls and bridges and a few fish.
We even stayed in the hotel in the evening for the entertainment, (first time ever for us.
A word of warning, the location is discribed as 700m from the beach which can be reached by 200 steps. Read the brochure properly as it also says there is s free courtesy bus to and from the beach. I wasn't dissapointed but lots of other poeple were asking, "Where's the beach?" It is possible to walk down to the beach, apparently you go through the Sheriton (next door) and jump into the lift when no one is watching!
A better way is to turn left on the main road, past the Sheriton up to the corner and follow the road which will lead you onto a dirt track. Don't dispair this leads you into Olhad D'agua. At the far left hand side of the beach you can watch fishermen repairing nets. Check the tides and at low tide you can walk along the beach back to Falesia and catch the bus back to the hotel. Stop long enough to look into the rock pools.
There isn't an awful lot to do in Acoteias, a couple of bars which I was told were very good.
We like to let someone else do the driving on holiday therefore do the tour operators excursions, they can work out a bit pricey. The difference with these and the less expensive ones are: You don't have to visit Time Shares and the guide isn't explaining everything in three languages, which means, you either haven't arrived at what they are discribing or you've passed it which does someimes happen on the cheaper excursions wherever you are.
Excursions.
Lisbon, pronounced Lisboa.
Early start leaving the hotel at 6-45am, very interesting. As we left the Algarve we were told about Portugal's agriculture, suffice to say, rather sad in this day and age. Lisboa is a lovely city, on the river bank is the statue to Henry the Navigator which you will be told about and great views of the 25 April Bridge, so you think you are in New York. Go up the tower in the centre of the city to get the stunning panarama. If you're not very good with hights stay where you get out of the lift. I ventured up the spiral staircase to the next level, didn't like it but discovered I had to go up even further before I could get down.
Seville
Another long day, 6.30am start, we were only there for a week and the trips were on consecutive days. You do not need passports to cross the boarder from Portugul to Spain. Seville is very hot, 42c at 5-30pm. take lots of water and sun cream. Visit the Royal Palace, beautiful gardens and tiled rooms. Then round the narrow streets to the Jewish Quarter where you can dine in the shaded square. Forget the heat and climb to the top of the cathedral's bell tower, despite what you may be told there are not millions of steps. There are 34 double ramps, take your time but do go up the views over the city are worth it.
A Taste of the Algarve Tour.
Another great tour which takes you up to the castle at Silves, then up to the top of Foia, unfortunatly as we chose a 'heatwave week' the scenery was limited because of a heat haze. It was also sad to see the blankened trees from last years fires. Everything is tinder dry so do be very careful. (As a point of interest There isn' an official Poruguese fire service. They are all volunteers; our coach driver had spent his weeks holiday driving an old fire engine (which they had been given) from Germany. Like our Life Boats, they are brave unpaid people, funded by themselves) You also have the rugged high rocks of Cape St. Vincent. The only down side there were the contents of some of the gypsy stalls. Followed by a walk around Lagos, pronounced Lagosh. Find the statue of Henry's son (Henry the Navigator) stand with your back to it and look at the tiled square, not for too long or you may feel sea sick. Would have liked more time there but unfortunatly these excursions have a limited time in each place
The only reason we don't revisit somewhere is because there are so many places in the world to see and so little time. Apart from that, yes we would go back to this hotel. I can play stupid games with my young grandchildren (so says my son) and be as childish as any 4 year old. But on holiday without them I don't want other poeples kids running around the corridors at 2am while mummy and daddy are getting drunk in the bar. O.K. not all parents are the same, but in the past I've seen a 3yr old fall into the pool at midnight. Here everything seemed to close down at midnight, once in bed although our our room was on the ground floor over looking the car park (can't have everything) we never had one nights disturbed sleep.
Adults only hotels for us in the future.
This review is the opinion of a diytravel.co.uk user and not of diytravel.co.uk. |
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