Alvor Baia Resort Hotel

This hotel has very friendly staff across all the services, room was cleaned daily with fresh water provided. Pool area is very spacious with a large pool and plenty of sunbeds. 2 large restaurants, one that caters for families and the older for adults only. Access to Alvor & beaches catered for, with both within walking distance of 15 mins.

We thought this hotel was well thought out. Rooms - spacious especially as there were three of us. Small kitchen area a bonus. Good sized balcony, but it was only set up for two people! All the staff were friendly and helpful. Cleanliness was good. Two restaurants one adults only which again was a bonus. The restaurant had a good system in guiding you to a table, instead of having to wander round looking for a table. Yes some of the food was repetitive but there was also some themed food. All inclusive drinks were fine, good cut off later than other places that we have been Entertainment really wasn’t that great. On their other hand during the day they were not pushy. Lovely large pool. No problem getting a sunbed in October. Only issue was the music could be a bit on the loud side. Shuttle bus great to take you down to the beach. Turn left when you get to the beach and you get some stunning scenery and rock formations. Not for people with mobility issues All in all we enjoyed our stay at this hotel.

I found the hotel a typical resort hotel in many ways so if you're accustomed to package holiday all-inclusive hotels you'll be familiar with them. But there were few differences that we hadn't experienced before. There are no 'speciality' restaurants where you can eat away from the main dining room. The food, however, in the dining room was good quality and there were enough options in the buffet that we didn't have to eat the same thing over and over again on or 12 night stay. There are two dining rooms on the floor below ground floor (-1), Blue and Green, with the Blue being for over 12-year-olds but the Green opens earlier. (Blue times are breakfast from 08.30, lunch from 13.15 and dinner from 19.30). The staff here have everything well organised with hardly any waiting even at the busiest times. An empty plate disappears from your table in the link of an eye! After dinner we would sit in the Grand Lounge adjacent to the dining room and have coffee or drinks before moving onto the outdoor area by the pool bar where the entertainment takes place. From 20.30 there's entertainment for kids and from 21.30 there's something different each night e.g. dj, singer/guitarist, folk group. Pretty standard stuff. There is a stage but this was only used for daytime darts and other games. The entertainment was always at ground-level adjacent to the seating area. It was OK. We are used to there being snacks (burgers, pizzas etc) available at the pool either all day or at certain times. However, morning and afternoon snacks are available only inside the hotel by the Grand Lounge and you therefore have to be dry and dressed to partake and they cannot be taken outside. I didn't even go to look at what there was so I can't comment on these. During our stay there were ECL football matched being screened in the evenings but they were only screened in the Grand Cafe which is not part of the all-inclusive regime. We were told that we cannot sit in the bar to watch the football without buying a drink even though we've paid for all-inclusive. I think this is just a way to make football fans part with some more money. The room was a standard hotel room except for one thing: no cupboards or drawers in the bedroom or bathroom. No bedside drawers, no storage cupboards or drawers in the bedroom or in the lounge area (we had a suite). Only flat surfaces to put things on. There was wardrobe space in the entrance area to the room and this has two drawers in which my wife nabbed before me. Also a safe charged at 10 Euros per week. The bathroom also lacked space to stand anything around the sink. Strange! The hotel is very long and wide with central lifts from the reception area to each floor arriving around the area of rooms nrs 30 (e.g. 130, 230 etc). Our room (267) was approx 200 metres from the lift. On each floor the rooms to 180, 280, 380 and 480 could be another +/-80 metres further along the corridor so bear this in mind if you're less mobile.
The pool is huge but was really cold. My wife loves swimming but only went in once because of that. There are plenty of sunbeds so no need for pre-dawn trips with towels to reserve them although this isn't allowed anyway. With only one outside bar though the area nearest to the bar gets occupied first but going outside after breakfast at 9'ish we were still able to get a bed. The pool bar serves local spirits, wine and beer in plastic cups and coffee in paper cups. Very friendly staff here. The animation team who operate poolside are, in my opinion, a letdown. We particularly like playing petanque and beach volleyball but although these are on the activity schedule they were never promoted by the team and we only managed to play petanque once. Most hotels of this ilk we've stayed in have an animation team actively encouraging, cajoling and even press-ganging guests to join in. Not in this hotel.
It's about a 20-minute walk to Alvor from the hotel where there's a few bars and shops and a land-train runs a circular route around the hotels to Alvor for 5 Euros. We didn't use it. The hotel runs a courtesy bus to the beach and back which we did use. Without exception (almost!) the staff are very cheerful and efficient (animation staff excluded!) A good holiday. Too restful though; we needed more sports. Back to La Palma for us next time. Oh and something I've never come across before. It's not a complaint, just an observation. Loads of French here. I've never come across them before en masse and I've holidayed on 7 continents. I didn't think they holidayed outside of France!