Albiv Playa Hotel

( 4 stars , Alicante , Spain )

i have just returned from my hoilday staying at this hotel and i can not fault it in any way, the location was good not far from any where (not long on buses to travel) i enjoyed my stay and would recomend it to anyone

I booked this Hotel because it was 4 star at a price that only self catering apartments or 2 star could compare. The website of the hotel looked promising enough, so lets start with the positives about this hotel, and Albir in general. POSITIVE - The hotel is modern, clean and has some good facilities. The rooms are all clean and modern with a wooden floor and air conditioning although the stated mini bar is just an empty fridge (handy for storing water never the less!). We requested a low floor (with children) and indeed we were given one, with a poolside view. More on that later. The breakfasts were plentiful and there was always somewhere to sit, even at the busiest times. The poolside bar was handy for drinks and ice creams and the pool itself, although not as big as it looks in the pictures, was very clean. The staff were extremely helpful in the main, and the hotel was about 80% spanish clients, 15% Dutch and 5% English. Albir itself is a little town, joining Altea on the northern peninsula above Benidorm. It has an east facing coastline to the med and our first shock and disappointment was to find that the beach is not sand but huge pebbles. Not great for kids who like making sand castles. Bear this in mind if you want to keep the kids occupied long enough for you to sunbathe in peace! We found a suitable alternative in a packet of felt tips so that they could decorate the stones! My daughter even tried to set up a stall to sell them back to the locals (Alan Sugar watch out). The nighttimes in Albir during July and August are excellent with a quant little artists market on the beach front selling handmade wares (fans/clocks/paintings/jewellry etc.) - added to the feel of a cosmopolitan resort. The best part for us is that locals involve their children and many small children could be seen out late at night playing and enjoying the sights and sounds. This would never happen in the UK where there is a "lock them away" or "palm them off to babysitter" mentallity. Albir and Altea are largely undiscovered by Brits, which is great - non of the football shirts and lager lout mentality that is found just down the coast in Benidorm. It actually felt like I was in Spain, not Blackpool, which I was dreading. Now for the negatives: The hotel is on a busy main junction, and about a 10-15 minute walk from the "beach". The beach is large pebbles not sand. The restaurants are mainly in the beachside area. Once we discovered the beach, we found the Albir Kaktus Hotel was literally on the beach, surely this should have the Albir Playa title ? Our room overlooking the pool, was actually overlooking the restaurant extension, so we could see very little of the pool. But worse was to come - we arrived on the first day after a very long days travelling (up at 3am to catch the flight to Spain) only to have entertainment blasted in our room from the poolside area from 9pm to midnight. This happened every night and was so loud it prevented anyone with a poolside room getting to sleep before midnight, even if they wanted to. After the first night we decided to stay up till then just avoid as much of it as possible, We were offered the chance to move rooms, to the hotels credit, but they warned us a roadside view room would mean traffic noise may wake us up in the early hours.... we decided to stay put. Overall - would i stay there again? I would say yes, as we did have a great time in Albir. Perhaps next time I would look into the Hotel Kaktus first, as it is more in the centre of where you want to be in Albir.

We have stayed at this hotel now on six occasions with our seventh visit approaching this June! we have always had a great time each visit, we have stayed half board, but we do prefer to dine out at one of the numerous restaurantes within Albir, but the food has always been very good with an excellent choice. We have found the staff to be friendly & helpful at all times. the hotel is well presented in a fresh modern style & exceptionally clean at all times. The beach is only a five minute walk & all facilities can be found within Albir, (even two newsagents on the main street as you walk down to the beach!) The new Spa facilities open this month within the hotel, so cant wait to try it out! This resort is very clean & well maintained, nothing at all like Benidorm, much classier & more peaceful to say the least! We are very lucky though, we only live an hour away & its a great place for a break not too far away from home!

I was pleasantely surprised by this lovely hotel. i went there with 12 other girls for a hen week end and was really pleased to find it away from horrible Benidorm! The area is very quiet and you have all you need: a few restaurants, cash point, a few shops and supermarkets. The beach is about 10-15 minutes walk and is very nice and quiet (there is a free shuttle from the hotel twice a day if you get lazy...) The hotel is good, the rooms are spacious, clean, with good air conditionning and if you get the best side, you have a pretty nice view of the mountains. The pool is particulary great although they seemed a bit understaffed at the pool bar and we had to wait a bit to get served. The breakfast is also very good with an amazing choice of food, though it is only served between 8 and 10 so it was a bit hard to get a lie in and breakfast.. the only thing I was a bit annoyed about was the lifts.. for some reason, they were incredebly slow and if you are on floor 1 or 2, it's quicker to use the stairs!!

This hotel is excellent , clean and well presented , situated in a very quiet area about 8km outside Benidorm.I stayed there from 15/06/08 - 22/06/08 with my fiancee , daughter and her boyfriend We had a mountain/pool view room with balcony, exactly what we booked , the staff are all friendly and always willing to help . room service every day. The pool area is very nice and we never had a problem finding a sun bed, the pool is clean , with a small pool for the kids . Now for the food, we went full board and we have never eaten so well at a hotel, the food is excellent there is a good variety and it is well cooked and presented..( there was even champagne at breakfast ) I would give this hotel 9/10 as 10/10 would be perfect and that would be hard to achieve . The only downside to our holiday was that on day 2 about 30 young spanish school children aged from about 7 -12yrs arrived and they put them all on the 1st floor where we were. and although they were out all day they made up for it at night rampaging up and down corridors shouting and banging doors , they left after 4 days only to be replaced by the same number of spanish teenagers who caused more problems so the easy way to prevent this is check when the spanish school holidays are .. or ask to be put on any floor but the first ....this was the only problem , I did complain to manger who said he would change our rooms when he was able, we didnt bother as the room was nice , it was the rude ill behaved spanish kids thet needed to be dealt with ? All in all a good holiday at a nice hotel

I stayed there with my girlfriend for ten days and found everything very good. The staff are okay and the surroundings/rooms are good. Local beach is pebbley which is not too great but the beaches of Benidorm are 15 mins on the number 10 bus and they are very nice. This same bus in the other direction goes to nearby Altea, which is up in the mountains. It is lovely there with lots of excellent restaurants and fantastic views. We thought breakfast was very good (we stayed B & B) and maid service excellent. On the way to albir beach is a corner with 3 restaurants, 2 of which we tried and were very good. The pool is good but busy. We did manage to get loungers together whenever we needed to and it was pleasant. Overall we would recommend the place for a relaxing family break or for couples wanting to do day trips and eat out in the evenings.

Playa means beach, but the town is called Albir Playa, and this hotel is not on the beach, about half a mile inland. Having got that out of the way, we thought it a good place, especially if touring with a car. Albir is a few miles from Benidorm and quiet, though has all the tourist facilities, restaurants bars etc. Hotel very smart, efficient reception, we didn't like room allocated (personal decision, nothing wrong with it), rapidly moved. Large bedrooms, well furnished, large balconies. Breakfast buffet good choice and changed through the week, a bit crowded at times. Other meals buffet style also, didn't sample, good value meals five minutes walk away. Pool area good plenty loungers, pool bar not open April but main bar convenient for poolside. Car parking underground very expensive, even receptionist said not to bother, street parking OK.

We have just returned (May 2008)from the Albir Playa and would like to report on what a lovely hotel this is. Perhaps not for teenagers but for older couples and families with small children. The dining room and food were excellent and the bedrooms very clean and quiet. Pool area very relaxing. The resort is small but enough bars and restaurants(noticed a few Chinese and Indian restaurants) and a nice promenade. Easy to get into Benidorm by taxi 9 euros or bus (service about every 20 minutes)1.40 euros. Drinks prices in hotel also reasonable considering it a 4 star. Coffee 1.40euros soft drinks and small beers 1.80 euros. Overall very good holiday. would recommend.

My girlfriend and i stayed at this hotel in June 2006. We are a younger couple but appreciate a more relaxed and peaceful holiday. Rather than waffling on like most people do in these reviews i'll just type our opinions in bullet form. Location: Just off a busy road, but set back from the noise. 10 mins walk to the beach, next to two small supermarkets. Hotel: Looks pleasant and modern, staff very friendly. Room: Very clean, laminate flooring mini bar etc.. Pool: Lovely pool, not a great size but there is also a heated pool with a large hot tub inside the main building, which is great. Food: Nice morning buffet, didnt have lunch so cant comment, good selection in the evening but would recommend trying one of the local places. Beach: A bit of a walk, but no more than 10 minuites with a few bars along the way to enjoy during the evening. The beech itself had a well kept front with various bars and a great view of the surrounding bay. This Hotel wasnt the Ritz, but me and my girlfriend really enjoyed our week here. In the future we would probably go again.

I stayed at this hotel early March for 4 nights. As a lone female I was looking for safe, secure, clean hotel to stay in.The Hotel went beyond my expectations. The staff were very friendly and efficient. The layout of the hotel is very modern and clean. It is a very big hotel, but doesnt feel like it and has quite a intimate atmosphere. Check in was very smooth with no problems.There are two lifts that have windows looking out to the outside and one internal lift. Lovely decorated hall ways. My room had two single beds and large wardrobe with plenty of hangers and also a safe. There was a 28" tv with lots of spanish programmes but also with Sky news 24. There was a fridge, good for storing water etc and also a radio withe speakers not only in the bedroom, but also in the bathroom. The bathrroom was very spacious, adjustable shower in the bath, big sink with lots of room around it to put my bathroom stuff.A toilet and also a bidet. I had a balcony with a table and 2 plastic chairs, this looked out on to the swimming pool area, which although looked very nice I didnt visit due to the weather not being to warm.I was situated on the 2nd floor so had the benefit of also having the most wonderful view of the mountains as well. Self controlled heating/air con which all worked great. I only ate in the restaurant for breakfast, which was very lavish, with a lot of choice for all, including cooked on the spot foods. All in all i would recommend this hotel, the prices are very good at this time of year. The only problem I encountered and also this seemed to affect a few other guests (I overheard them in reception) was the promise of free wireless internet access.This is one of the reasons I booked here.I could not get access, went to reception for help, a technician came out, he got me online, but as soon as I got back to my room, it stopped working again! I ended up finding a large internet cafe just 3 minutes walk up on the left hand side of the Avenida del albir which had approx 12 pc's and was open all day, from early on to at least 9pm. Internet here very cheap and also they had webcams and headsets to utilise skype etc.