Cerro Mar

I’ve just returned from the Cerro Mar and am glad to be home! Booked this hotel after reading all the good reviews and was so disappointed when I got there. Everyone else who reviewed this hotel were obviously staying in the new block, I got stuck in the old one and it is horrible, even though I thought I had booked an apartment in the new block (at least that’s what the booking agent told me!) The Cerro Mar consists of 3 separate blocks, all divided by busy roads. All of the travel agents and booking agents use photographs of the new block to advertise this hotel but there is no guarantee that you will be staying in the new block and I can assure you that the old block is not of the same standard and it is ridiculous that they sell all the blocks at the same price. Block 1 is ancient and in much need of refurbishment, it has a small outdoor pool with limited space for sun loungers. Block 2 only has an indoor pool and Block 3, the newest block, has a nice outdoor pool but no reception or kitchen, the waiters at the pool bar cook the snacks. The limited snack menu is the same in all 3 blocks and consists of salads, burgers and toasties, which I consider a very poor menu for the size the Cerro Mar has grown to. The staff are lazy and incompetent. Because the blocks are all separated by busy roads you are issued with a key to get in and out of each block, which is useless when there are 4 of you and you only have 1 key. We used the pool at the new block each day but if one of us had to go back across the road to the apartment they had to take the key to get back into the other block but then nobody else could go anywhere until they got back as they wouldn’t have a key to get back in. The reception closes at night and you need to enter the building by a little door further down the street, all internal doors are locked which means you need to use the old lift, which I think is a fire hazard. They are now building another block, which is on the same side of the road as the old Block 1 and we had the pleasure of our balcony facing right onto it and being wakened very early each morning with the sound of the building site. We also had the pleasure of the noise of the building site while lying at the pool every day! The apartment itself it fairly spacious, which is the only positive thing I can say about it. It doesn’t have any of the modern facilities the new block has, ie. no dishwasher, washing machine etc. Our sheets were only changed once in the 2 weeks we were there, the towels were changed twice and one of these times was because I asked for clean ones. The sockets were hanging out of the walls, there were plastic sheets on the mattress underneath the sheet and the sleeping arrangements in the lounge were the sofa and a camp bed, which was not what was described in the hotel description. The resort itself wasn’t much better. We struggled to find a good restaurant, generally the food is awful. Particularly bad restaurants in the Old Town were O’Fernando and Oceans, bad restaurants on The Strip were Paella, Steak House (lots of flies and cockroaches at the bins downstairs), and we tried a Mexican Restaurant at the Marina called El Panchito, the food was stone cold, we sent it back and they microwaved it! Also the Marina is dead, it’s like a ghost town, we couldn’t find a taxi to get back and had to go into a wee local café where they didn’t speak much English and she gave us a taxi number to call from the payphone to get back to the Old Town. OK restaurants at the Old Town were Bank and the best restauraunt we found was Za Za at the Old Town, very good Thai/Japanese Noodle Bar, Bravo had nice steaks and on the Strip Liza Pizza & Pasta was good but quite a limited menu. The beach is nice but the sea is quite rough and by the afternoon the large waves cause a lot of seaweed to come in. The cost of 2 sun loungers and a parasol on the beach is 15 euros. This is the first holiday I’ve ever been on when I’ve wanted to come home before the end of my 2 weeks. I definitely won’t go back to Albufeira and would warn anyone against the Cerro Mar. You’re taking a gamble with your money and if you’re lucky you could get a nice apartment in the new block but if you’re very unlucky you’ll be stuck in the old block which is a complete waste of money. Please contact me if you need any more information and I’ll be happy to oblige.

My husband and I stayed at these apartments at the end of June. We were pleasantly suprised how BIG the one bed apartment was - it had a full kitchen (everything you could require), air con in both the lounge and the bedroom, a full bathroom (including a decent size bath) and a good size bedroom. The only downside of the apartment was that the furniture was quite old and creaky - I found I was waking myself up in the night by moving in bed and it making a (considerable) noise. That said, the apartment was lovely and kept clean. We had a nice spacious balcony with a great view of the sea (slightly obscured by a crane which was building next door). I should note that we were in no way disturbed by any of the building work that is currently going on in Albufeira. Also, to mention, staying here is not for the faint hearted. My husband and I like to explore and do some walking around but, tackling those steps and that hill more than twice a day is testing! It's 100 steps (which are quite managable) but the last bit of the walk (back to the apartment) is a reasonably steep hill. However, it's a good chance to walk off all the marvelous food and cocktails. Try the Cataplana - it's DELICIOUS! Overall, I would recommend these apartments. We booked with Style and the block we were in had very few english people. I understand that Thomson also go to these apartments but I think they must have been in a different block. The blocks are seperated by small roads and you are free to use ALL the facilities should you wish.

we stayed in the cerro mar during the last week of June, and i found my stay very enjoyable and relaxing, the resort of albuferia itself is perfect. The hotel is in an excellent position, in terms of getting to the old town where there are plenty of shops and also all the bars and pubs for nightlife, it is only a ten minute walk. saves on all the taxis fares, the only annoying thing is the walk is up a steep hill that is not suitable for the eldery or those with walking difficulities. I was quite nervous on going after hearing about the building work, but honestly it doesnt spoil anything. There was no real noise disturbance at all. The rooms where spacious, clean and had air conditioning which makes a massive difference in the hot summer months! There are maids everyday, clean towels etc. The hotel doesn't offer anything in terms of entertainment, so children might get bored, But, with the old town and new town, or 'the strip' ( a lot more livier, more of a club scene than the old town) entertainment wasn't really needed. The hotel itself was set out in 3 different building blocks, we where in the older one and the pool wasn't as good. however, the new building is only just across the road the pool is a lot nicer, so that's where we ended up most days. I would advise you to book through thompson as i think they had the exclusive on the newst building with an indoor pool, gym etc. As i stated before, there is plenty to do in albuferia. Trips to the water parks are recommended, zoomarine etc. overall, nice hotel good value for money.

Not much to add to the other decent reviews, suffice to say that they are not exaggerated. The hotel is very nice with an excellent pool which is a proper sun trap. Our room was huge with decent facilities and I would recommend it to virtually all travellers. It does sit on a hill so those less mobile may suffer, however, otherwise, if you are staying in Albuferia make sure you consider here. It's location to the old town is almost ideal and ensure you try the grandmother's restaurant down the hill - fab!

We have just returned from an 8 night stay (May 19th-26th 2007)at the cerro mar apts. Alufeira and have to say we had a great time. These apts. were booked because of all the excellent reviews on trip advisor and I must say we were not disappointed, they would have to be the best apts. we have stayed in. We flew Easyjet Belfast to Faro and transferred using Sul Travel based in Albufeira (60 Euro return and a very good reliable service - [--]) The Cerro Mar was booked using Easyjet Hotels ([--]) (Hotelopia) We were given apt. 412 in Block 3 (Colina Building) our apt. was an end corner on the 4th floor, with spectacular views out to sea at the front side, a pool view at one side and mountain view on the other (Only spoilt slightly by a telecommunications mast) We arrived late on Saturday night and had a little trouble finding the room but once we opened the door it was definately a "wow" moment. There was a huge lounge with two big comfy sofas, satellite tv, remote control air con, dining room table and chairs with the bottom end of the room partitioned off with 2 single beds inside...ideal for the kids. The main bedroom was a good size with twin/double beds a huge wardrobe and safety deposit box. The bathroom was spotless, beautifuly tiled throughout with a lovely hot shower and a bidet. The kitchen was superbly kitted out with fridge/freezer, oven, hob, diswasher, microwave, coffee maker and the added bonus of a washing machine. In the drawers are all the utensils you'll ever need, the only downside was the toaster where a few fingers got burnt over the course of our stay! The balcony was fantastic to say the least, it was about the size of a badminton court and basked in sunshine from dawn to dusk, I recommend room 412! The pool in our particular block was great, it is the one in the picture on this website in fact I think that picture was taken from our apartment as I have a very similar one right now on my camera! The pool side bar serves a good range of snacks and drinks and at 2.50 Euro a pint it is as competitive as anywhere we went in town. Now the down side...the Cerro mar sits at the top of a hill, a very...very...VERY steep hill...lol To get from hotel to old town it is a walk down the hill, then down 100 steps which takes you right into the centre at the "square" going home I throughly recommend a taxi (around 3-4 Euro) although we did walk back up a few times, stopping every 10 steps to "Admire the scenery" lol The old town is a full of bars and restaurants all touting for business which can be a pain sometimes...especially after you have just eaten and you can't walk too far without another menu being stuck in your face but nonetheless a pretty nice place. The seafront area is a bit under construction as is a lot of old town albufeira, from our balcony we could count 7 large cranes so do be prepared for a bit of building work. The beach is clean with wonderful sand and very cold atlantic water! We recommend the Baracuda english bar for superb breakfasts, anywhere else for dinner was great...no complaints about our dinners at all, our 2 yr old boy who eats very little at home cleared his plate every night...definately a good sign! I will also recommend the "Alibaba" chinese which was very good indeed with good natured staff and good value tasty food. We ventured twice to the new town and the strip which is nice also, good value bars and restaurants, can recommend the Costa Rica restaurant at the junction near the Kilt and Kelt for a great steak..superbly cooked and tasty, the waiters are excellent with kids also. Walking time to the strip from the cerro mar is around 20-25 mins...again a taxi home is a great idea (3-4 euro) Ok..now another downside...only use the hotel supermarket for necesities... extortionate prices and the old girl at the counter had trouble counting your change which strangely always ended up in her favour?? Follow the road at the rear of the hotel and go across the main road to Lidl, 10 mins walk and...u guessed it...a taxi back! only due to the fact that I filled a trolley and couldn't handle all the bags on the walk back, I recommend a cheeky little german beer ...Perlenbacher...dead cheap and nice chilled with lays crisps...lol. So in finishing....a nice holiday, great apartments if you don't mind the hill, nice clean old town with plenty going on, friendly people and would highly recommend. We would go back again and would also recommend to friends and family. Sorry for the long winded report but do contact me if you feel I can be of any help! David

just back from cerro mar apartments and very impressed. everything is brand new. apartments contain washing machine, dishwasher. fridge freezer etc. very clean and tidy and at this time of the year you have the run of the place as not many people in apartments

This was the second time we have stayed at the Cerro Mar, and once again the accomodation was superb. We had booked a "2" bedroomed apartment althought really it was only a 1 bedroomed with a room divider in the lounge which concealed 2 beds behind it. Even so it was clean and spacious with the biggest balcony we have ever seen. Overall the staff are friendly enough, especially Duarte (the pool bar) and Anna (the main bar).However, one of the receptionists, Sylvia, was extremely rude when we asked her to book taxis for us! Yes there is a lot of building work around the complex but it didnt affect us at all, not much noise really. The town square is nearly finished although we thought it had lost some of its original character maybe a little bit too "modern" in parts. But it wouldnt stop us going back.

We had stayed at Cerro Mar2 this time last year and booked with via Ideal Spaces this year in Cerro Mar3. The hill is steep to the old town, but only takes 10 minutes walking. The upside is that it is out of town and you get very little noise. Ideal Spaces and Brava Tours who arranged the airport transfers were both fantastic. We stayed in apartment 409 which was superbly kitted out, large fridge, washing machine, dishwasher, dvd, tv, some cable channels, air con if required, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, large balcony ,spacious everything working-excellent. Cerro Mar 3 has two good size pools, one with a bar & both very clean. Theres another pool at Cerro Mar 2 and an indoor small pool at Cerro Mar 1. Barbeque on Wednesday night was very enjoyable and good value. Cerro Mar 4 is currently being completed but is far enough away to be not too offputting. The old town has no end of restaurants and bars. We found the Minar Indian restaurant excellent and good value for money. The Shalom was also good, but the menu a little narrow. We fancied a dessert one night and went to the Bank Pub and Restaurant. My wife ordered profiteroles at 4 euros and received -three of them! We were also asked for our order by 4 waiters inside of 10 minutes. We kept well away from this place thereafter. We would definately recommend Cerro Mar and old town Albefeira.

We arrived at the Cerro Mar on the 23rd Sept 06 , we were hoping that we would not be affected by any of the building work that was mentioned in earlier reviews. We were not dissapointed ! There was building work happening over the road but it did not bother us at all , you never really heard much from them. We were put in rooms with a lovely pool and sea view and we were also put next door to the couple we were travelling with , which we were all pleased about. The balconys were spacious and provided us with many, pre-night out drinking sessions. When we first arrived in the rooms we were amazed at the size of them. They were large and also very clean. Spot on air conditioning also if needed. The cerro mar has three pools the one we overlooked was peaceful , but there was also a large kidney shaped pool about 20 meters away which provided music and a good swim up bar, this was the pool of choice and the guy behind the bar was superb , he was always busy but always polite .At night the old town in albufeira was great , and the strip was also worth a visit . The only thing I would say is that with the Cerro Mar being up a steep hill, its probably not ideal for people with walking difficulties. Although taxis are very affordable. All in all this was my second visit to albufeira and it was even better the second time round. Cerro Mar is definitely recommended.

Visited Cerro Mar mid September 06. Cannot fault it in any way. Sizeable apartments, (with free Air-Con), good bar, pool, staff. The apartments were cleaned every day with fresh towels provided. It's on a hill, which isnt a problem, cos its only say two to three hundred meters from the main square where there are nice bars/restraunts. (no youths being sick and falling everywhere) only decent holiday makers/locals. Get a taxi on the way back up, only £2.00. Very recommended.