Janelas Do Mar Apartments

I stayed in these apartments on the 22nd Sep, 12 adults and 3 kids. After reading some of the review I got a shock but my friend said she stayed there as a kid and their cheap and cheerful.
Got to the apartments, nice clean room was basic but clean that’s all you need on a holiday with no frills, yes there was one of the sheets with a hole in it but it was clean and fresh what can you ask for. We had 2 balcony’s which had a nice view of the pool, both pools were clean the indoor pool was closed but I'm not going to moan about that I'm on holidays, I just let things like that go.
The poolside bar food was nice remember your in Portugal there laid back people so you will wait for you food, its mainly chips, burgers, omelettes and salads so if you want a nice steak or lamb chops with veg go somewhere else and pay for it. The food is expensive at the poolside bar €7.50 for a full English but if you want a cheaper one go down the road 5-10 mins walk with a shortcut and go to the cottage its €2 so stop moaning about the price of the Janelas do Mar poolside bar go else were, there is a bus the you get a reception its €2 per person down to Albufeira which is very good. Down there they have a square with lots of entertainment there we saw a opera show with was brill, all the staff were great I would recommend this place to people that are looking for cheap clean and nice accom......some people look for things to moan about there basically looking for a 5star place half board for €300.

Had reservations regarding this place after reading some comments, but only booked it after advised by our travel agent, who happened to stay there for a few months doing some rep work.
I'm glad that I listened to them because this place was perfect!
The hotel is peaceful and the people working and staying there were friendly. It helped that there was a convenience store and hairdressers on site that were open all day until 9pm.
The hotel/apartments were up hill slightly, but not so much that it would cause a problem, even when drunk!
Walking very slowly, it would take 10 minutes to get to the Strip (as the cab drivers know it), or if you wanted to get a cab, then it would take 2 minutes and cost 5 euros.
For going out at night, places like Matt's Bar, Kiss and Crazy Bull were to visit (better to go there after 12am). The strip has many places to eat and drink during the day and the beach is at the end of the strip.
Be warned though...many of the bars have reps standing outside promising free shots, which are infact shots of soft drink maybe with a drop of alcohol.
Janelas is also 5 minute cab ride away from Old Town. This is the place to visit if you want to enjoy the sun, sea and sand! Do not attempt to walk to Old Town as me and a few others did so in the afternoon (still drunk from the night before) and were shattered as it took 30 minutes and was uphill most way.
The lifts in the hotel are a bit funky, but over all were not as loud as some people made out to be. Maybe differs from block to block, but block 1 seemed fine! The cafe has a nice selection of food which is tasty and the prices are good!
Check in is at 3pm and check out at 11am.
Now the apartment: bathroom needs more ventilation, although if you need a steam room you'll love it! The rooms are spacious and tidy. The lighting is not the best throughout the apartment, so getting ready at night was a little more hassle than should be! The apartments include a safe and TV (which will cost 15 euros for the week, each). The beds and sofa beds were comfortable and we all managed to sleep well throughout the night without too much noise from outside, even with the patio doors and windows open.
There were a mixture of guests staying at this resort from couples, to groups of friends, and families with young children.
Loved this place, would love to go back, stay in the same place and do the same things again!

My wife and I have just returned from a holiday at Janelos do mar. Our apartment was directly above the bar and about 20 yards from the pool, we enjoyed our holiday Portugal is an awesome place.
We found a shortcut to the strip which only took us about 5 minutes to walk, the strip has virtually something for everyone, all in all we loved our stay at Janelos.
We did not think the music was overly loud when we were in our beds and had no complaints about any of the staff or the food at the poolside café.
The only complaints we had were the constant time share people stopping us on the way to the beach promising us great prizes in exchange for an hour of our time and the entertainment in the Janelos bar was of a very poor standard but apart from that I would have no hesitation in going back for another holiday to Janelos do mar.

We loved the idea of the three pools plus the kiddies’ pool and separate jacuzzi. There was plenty of sun beds and you had the choice of staying in the cool of the garden, or take advantage of the breeze in the upper level pool. On a cooler day you could use the sun deck by the lower level pool which was a serious sun trap and there was no breeze here.
The entertainment was the only low point - but we can’t have it all. The wi-fi didn’t work very well but as it was new, you can allow for start up problems. We were in the middle of nowhere which was good and bad. Good as it was quiet and you could sleep at night, and bad as you had to take a bus to get anywhere. Our travel rep from Budget Travel was great and made everything so much easier for us and we can’t commend her enough.
We could even get two Irish newspapers there every morning which made my news mad husband very happy indeed. The mini market was open from early morning till late evening and had all the basics. The gift shop worked the same hours and if you forgot your sun cream, flip flops, towel, etc. they had it for you.
For a relaxing holiday where you could just stay by the pool(s) and get decent nights sleep, this is the one. We would definitely go back.

I was after reading previous visitors very worried about the apartment.
However...
The staff were helpful and cheerful, the apartment was the best I have ever been in. It was huge.
Two balconies with sea view. The towels were changed twice a week which is normal. bed linen once a week, which is normal, who changes their bed at home more than this.
The service bus runs half hourly from outside the apartment and a 10 min walk to centre of town.

This was a last minute booking as we were supposed to going somewhere else but it was cancelled but I certainly was pleased with our choice.
Transfer from and to airport went very well.
Apartment was more than I expected, massive and very tidy.
The shuttle bus laid on for the beach/town was very useful and cheap.
The manager and staff were very helpful.
The resort was very good and I would not hesitate to go back again.
Excellent.

The room was basic but had everything you need. All the pools were clean only saw the dog on one occasion at night, cute little thing.
It was a bit of a walk to the beach but the bus service was cheap and reliable.
I took my disabled son who had a great time with people making a fuss of him.
If you’re after a cheap holiday this is it but if you expect room service and frills don’t go.

Well! Where do I start!
After booking this quite last minute and just going for the cheapest option the travel agents came up with, cheap was what we really got.
I read some of the reviews and thought like you may be thinking when you read the rest of my review that some people just love to moan and you just can’t please them. But I assure you this isn't the case. It really is that bad!
After arriving at the complex and not being in the best of moods as my suitcase had been lost on the way over, the apartments did nothing but make my bad mood increasingly worse.
The kitchen's hygiene left a lot to be desired, there was food smeared across the cupboards, the work surface was completely cracked in 2, and there was goodness knows what lodged down there. I will also mention that the bathroom was worse and that the previous habitants had left a few of their remains in there but I won’t go into details as to what!
The room was cleaned only once while we were there. And were only left clean towels twice.
The staff were a mixed bunch. Some were very helpful, some were downright rude.
After losing our room key one day, I went to reception and the young girl who was working that days attitude was, well tough, it’s your problem, we won’t do anything about it and you can’t get into your room!! After some huffing and puffing she eventually gave me a spare key but informed us that they would be charging us for a change in the locks and they didn't know how much it would cost. Ohh and they charge you to order you a taxi.
The snack bar at the pool area was dire!! The service was bad and the quality, which may I add I didn't expect nouvelle cuisine, was even worse.
The location was completely out of the way. We never attempted to walk to The Old Town but I would take a guess and say it would take a good 30min. The strip takes about 15 min and the beach in the new town takes about 25min.
On a positive note, we absolutely loved The Old Town and there is some fantastic restaurants on Fishermans beach if you want to get away from the typical tourist spots on the strip.
For nightlife we would head down to The Old Town for dinner and go to some of the bars on the smaller strip they have there, which we thought were better than what the strip had to offer. Then head onto the famous strip, but be warned it is cheesy and tacky but all good fun.
I definitely would go back to Albufeira but definitely not to Janelas Do Mar!

These apartments are at the top of a hill, but it’s not too steep, and taxis and buses are cheap enough to use if you don’t like walking or its too hot etc.
They were clean enough, and the staff were friendly and spoke good English, but we basically only used the apartments to get changed in and to sleep in so we weren’t around the complex much to comment on the facilities.
The entertainment in the bar on site wasn’t up to much, but that could have been because we went quite early in the year (April) and they charged almost double for drinks than they did in places in the strip which is only about 10 minutes away walking.
We had a great holiday for what we paid, got a really cheap late deal, but if I had paid more, I would have been disappointed. The apartments are quite noisy because of the lift doors banging shut, and you can hear every word spoken in the hallways, in the busy season this might be a bit of a pain.
We got just what we were looking for though, somewhere that was close enough to the beach, shops, pubs etc (about 20 - 30 mins walking distance) for a really good price.
I would definitely go back but would take some music to play to drown out the noise from the hallways, and ONLY if I got it really cheap again.
We weren’t expecting much because of the price we paid ( about £35 above the cost of the flight for 5 nights) and were pleasantly surprised, but definitely don’t pay much more to stay here as I don’t think it is worth it.
My advice about this place, if it’s a really good price, then go for it, but it’s not the Hilton, so don’t expect too much.

Don’t go there. If by any chance you want to have a nice holiday don’t go to these apartments.
Room for 4 only given fresh towels on Monday and Thursday.
Three pools - 2 outdoor ones full of flies etc which ok, they can’t help that they get in there but they could keep the dog and cat away from them and occasionally clean them out some. The indoor one was full of like grit. So as bad as the ones outside were you jumped in them to clean yourself off from the indoor one.
The onsite shop/snack bar and mini markets were a rip off, I mean €6 for 4 bags of crisps, do they think people are there to be ripped off?
The apartments themselves had clean bed linen as in the sheets were clean. Covers etc need to be replaced as some even have holes.
Bathroom had a bath with hose as shower, ok so we might be more developed but what does it take to get hot water. There are 4 people on holiday with lack of towels and before one is even finished showering the water goes cold. We asked on Tuesday could we get some more towels and the receptionist said no, that towels are changed on Thursdays, come off it!
There are 2 lifts only one works provided you can wait at least 15 minutes. We were not too bad as we were on the 4th floor, god help the other people who were staying on the 8th who had their kiddies with them.
Some of the staff were a bit helpful the others weren’t, they all sort of looked at you as much as to say what are you doing here?
Unfortunately if this is their attitude it would mean I won’t be back to Janelas Do Mar and I am not overly fussy, so anyone that’s going there change your accommodation before it’s too late.
The location is not to bad easy walking distance to the strip an Oura beach and be prepared to walk, as the taxi service can be quite slow, they don’t let you book a taxi in advance and while Janelas Do Mar do offer their car it’s for evening use only, and it must be somewhere local you are going.
Make sure and visit the Algarve shopping centre its good. Oura beach is spectacular.
But stay somewhere else, don’t let your visit be ruined because of bad accommodation.