Alto da Colina Apartments

1 reader found this review helpful

holdiay was grate part from the last day were i went down the blue slid sat up like it says it through me over nerly making me unconsious lukly i put my feet up so the bang was not so bad, coming off the slide backwords, realising i could not walk on my foot swelling and brusing flew home the next morning to go to hospital and find out i had fractured the bones in my foot now in a cast for 6 weeks not impressed, i would advise no adults to go on it or adult to go on with kids as there is alot of injerys.

2 readers found this review helpful

Hotel was brilliant, lovely big well decorated, well equipped room, cleaners were brilliant. Pools were great for kids - loved splash zone and slides, play park was good for colder times (we went in March). Night entertainment for kids from 8-9 - brilliant reps who kids adored. We were self catering but had to upgrade to all inclusive when we got there as it would have been too expensive to eat/drink at hotel and there is no where to eat/drink out in walking distance. Taxis to Albufeira only around 5euro though and well worth a trip. Also went to Zoomarine and had lovely day. Had a night out in Vilamoura which is good for romantic meal overlooking marina (but nothing for kids). Overall had a brilliant holiday and would really recommend the holiday village.

3 readers found this review helpful

I have just returned from my holiday and although the hotel was clean and staff were great i feel i have to make others aware of the danger of the blue slide in the splash park on site.
I went down this slide sat up, as shown on a display board by the slide which shows this as the slow position and pushed myself off as you would from a normal slide. Having done this i was thrown about towards the bottom of the slide and after banging my shoulder and my head was spat out at the bottom with a broken collar bone. I am a 40 year old woman, physically fit and not overweight and would not have expected to have any problems in going down a water slide.
Furtunately the children using this slide as far as i am aware have not been injured, but i have found out since that there have been numerous adults injured from this slide, either bumps and bruises or broken bones. I have been told by the Rep there that the slide has been checked due to the number of accidents and apparently meets whatever standards they have over there.
I do love water slides so do not want to spoil anyones fun, but ADULTS PLEASE BEWARE.

3 readers found this review helpful

Hi all, just got back from this hotel today! Must say that firstly I agree about the blue slide, but its mainly men and older boys that get themselves hurt on it as they think they are indistructable! Men will be boys. My daughter is 7 and an only child, hence the reason why we decided to try it. We normally take her out of school and go to a villa with a pool which has no other children and decided to give this a whirl. Well, she loved it, was in the pool all day going up and down the slides, made friends on a daily basis as obviously people are coming and going. We went self catering which I think was a mistake as it was so expensive to eat out and the hotel is out of the way with no other shops around. Yes I think I would go back but would go all inclusive. Razzamataz was good too, the football acacadamy seemed very popular. Yes it is a little like butlins in the sun, but hey, if the kids love it then it makes parents so much more relaxed and can enjoy themselves too. The beach is a little out of the way but they run a mini coach which will take you at 10, 12 and pick you up at 2.15, and to tell you the truth it was so so hot that a couple of hours at the beach is all we could cope with. So if anyone is thinking about it and just a little unsure I would say go for it. It does look bigger on the video, was a little shocked when we got there about the size of it, and the walk to the onsite shop is down alot of steps so no good for anyone who cant get around easily, oh one last thing, the beds are like sleeping on marble, so beware that you will wake up aching more than when you went to bed, but laying on a sun bed all day will sort that out. Oh, sorry another thing, dont believe all you hear about the germans being the ones who put the towels out, mainly english people and they would put their towels out on the sunbeds the night before!!!! Beware this is really bad at this hotel, but if you cant beat them you just have to join them

1 reader found this review helpful

We have just returned from a holiday here with our 3 children aged 5, 4 & 2 and had a fantastic time. The hotel is spotless and we had 2 interconnecting rooms which I was pleasantly surprised with. Both shared an entrance door then there was a little hall way with 2 bedrooms off it. It meant we could lock the front door and leave both bedroom doors open to listen for the children.
The entertainment is the best we've had on family holidays of this time and if your children want it, there is a constant stream of activities. We used the creche for the 2 year old and I was totally happy and confident of their care. Also my daughter (4) used the Razzamataz stage school to take part in a High School Musical Show and it was excellent.
The food had got bad reviews but honestly its fine. Its a huge buffet and ater a week it is quite repetitive but always something we fancied.
The only downside was the area outside the hotel - there aren't really any shops or other restaurants around and the walk to the beach is just awful. Its not far but you have to go down a massive set of steep steps which in the heat is hard with little children. Also too hot on the beach for us so we didn't go back.
All in all we thoroughly enjoyed it and I would go back.

2 readers found this review helpful

Hello,
I have just returned from 1 week at this location. The hotel is spotlessly clean and the facilities offered to my 2 kids 8 and 10 were great. I didnt see my 10 year old daughter until 11:00pm each night due to the excellent activities for kids. My son is footy mad and loved the Reebok Socccer Academy - special mention to Dec and Jason for their great coaching.
The only negative to this holiday is the BLUE WATER SLIDE, it is not suitable for adults. I broke my nose and spent an afternoon in Casualty. I also badly bruised my elbows. The weight of adults mean you will go down too fast and be thrown around uncontrolably in the last 2 bends. I was unfortunate to be flipped over completely and land on my face. I spent the last 4 days looking like a boxer, I lost count of the people who stopped me to ask how I broke my nose and then continued to show me bumps and bruises of their blue slide encounters.
Please if anybody has had an injury on this slide contact me, I will be writing to First Choice to make sure they place a restriction on adults using the slide.

We had a fantastic holiday at the Alto Da Colina Apartments. The food was nice, the hotel kids clubs were fantastic and our children really enjoyed going, the rooms were all lovely and were cleaned to a high standard, the evening entertainment for the children was great, the swimming pools were also fantastic (my children especially enjoyed the splash park and new slide park). We have absolutely no complaints about this holiday and it was the best family holiday we have had. We would definately return.

went on the 9th of October wasnt wxpecting much but pleasantly suprised 4adults 3 kids under 5,absolutley brilliant went at the right time got the best weather,we booked for a week but 10 days wud av been beta especially for the kids they loved it the staff were very helpfull and the entertainment staff,lindsey,darryl,danni phil, billy and co were great different stuff every night and the (bingo) was fun too,during the day we spent it at the splash pool and slides my eldest (5yrs) got in the water (even thou it was freezein)at 9.30 and we had to drag him out at 5pm the snack bar was open and to be honest was the best thing for them as ice cream, pop, hotdogs, pizzas, chips, sarnies,and burgers wer on tow all the time other things u did av to pay but we were (all in). we had a kids den witch was great for the kids and cud be shut of by a sliding door( will post pics of room as well). The main resturant food was abit repetative and not all warm but it still was enjoyable. The location was out of the way but only a few euros in a taxi to alberfura(spelt wrong).The beach was a night mare too far down the road and the short cut is not for the use of prams and wheel chairs, all in all i wud go back again

I have just returned from a week at the Alto De Colina/Holiday Village Algarve and have to say I am impressed and unimpressed with it. There were 7 of us in our party, myself, my partner, our 3 kids ages 12, 10 and 3 and my parents (67 and 69). On arrival at the hotel we were greeted by a few First Choice reps which was good. We arrived just after midday and our rooms were ready, situated in block 2 3rd floor and were all inclusive. They give you wristbands which are pretty useless for kids. My kids went through about 4 in the week we were there. Lovely big rooms with well equipped kitchenette, large bathroom with hairdryer and a tv in the living area and a huge balcony with sea view. The rooms are cleaned regularly and beds/towels changed every 2 days. Dont be fooled by all the paperwork in the rooms, ie 30 euros for a remote control to work the tv, we flicked through the channels and found BBC1, 2 and 3 with no need for it. The food wasnt bad but we found that it was all pretty much the same. Some days it was nice and hot, others it was warm. Breakfast was the best though and always hot. We found whilst we were there that there was always something out of order, we arrived on a Saturday and Tuesday one of the lifts broke down and wasnt fixed until Friday. There is internet access in reception, 2 euros gives you 10 minutes but once the machine is full its out of order. Happened twice in our week! We didnt really bother with the evening entertainment as my kids find it boring so cant comment. The poolside entertainment was pretty naff, in fact I only heard them once. The waterslides are quite impressive and our kids spent most of the week on them. I do agree with other reviews that they dont really suit adults as my Dad had one go and came out almost backwards complaining of banging his elbow on the way down. But hey these things are for the kids after all!!! Location wise I would say its not that good which is the main reason I have rated it 7/10. There isnt much around and its about half hour walk to the nearest beach which is ok but not the best on the Algarve. We went to the Zoomarine and my 2 elder kids and Dad swam with the dolphins. Its quite expensive but was well worth the money. We went into Albefuira by taxi and it was nice to walk around all the shops however they do all sell the same stuff so after a few its quite boring! Overall we had a good time and the kids were happy which is the main thing. For a holiday village I expected a little more, ie cashpoints on site (nearest one is Albefuira town), few more shops (1 supermarket is not enough) and maybe a chemist. The brochure is very misleading as it looks massive and believe me it isnt.

We have been back off holiday 2 weeks and we had a fantastic time. Our children ages 1 & 4 loved the water slides and the splash park, although I do agree with the other review that the blue slide is dangerous to adults, whilst we were there I witnessed one man who was knocked unconcious on it and it was another guest who dragged him out of the water as there is no lifeguard at the pool. Apart from that the hotel was lovely and clean and the food was good. There does need to be more choice but we filled in a few questionnaires while we were there and we could see more variety of food coming through before we left, so First Choice are listening. The staff at the hotel are very friendly and the entertainment team were brilliant and very professional. The flight times and transfers were brilliant with young children and the First Choice team are very accommodating. We will definitely be going back and would recommend this holiday to anyone.