Holiday Village Algarve, Balaia, Portugal

My husband, my 3 year old daughter and I have just returned from a week long all-inclusive holiday at the Holiday Village Algarve (HVA). We went to the Holiday Village in Cyprus (HVC) last year, and had a fantastic holiday, so were really looking forward to going to the HVA. For us, the positives and negatives of the HVA were as follows:

Positive Points:

 Cleanliness, décor and maintenance of the hotel were excellent. Communal areas were litter free, spacious and well laid-out, public toilets were spotless and the apartments were spacious and comfortable.

 Quality of food in the main buffet restaurant was outstanding. This was the first holiday I’ve ever been on were I haven’t actually been sick of the food by the end of the week! There was plenty of variety, food was tasty without being salty and fruit particularly was fresh and plentiful.

 Daytime entertainment reps had the perfect balance of fun and helpfulness without being intrusive. Activities available around the pool for our daughter (who didn’t want to attend kids’ club) were particularly good – she joined in with Tatty Bumpkins Yoga, music and movement, art and water play classes, and the reps organising these activities were friendly and welcoming to all the children who attended. We also enjoyed the daily quizzes and radio shows. The big range of activities was published daily on a large notice board by the pool, but they also had weekly schedules available from reception in block 2 which I would recommend getting hold of so you can plan ahead if you want.

Negative Points:

 Beach was not close to the hotel, despite the brochure highlighting the great beaches in the area. I feel this was misleading - one of the main reasons we picked the HVA was that it appeared to be a beach hotel, and it is not. The closest beach was described as a 5-10minute walk from the hotel in the welcome meeting, but carrying towels and in the summer heat it took us at least 20mins, cumulating in a steep drop down a cliff, climbing down around 100 stairs. You can imagine the return journey!

 Evening entertainment was poor for under 5’s. When we went to HVC the entertainment began with a children’s disco, with 3 reps showing the children the moves to various songs and all children from 2 to 10 joined in happily. By the end of the week my then 2yo knew all the moves to Chocolate, Purple People Eater, SuperHero etc. But here the entertainment didn’t even start until 8pm(which when most pre-schoolers want to eat at 6pm gives you a lot of time to kill until the entertainment starts) and when it did begin there was only one ‘disco’ song before the entertainment became quizzes, races and competitions. Although the 5yo+ enjoyed this, the pre-schoolers were all just sat around not able to join in. I think it would be better if they started the evening with a children’s disco at 7.30pm for half an our before moving on to the competition things at 8pm so all the children can have something to look forward to in the evening. Bear in mind HVA is the same time zone as England.

 Snacks in the day were fairly poor. There were none near the kid’s splash pool, and if you were by the main pool you had to go into the main restaurant to get anything and eat it there. If you were by the ‘adult’ pool there was a snack bar where you could get burgers / sandwiches etc and eat by the pool but the one day we went there the food took ages to come and there was a huge queue. In HVC there was a buffet snack bar by the main pool, you could stay in your costume to get snacks and eat them by the pool, which I felt was a more relaxed option. There was no ‘normal’ icecream available on all inclusive (and hence no milkshakes), just little nestle pots which was disappointing.

Other Points to Note:

 Layout of the site is not brilliant, with the kid’s pool the other side of the hotel to the main pool.

 Block 2 is down a steep hill and away from the main amenities – if you have children request accommodation in block 1

 The Italian and Portuguese restaurants are not worth a visit – less choice and less good than the main buffet

Overall:

We would recommend the hotel, personally I preferred HVC but the HVA is a great location flight wise from the UK and the Algarve has a lovely atmosphere and great produce, so definitely worth a visit.

First Holiday of this type. Starting with short flight 2hrs 50mins there 2hrs 15mins home, transfer time on brochure 1 hr 30mins reality about 30-40 mins brilliant with 2 small, easily bored kids. Holiday Village - Fantastic the children(2 & 4) were entertained all day either in the pool with all the slides or the splash park or the playground then there was the kids clubs/creche a bit of time to ourselves. The evening entertainment was great too even if we did have to join in with the 'chocolatte' I came home feeling rested. 1 bed apartment good size we slept on the sofa bed kids in the bedroom, the sofa bed was comfortable. We came back and within days had booked to go next year.

My 1st package holiday in year and 1st with 2 small children (2.5 & 1). All really enjoyed it, lots to do in the resort, great facilities, really well maintained. Would be absolutely perfect for ages 3-10 as kids clud looked fab. Bit of a hike back from the beach with buggies only real downside (shorter but still uphill if you can manage stairs)

A brilliant resort for children. Three pools including one with splash park, flumes and slides. Accommodation excellent. We had a one bedroom apartment: we slept in the bedroom and the two children slept on the put-u-up in the lounge area. Full size bath and shower. Kitchenette had hob, microwave, fridge. Self-catering possible but we had fully-inclusive. Children's club good for us because our children (3 & 7) were kept together in same area.