Has anyone been to a beach resort in Albania recently?

[PriorToThat]

i am considering a beach resort holiday in Albania, in the next two or three weeks. This will be a holiday where we stay in the hotel and just enjoy the facilities. Thinking the Durres area.

I don’t usually choose a resort hotel holiday, preferring to see the local area, soak up the culture, wander the streets, but for other reasons a beach ‘fly and flop’ this would be perfect for a week.

Has anyone been recently?

We were going to go to sarande from Corfu but reviews were poor (blackpoolesque) so we stayed in Corfu. Good luck.

For a fly and flop they are all very much the same in the Med really, so I'd go to Spain myself, it's easy it's quick, it's inexpensive and it's familiar. I mean if you are just going to stay in the resort hotel and not venture out, what is the point of going somewhere unfamiliar to many. However, if you feel Albania is for you, I'd check how easy it is to get to Albania from your local airport, and what the transfer time is like from Tirana airport, is the area very quiet or lively, and so on.

In a few years I've no doubt that Albania will be very popular, but at the moment it appears to be at the early stages of developing its tourism appeal. That may be what some people are looking for, i.e. get in before the high rises and English breakfasts etc., but for a quick and easy break, I would not consider it myself YET!

For a fly and flop they are all very much the same in the Med really, so I'd go to Spain myself, it's easy it's quick, it's inexpensive and it's familiar. I mean if you are just going to stay in the resort hotel and not venture out, what is the point of going somewhere unfamiliar to many

Yes this is usually my view!
However, I love Spain, live as a local and visit for a month at a time if I can. My parents lived in two different areas of Spain, so it is very much like ‘going home’.

However, the hotel in Albania is half what we paid in Spain for room only last year. (same standard, same chain).

Just wondering really, as a change.

I'd go for it then and give it a try, since you want something different to Spain this time!

Happy holidays and have a nice break, wherever you choose.

Thank you!

Hopefully posters will come along with first hand experience and help me with my decision.

No first hand experience but a good friend went last year with a group of mates (all blokes around 50 years old). They all love snorkelling and apparently the sea is stunning. He said that some of the facilities are still a bit rough around the edges, but nothing horrific. They're still finding their feet as a touristic country. Everything was pretty cheap and he showed me pictures of food he'd ordered in cafes/restaurants that looked nice, with huge portions. He generally enjoyed it and said he'd go back.

Thank you, quite positive!

Don’t go to Durres it’s overcrowded and not great. Check Vlore/sarande/ksamil, further south so longer drive from Tirana but really nice beaches. Also the north is beautiful too if you fancy more lakes / mountains. Shkoder / Tropoje

You can fly to Corfu and take a ferry to Sarande which takes less than an hour and cuts out the long drive from Tirana. Sarande is a good base for exploring and it has some nice hotels and restaurants but some parts are very touristy and maybe not the most relaxing!

Dhermi is a nice beach destination if you are just looking for a beach holiday which is a couple of hours drive from Sarande.

ksamil is very busy at this time of year. Barely room to sit on the beach but may be quieter in September.

Food is nice, good variety of Greek influenced and local Albanian dishes and seafood.

Thanks for more advice and @MondayTuesdayWednesday .

The beach resort is 45 minutes from the town of Durres. We might get to visit once but know that this holiday will be very much about the hotel.

It is great to have broader information though.

Which resort / hotel are you looking at?

We stayed last October near to but not in Durres - it’s a bit like Spain in the 70’s, rough around the edges! Food and drink is cheap compared to here and Spain. We would go back again