Full and unabridged guide (Colina Da Lapa)

Member Name: millwall23

Product:	Colina Da Lapa
Date:	03/07/01 (895 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Appartments are 4 star and more, Comfy complex, Great for older kids

Disadvantages: Food is terrible, Not suitable for very young children

When you only go away once every 5 years or so where you go and the quality of the holiday is especially important. Having very little knowledge of Europe personally and with certain major requirements in place we were guided by friends and family when choosing the destination and although quite a few were very nice the Algarve seemed to stand out.

We were travelling with another couple who were close friends of ours and two young girls, our daughter Thai who was 20 months and their daughter Abbie who was 22 months. I was also going to be 5 months pregnant around the time of travel and we had a reasonable but still limited budget to spend.

The ideal solution would have been a villa but we had the budget restrictions then we came across the Colina Da Lapa resort. They are Villa style self-catering apartments accommodating up to six people although there is an all-inclusive package available should you prefer (this is the option we took). The closest town is Ferragudo and it’s about an hour and a half journey from Faro airport.

THE APPARTMENTS

There are two kinds available, a one bedroom or two bedroom apartment depending on the number in your party. We stayed in the two bedroom villa style apartment which accommodates up to six people if you use the sofa bed in the living room. I think that perhaps these were the only part of the holiday that actually lived up to it’s four star rating.

UPSTAIRS - Of the two bedrooms one is substantially larger than the other but both have balconies (although not connecting), large wardrobes and extremely good air conditioning. They have twin beds and there is a dressing table in the larger room. The bathroom is spacious and has both a bath and shower as well as two sinks, a toilet and (should that take your fancy!).

DOWNSTAIRS – The kitchen is absolutely magnificent and has everything you could possible need for self-catering, it’s HUGE! There
217;s a fridge with freezer compartment (although this isn’t very big, perhaps the only bad thing), a microwave, oven, washing machine, dishwasher, kettle, coffee machine and even a juicer. You won’t have to worry about equipment either, it’s all there down to the corkscrew! The air-conditioned living room houses a television, settee and two arm chairs as well as a six place dining table of ample size, there is also a sideboard for storage. As with the whole apartment it’s plain but extremely spacious and comfortable enough for all of us.

FOOD FACILITIES

You have a choice of either self-catering or all-inclusive and in my opinion this resort is dreadfully poor in both areas. Supposedly available was buffet style breakfast/lunch/dinner and a separate restaurant with outside terrace but the restaurant was still being built while we were there so it was only the buffets that were available. For self-catering or those of us that were starved by the poor all-inclusive meals there was a mini-market but even that stocked virtually nothing not even fresh milk. It’s a brand new complex and as so is still finding it’s feet but there were some areas that simply could not justify the four star rating and the food was probably the most obvious. At best I would say it was of two star quality although I’ve had better on a two star holiday.

ALL-INCLUSIVE - There was very little choice especially at breakfast where there was only the same eggs, frankfurters (or occasionally bacon that had no meat on it), beans and fruit every day. You could have either salami, cheese or limited spreads on rolls though should you prefer and trust me after just a couple of days you will prefer! Lunch and dinner were along the same lines with a barbecue available every Friday night. Pudding was even worse with most days a choice of jelly, fruit or some strange egg based concoction available (the fruit was even tinned fruit
!). All local spirits and soft drinks are included as well as a snack menu and ice-cream so get your monies worth!


SELF-CATERING – If you choose this option then I severely recommend you hire a car for at least part of your stay. As I’ve mentioned you will not be able to stock up onsite and the only shop within walking distance is a little co-op style shop which although it will do you for emergencies will not provide you with two weeks of supplies. Supermarkets are in short supply so you’ll need to travel quite a distance and because of the small freezer you’ll need to do it on a regular basis, but don’t fret they have plenty of good old Aldi’s out there!

GENERAL FACILITIES

There are tennis courts (which I can confirm), a bowling green, French bowls (didn’t see them so can’t say if they are there or not) and a games room available all of which must be paid for whether you are all-inclusive or not. The games room is basically a small corner outside of the eating area near the pool, it has one old fashioned pool table, a electronic darts game, a table football game and table tennis. Each is within a single step of the other and each facility can only be used by one person at any one time.

There is a 24 hour reception where you can hire a car, book a trip, exchange currency or go with general enquiry’s or complaints. They are extremely helpful and courteous in there and the exchange rate although not fantastic might be worth using if you don’t have the patience to hunt around for a better one.

And not forgetting the pool! A fairly good sized pool with complimentary sun loungers and parasols, at 5ft 6in I could literally just touch the bottom and keep my face out of the water in the deepest sections. There is a pool bar but it’s hit or miss whether someone is there to serve you but overall it’s pretty nice.

FAMILY FACILITIES
<
br>This holiday is marked up as especially suitable for families and on this front it has both good and bad points that need assessing. If you’re travelling with a child under 3 at least I would not recommend this holiday at all though.

THE GOOD – There is a kids club available for children of ages 3-11 years and it’s split into two. The first is for 3-6 year olds and is called Starbugs, the second is for 7-11 year olds and is called Cosmic. Although we didn’t have the opportunity to experience either club first hand there was a special building full of toys and activities and a sand filled playground out front. There was face painting, a day trip to the beach and even a day when the kids decided what they wanted to do themselves (including repeatedly pushing the rep in the pool!). It’s great for the kids and great for the parents who’d much rather be drinking by the pool instead of entertaining your young ones I’m sure. There’s a children’s menu but it’s extremely limited, I think to 4 meals which are the same every day and also a snack list which is available to adults at certain times and children at all times. If you go all-inclusive there is unlimited basic ice-cream that should keep them happy for a while at least!

THE BAD – I recommended that if you have a child under 3 you stay away for several reasons. Firstly the apartments. There are no stair gates available and the stairs are solid marble, there was no protection around the television offering little fingers a chance to pull it on top of themselves and most of the doors didn’t shut properly making it hard to keep toddlers out. Although it says it offers cots and highchairs, the cots were travel cots (not what you’d expect in a 4 star accommodation) and although brand new now I can see them being absolutely horrid in a few months time, as for the highchairs there were none available at all. The girl
s had to eat EVERY meal in their prams which made it uncomfortable for them and awkward for us.

The park has no baby swing in it and although good for the most part there are very low walls for your baby to scale and no gate to keep them in. It’s situated very close to the pool so you need to keep a VERY keen eye on them. There are two pools the first being the main pool and the second a baby pool. The baby pool isn’t maintained at a good temperature (although by the end of the day the sun usually warms it up somewhat) and is only a matter of 4 feet away from the main pool. Neither pool is watched at any time so again you will need to have your wits about you at all times.

There are NO baby facilities at all, no changing rooms, no baby food and the shop doesn’t stock nappies/food/formula or even fresh milk.

OUT AND ABOUT

Cosmos are the only tour operator currently offering this resort as far as I know and you can book up car hire and any trips you would like to go on through them. There are some fantastic family days out on offer as well as some for the grownups although again if you have young children you are limited to what you can realistically do. Prices are pretty good and most of the trips offer family packages which will help save you some more. I would recommend though that if you go to either the Zoomarine or Crazy World that you do it on your own.

The nearest beach is within walking distance but you’ll need to be fit and it’s a good 2 ½ KM away from the resort. It’s also only a very small cove style beach with one small shop offering food/drinks and ice-creams. Unless you want to walk there you’ll need to get the courtesy bus which only runs a couple of times a day each way with a large gap in-between drop off and pick up times. You can also get to Carvoeiro with the courtesy bus 3 times a day and once a day to Praia Da Rocha (this is the one I’d most re
commend). TIP – book up! They told us not to bother and we nearly didn’t get to go to Praia Da Rocha on our last day – this by the way is the only journey that is not courtesy and will cost you approx. £1.50 each.

If you want to go anywhere else you will need to hire a car or plan very carefully!

THE LAST WORD!

Overall I’d have to give this holiday 4/5. For the most part it was lovely, it needs some major improvements to the food/shops and general bits and pieces and I would never go there again without substantial improvements with a child under 3 years old. But give it some time and this will be a wonderful family holiday resort.

For Cosmos I give an unfortunate 2/5. I found the rep unhelpful and very standoffish for the most part but quite capable of turning on the charm when it suited! Their brochure was inaccurate and they haven’t taken the time over the small details to provide the quality you expect from a 4 star holiday that even with our discounted rate was NOT cheep to say the least. We booked a couple of trips through them but found we ended up with not enough time at the places and two miserable kids as we had to stop at several other hotels both there and back (Zoomarine and Crazy World).

If you’re going to book a car DON’T forget your driver’s license or you will not be able to hire a car (we found this out first hand!). I would recommend going all-inclusive but I’d check to make sure they’ve improved the facilities dramatically first. And lastly although I won’t be going back I would recommend it, if you’ve got the money to spend it’s a wonderful holiday.

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