Almadraba Montaud

What did you like about your stay? We had a really lovely stay here and would absolutely recommend the apartment. The location is fantastic, with amazing views from both bedrooms and the living room. The terrace is beautiful, and the electrically operated veranda/awning was brilliant in the very hot weather, providing lots of shade. The direct access to the beach was the biggest highlight. The steps from the terrace take you straight down to the beach, so we could have a quick morning swim, settle on the beach and easily pop back upstairs for drinks, snacks or showers. We did this every day for four days and absolutely loved it. It gave us a proper beach holiday in beautiful, busy but glorious surroundings, while still having all the comforts of the apartment just steps away. The large glass windows were impeccably clean, so we could really enjoy the views. The air conditioning in the living area was excellent, and the fans in the bedrooms were helpful too. The café downstairs was lovely and very welcoming, with reasonably priced mojitos, cocktails and sangria. There is also a lovely upmarket seafood restaurant nearby for a special evening. Although we had a few initial reservations when we arrived, the apartment really grew on us. Once we settled in, it felt like a lovely, happy and homely beach residence. My family and I had a wonderful time here.

What could be improved? The main improvements would be cleanliness, some of the furniture and providing a few basic guest essentials. The apartment wasn’t particularly clean when we arrived and there were quite a lot of ants, including on the beds. This was particularly difficult for my daughter, and we were regularly having to shake the sheets out. Some insect repellent or disinfectant being provided would have been very helpful. The apartment can also feel quite musty and stuffy when you first arrive, particularly the bedroom without windows and the bathroom, which has limited airflow. We ended up buying air freshener ourselves, so having some available would make a big difference to that first impression. The furniture could benefit from some updating. The living-room sofa has a cover over it and doesn’t look quite like the photographs, and the leather armchair wasn’t particularly comfortable. The dining table also had plastic sheeting over it, which we removed and put away. There were quite a lot of chairs, pottery and lamps, so we moved some things around and stored some away. Once we did this, the apartment felt much more spacious and flowed much better. I think a little decluttering and refinement of the furniture and décor would make it feel much more modern and cohesive. The kitchen is quite basic but was absolutely fine for us, as we ate out most days. There were plenty of plates, glasses, cups and lovely mugs, as well as lots of sharp knives, although there was strangely no bread knife. We were also surprised that beach towels, an umbrella and basic beach items such as a bucket and spade weren’t provided. We actually bought an umbrella and left it underneath the terrace steps for future guests, along with a beach rug. Finally, bed linen and towels are an additional £15 per person. For six people this adds quite significantly to the overall cost, and we would have preferred this to be included in the accommodation price.