Hi,

I have just returned from the Alba Resort after two weeks of fun in the sun!

I must say that there is a lot to recommend this hotel, however there is no way it is of 5 star standard and in my opinion struggles to reach 4 stars. There are many pros and cons see below.

Pros:
A fantastic animation team, there is something going on all of the time but they do not pressure you to get involved if you just want to lay by the pool.
The hotel is absolutely spotless, cleaning seems to go on 24 hours!
Evening entertainment is a bit hit and miss but on the whole fairly good
The hotel has a great kids club that runs all day and early evening, shame they don’t speak more English, having said that my daughter enjoyed it although didn’t use it every day.
The beach is excellent although the water gets deep quck and then shallows again.
Watersports are great value for money
Rooms spotless if dated.

Cons:
Queuing there are queues for everything in the restaurant – It is just not big enough. I have been to 5 other 5 star all inclusives but have never had to Queue like that.
Waiter service in the restaurants is slow but good natured
The area round the pool is breaking up and in dire need of replacing
Pool towels are not up to 5 star standards
There are tiles missing off the bottom of the pool
Rooms dated and small
The slides are rough on the joins my kids and I all skinned toes etc on the joins

All in all we had a good holiday but please be aware that if you have been to 5 star elsewhere you are likely to be disappointed. Expect 3+/4 star and you will love it!

Just one warning:

There is no shallow area in either pool it is 1.5 metres deep all round The only option is the baby pools.

Travelled to the Alba in August 2008, 4 adults and 5 children. I agree with the other review this is definately not a 5 star hotel poss a 3 ot 4. The air con in our room only just worked as did the mini fridge. We also noted that at certain times the air con was switched off in the main reception and was not on at all in the a la carte or main restaurants. We were also not aware that the hotel is predominately German so most of, if not all, of the entertainment is spoken in german as is the childrens club, therefore our 2 youngest children would not join in. The food was very good and plentiful, although the service did leave a lot to be desired, and we often had to wait for a clean table and then wait again for clean cutlery, and then possibly another 20 mins for a drink but hey after 2 weeks we got used to it. The 2 swimming pools were very clean, just a shame that you had to get up everyday at 8.00am to get a sunbed, and that some people were selfish and used to put towels on beds only to spend the entire day down the beach and return at about 4.00, very unfair as many families could not get beds around the pool.

The Alba Resort, my family and I have just returned after spending 7 days there. I will break down how we found our experience and hope my feedback will go some way in helping you decide if this resort is for you. Arrival. Once luggage had been removed from the coach a porter came out and took our four cases into the hotel. On walking into the hotel it was clean, people seated around a bar and a welcome drink drink being offered to us. At reception, staff were polite and the booking in procedure was very fast. Wrist bands supplied for all inclusive meals/drinks. Porter then took us and our cases to our rooms. Rooms. Although the hotel is shown as a five star accommodation by Thomas Cook, I would personally rate the rooms as three star. My two daughters (13 & 15) shared a room and my wife, five year old son and I another. The rooms though were very clean, the bathroom had a shower over the bath and throughout our stay we had constant hot water, whatever time we needed it. The bed linen and towels were changed daily. Very quiet though and no problems whatsoever. Sun Loungers. Wherever you go there’s always the problem of getting up early to grab a sun lounger. This hotel appeared to be 80% German and the hotel staff speaks better German than they do English. I originally thought I’d be up early to get the family loungers. This wasn’t the case. I’m normally up at 0430 hrs for work, but was up around 0800 hrs. Sun loungers were not a problem, even up 0930 hrs sun loungers were available around the main pool area. On arrival at the hotel you are given one card per person for your beach / pool towels. Hand the card in each day and get a clean towel. At the end of the day hand the towel back for your card. Therefore you don’t really need to take any towels, although we took two beach towels.The Pool. The main pool was excellent, water slides open all day and the water was clean and always warm. You will love the main pool. The Beach. The beach is about five minutes walk maximum from the main building, sand was beautiful and very hot so be aware. Plenty of sun loungers so don’t worry about having to rush down. Right next to the beach is the Aloha beach bar, food and drinks can be got from 1000 hrs to 1800 hrs. Health & Safety. On the beach you can get pancakes which are freshly made. Be very careful. When the lady handed these to my wife, they were wrapped in paper. The bottoms are turned up. My wife handed one to our son but the bottom had come undone. The hot melted sugar spilt onto his leg. Luckily we had cold water right nearby so was able to avert him being badly burned. The pancakes though are lovely. The food. The food was excellent, so much choice and always food and drinks available. If you like your food, then you will love eating here. The sweet available is just as nice, I really don’t know how they managed to have so much different food to offer. Dinner / Open buffet available from 1900 hrs to 2130 hrs. There is also a midnight snack, though this was normally soup. There is also a night snack at 0200 hrs to 0330 hrs but we were never up that late to find out what is was. Entertainment The entertainment wasn’t bad, some acts mixing English and German. The children’s club though is mostly for Germans so our son didn’t participate. There is a disco at 2300 hrs which teenagers would love. A’la Carte Restaurants. We booked the Italian, it was lovely but I wouldn’t recommend taking your children along, it wasn’t the type of food my children liked. The wine was nice as well. This does need to be booked though. . The staff at the hotel couldn’t do enough; the hotel was clean and so lovely. Two other hotels have been built, The Alba Queen and the Alba Royal. We had a walk around the Alba Queen, it was lovely but overall I thought the grounds at the Alba Resort were much bigger and better. Be aware the Alba Resort may be closing for a while in 2010 for a refurbishment. The Alba Royal may be catering for over 14’s soon. Whilst there we visited the Jewellers next to the resort called LIDYA. They have display cabinets in the resort. We were dealt with by Victor who wasn’t pushy and very polite. We bought our daughter a lovely ring in white gold. We had spoken to several English guests who had bought jewellery at the shop on several occasions and they all had nothing but praise for Victor and his jewellery. I would highly recommend a visit. Victor has also stated that you can take your old gold along and they can make something to your specification utilising your old jewellery. He will also clean your jewellery free of charge. Overall the holiday was brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone. In fact I have already. We are booking to return in August next year with friends

We booked to stay at the Alba resort hotel a family of 7
The weather during our stay was brilltiant ,there are 2 pools one is the chavy pool and the other was the mixed pool with mostly germans and a very few english alot quietier and cleaner,in a nut shell the Alba resort is defently not a 5 star you need to be aware of this is it a 2-3 star .The hotel rooms are very very small and hot .
After a few days we transfered to Alba queen hotel beacuse we got feed up and i must say the Alba queen is defenetly 4-5 star beautiful hotel with slides for the children ,5 star hotel rooms with plazma tv ,mini bar at and atleast a good air conditoning sytem.
The only only down fall is that the services varys so much between bar staff ,restaurant staff and reception staff -it should really be the same standard all round.
People like sarah-cleaner,unal bar staff and maria in kids club should be rewarded for making guess feel so welcome and happy all the time by keeping a friendly smile on their faces all the time -for this i would return as well as all the other good experiences.
My advise is if you want a good hotel good to the Alba queen now before it turns chavy like the Alba Resort hotel