Apartamentos Vale de Carros by Portugalferias(Apartamentos Vale de Carros by Umbral)

Value for money. Small complex with lovely landscapes gardens and 2 lovely small pools (1 at each end of complex). Small bar serving snacks, coffees and alcohol. Limited hours though. Usually between 0930 and 2100. Some days closed at 1800 which was a bit frustrating. Lovely Carla on Receotion and great staff on the bar too.

We and various members of our family and friends have been holidaying in these apartments for over 20 years. So as you can tell from that we have always rated it highly and enjoyed staying here but unfortunately the recent takeover has been it's downfall. Despite bad reviews last year, we decided to give the new owners the benefit of the doubt and stayed here for 2 weeks. There was several things which gave us reason to complain and consider not returning but reassurances both from the owners and the managing agents that improvements had been made led to us rebooking to return this year. There were no improvements. We found conditions worse and had even more complaints. There are probably too many to list but:- 1. We don't like having to pay the deposit on arrival against breakages which we have never been asked to do before anywhere in the world. 2. The apartment was reasonably clean on check in and we were given a room in the area we had requested and were given, without cost, an earlier check in than the very late 16:00 standard check in time. 3. We did know there would be no use of the safety deposit box which seems ridiculous as they are in the rooms. This makes things difficult with travel documents, valuables etc that you end up having to carry around with you at all times. 4. The outside patio area of the ground floor apartment was full of ****s and needed sweeping which we did the next day having decided we couldn't sit there for two weeks looking at the state of it. 5. Our apartments were adjacent to the second smaller swimming pool, the surrounding area of which we never saw being cleaned at all or the bins emptied. One day a chap appeared with a net and spent precisely 4 minutes cleaning the pool. The shower area was absolutely disgusting and was never cleaned at all in the whole two weeks. The sun loungers, of which there were only 8 of to start with, one was broken, one the cover was torn. They were all filthy dirty. Two of these were taken away after we had been there a week leaving only 6 for all of the people staying there. We did mention this at reception and we were told they would move some from the main top pool down, this never happened. There was only 18 at the main pool and they were also dirty. 6. During our stay we should have had 3 towel changes, one every 4 days. One change of sheets after 7 days, none of these changes were done without us going to reception the following day to complain that these hadn't taken place. There is no room cleaning done during the duration of the holiday and you are expected to keep it clean yourself. 7. There are obviously workmen/business men staying on site. One night two transit type vans were taking up 6 of the parking spaces outside. There are also in at least two of the apartments people living full time. All of which takes away the holiday feel of the place. 8. One very pleasant friendly female on reception who was very helpful and spoke very good English. Another

We booked 3 studios for a week, we were given apartments instead so that's a huge bonus! The apartments are spacious and clean, they are a bit run down and could do with some tlc but for a place to sleep, they're fine. Ants were a problem in 1 apartment, tried lots of things to get rid of them, in desperation I tried aftershave and it actually worked, they appeared a few days later so they got another dose and that did the trick! The pools are quite small, only 8 sunbeds for each pool, we did see a rat in one of the pools so we didn't use them again. A deposit of 200 euros is required for each accommodation, no towel changes at all even though it stated there would be a change during the week. No shuttle bus and no entertainment, despite it stating so on the website. The staff are all very helpful and friendly, the pool bar is quite reasonable for drinks, cocktails and snacks. Locally there are a few restaurants, some are really friendly, some are really not! We used uber a lot to get out and about, the old town is beautiful and had the most amazing atmosphere, the marina is great for boat trips and kayaking etc also for a drink and a bite to eat.