Just literally back in from Birmingham Airport so I thought I would do a quick review. Lots of pluses and just a few minuses.
I left home in the very early hours of 23rd September in a taxi down to Birmingham. I eventually found the Monarch desk and got checked in. No sign of a JY rep to meet and greet. :-/
I didn't meet any fellow JY passengers in the departure lounge and after a decent early morning flight arrived at Faro. My baggage was a long time coming off and I made my way to the arrivals hall, still with no sign of anyone with a JY board. EVENTUALLY I found the small group and we were held off for a short period of time whilst another flight came in. I took the opportunity to chat to some of the others and they all seemed friendly and welcoming. We were put eventually onto a coach and arrived at the hotel about 2 hours later. We were met by our rep Gina and were checked in. My room on the 3rd floor faced the pool and the sea in the distance was very large with an enormous bed, and a lovely balcony. If there was a complaint at all about the room it was that the lighting was very subdued but this seemed a general problem around the hotel (of which more later).
We went down to lunch and got tagged with our all inclusive wrist tags. Then we started becoming used to finding our way around the hotel.
The large group from Gatwick did not arrive until nearly 7pm (I think), and amongst them was a gentleman that I had met on a JY holiday to Croatia 2 years ago. It was nice to meet up again. The whole group seemed to get on really well and there was almost none of the cliqueness of the trip last year to Tuscany.
So to generalise really as I know quite a lot of people on here have been on this trip.
1. The hotel. Spotlessly clean. Incredibly hard working friendly staff. The meals were all buffet. Breakfasts were very good. Everything (apart from mushrooms) that you would need for a full English. Cold meats and cheeses. Yogurt, cereals, crossants and loads of fresh fruit. There was a very large choice at all meals and you helped yourself to wine from a machine, as you did water. I was a tiny bit disappointed with the main courses but there was always plenty of choice and the desserts were awesome!
2. The resort. A lovely swimming pool with plenty of sun loungers. Beautiful spa facilities for which you paid extra but a really nice small indoor pool and jacquzzi. The beach which had it's own private entrance from the hotel (security coded) was magnificent and could walk for miles. Lots of lovely shells and good firm sand to walk on. Beware though of jellyfish!! There are lots around. .
3. The trips. These were all included in the price of the holiday. The first morning Gina took us on a walk into Punta Umbria so we could get a feel for the area and then we walked back along the beach. I enjoyed looking around the town. It was very pleasant. The full day trip was to Seville, which was stunning. Not to difficult to find your way around. But very, very humid. I had made friends almost immediately with a lovely lady and we took one of the horse carriage rides. The horses (to be fair) all seemed well looked after and certainly ours was chirpy. 🙂 Unfortunately my ankles swelled very badly in the humidity and I was unable to take the following half day trip to the Columbus Trail but reports were that it was very good. I was also unable to do the optional bird watching for similar reasons which was a shame. I did go on the half day trip to Tavira in Portugal. Sweet little town with a model train to take you round. One word of warning though. The paving stones here were quite slippery and we saw one lady (not in our group) take what could have been a quite nasty fall.
So to summarise. I really enjoyed the all inclusive option. The hotel was very good (apart from the lighting situation, and a few other health and safety issues. The weather was very good, but it can be very humid and there are lots of mosquitoes around. I was very well bitten despite precautions. Gina our TM was a STAR, a very kind lady who mixed in with us well.
Unfortunately I had some health issues whilst I was away, so whether I would go back to that part of Spain again I do not know. The humidity caused me some problems. Also this morning just before departure I had a nasty fall on the ramp outside the hotel when I tripped in the pitch dark. Thank you to Gina and Ally for coming to my aid and patching me up with first aid. Thank you to the others to the our group for their sympathy. It could have been far worse, but it will be interesting to see how the bruising comes out. :s
I will put a public link on for photos if JY want any for the FB page when I have time to upload them.
