"I visited this hotel for a 7 night stay in mid October 2026 with my husband and 3 year old from the UK. We booked a package holiday with a well known leading operator and came over with low expectations thanks to some of the negative reviews we read on here. As usual, the reviews proved to be written by people who love to moan.
This hotel is fantastic value. For the price you'll pay for this in comparison to other all inclusive hotels in the area or Southern Spain, I don't think you can beat it. So here's my honest review and breakdown of everything on offer at ALGERIA Hotel De Mar Aquafun and the surrounding area.
The room - Very spacious with large beds and a walk in shower. We pushed both the beds together to create a super super king and make more floor space. The wardrobes have plenty of hanging space with about 8 hangers provided. Plenty of cupboards with shelves and a fridge. The fridge is not stocked for arrival but water bottles small and large can be obtained from the bar. There is a safe in the room but this has to be paid for at reception for €4 per day. We did not pay for this and had no problems but we did not travel with many valuables or cash.
The view from our balcony was amazing. I have attached a photo. If you book through the UK travel agent often featured in red you'll get an upgraded room to a sea view whilst work is being carried out. This was a welcomed upgrade for our wedding anniversary. The sea view was also a pool view overlooking all of the grounds but not noisy as we were high up on the 4th floor. We never had a problem with lifts, we found them to be fast and not busy. The balcony was spacious with 2 chairs and a table. It felt nice and safe but it can get windy on an evening as the sea is so close.
Construction noise - The school is being built next door and whilst it is very visible on approach we did not hear it at all either from our room or the pool.
The lobby - Beautiful interior and peaceful on an evening. I often sat here with a drink from the bar and read here as the sofas were comfy and it was quiet. The reception staff are always there and very friendly. There is a small shop in the lobby which is open for most of the day selling gifts. The arcade is small but has a good dozen machines. The lobby toilets are convenient and also used by the bar area as they are the closest ones but this was never a problem as they didn't get too busy. The reps are here in the lobby and a Jet2 rep visits nearly everyday, sometimes more than once. I think the only thing missing from the lobby would be a book library but books were found lying around the rep tables.
We booked this hotel for the waterslides because our 3 year old is pool mad. We were not disappointed!
In mid October the weather was hot, around 27 degrees.
Swimming - The water temperature was cold but still lots of people in the pool including us. The pools get sun all day with minimal shade so the sun will warm up the water. The pools are open from 10am to 7pm which I found to be quite late in the morning but most things are late at this hotel. The pools weren't too busy as very large and visiting out of season meant there were no sunbed wars. There was still people putting towels on sunbeds at 8am however we never did this and always got a spot. There are so many sun loungers piled up you can even get your own and put it where you want to later in the day too if you wish. We never felt the need to 'reserve' a chair.
There were 4 pools. One baby pool with splash equipment and a little slide. Toddlers loved going down this on their own. Nice and safe shallow pool but colder than the others it felt. The larger pool was not deep and was a good size for swimming. The large slides were squared off so people coming down didn't bump into those in the pool. The smaller pool with smaller slides was shallow and offered a number of slides for kids to enjoy as well as splash buckets. Finally there is a quiet pool around the corner that we didn't use.
Slides - There are height restrictions but I don't think these are heavily enforced. For the small slides children must be over 100cm. My daughter is 89cm and was able to use these without being told no. I think a common sense approach applies here. You can also go down the slides together but only on separate slides side by side and not in a chain. Something to bare in mind if you are hoping to take a toddler on the slides with you, they will blow the whistle to stop this.
Grounds - There is a large football pitch which was well used and even a volleyball court. We did not use any of the kids club facilities or gym if there is one. Whilst this hotel lacks any children's playground facilities you can easily walk over to the beach and visit one of the many playgrounds along the seafront.
The beach - This is accessible via the backdoor gate of the hotel. This is locked at 11:30pm but provides a very easy access to the beach. The beach is pebbles rather than sand. Whilst we didn't sit on the beach it has a lovely path you can walk along and great for cycling or running.
All inclusive - This runs from 11am to 11pm which I found to be quite restrictive compared to other hotels. I normally enjoy a quiet hot drink in the bar on a morning but this isn't an option here unless you pay or go in for breakfast from 8am. The entertainment runs until past 11pm and the bar closes around 12am. I feel they could definitely be providing this for longer but the early cut off meant it got quiet early. Whilst we found plenty to drink, it was quite restrictive. You can only get select things with the rest of the menu being available if you pay. The cost is at 50% off which is a good deal but we didn't purchase anything.
There are a variety of hot drinks on all inclusive. Hot chocolate is available if you ask they'll give you hot milk and cocoa powder. There are only 3 cocktails - Tequila Sunrise, ALEGRIA Punch (made with rum) and Blue Lagoon (with vodka). I got bored of the same ones after a while so I do wish there was more variety. There are also 3 mocktails included. You can also get slushies, soft drinks (Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta Orange and Lemon, Sprite), juices, house spirits, liquors, beer, wine and sangria.
I loved that you could get free crisps or peanuts from the bar with your drink as often as you liked too!
Food - Probably the thing most people are divided with. There was a wide variety of options with a different main each night. Always two meat choices and a fish one. These options were served with a choice of roasted vegetables or chips. There was also pizza, the pizza was not great. Pizza was served at both lunch and dinner. The meat was quite varied ranging from Turkey chops, veal, pork, chicken and always some meat on the bone available as part of the buffet too. My husband was very satisfied with the food as a meat eater. Myself, as I'm not a big lover of meat I found the food a struggle. Whilst I enjoyed the chicken when it was there, most of the nights I found myself eating the same sides on repeat. I've never had this problem at any other hotel buffet but it's worth baring in mind there is a lack of vegetarian options when it comes to the mains here. Most nights I ate chips, potatoes, cheese, rice, pasta and I was quite sick of the food by the end. I do not think the food is bad but I do think it's not quite for me as a fussy eater. Our 3 year old ate a variety of pasta, olives, cucumber, sausages and chips most nights.
Lunch is similar to the above with the addition of paella. On some days this was a bit too adventurous for me, I tried the seafood paella but I drew the line at snails. Again you have the options listed above for dinner as part of the show cooking too.
Breakfast was everything you could need with the show cooking offering you fried eggs, omelette made to order and pancakes. There were lots of options on the buffet and even bubbly on offer at breakfast.
Drinks were help yourself during all meals and this included beer and sangria on draught. As well as wine, soft drinks and juices. Apple juice is only available at meal times and not at the bars.
Entertainment - For those saying it's all in Spanish, I think you need to check your hearing! All the shows are varied and absolutely can be enjoyed by speakers of any language. The singers do a variety of English and Spanish songs, mostly all well-known. The unusual shows like the acrobats and magic show are just music without lyrics and no speaking. As for the quizzes, games and anything else, it's always in English alongside Spanish. The entertainment team were very good. I don't speak Spanish and at the time of our stay there was a lot of English people staying at the hotel and all were enjoying the entertainment. Plus as we are in Spain I wouldn't complain if it was all in Spanish anyway. Do not miss the Pirate Magic Show. This was one of the best shows we've ever seen at any hotel, completely underrated and great for both kids and adults! We really enjoyed this even with a side view of the stage.
Main bar - The layout of this isn't great as the pillars are too large making it difficult to see from a lot of the tables. A lot of people sat outside to get a front view of the stage, it wasn't ideal. Mini disco is at 9:30pm and our 3 year old enjoyed watching the other kids. It was a mixture of games and not really much dancing so don't expect a disco like at most other hotels. Our toddler would have preferred just music so we skipped this most nights. As dinner runs late until 10pm we were often still there at this time. The mascot visits the restaurant from 9pm and this is great for children who love characters. Probably one of the highlights of my daughter's trip was meeting the berry (that looks like a tomato).
Pool bar and snack hut - This area offers a nice change of scenery with tables in a sunny spot. We liked coming here for ice lollies and ice cream. The options are very good for all inclusive with Cornetto style ice creams and all Nestle. Very good quality. The pool bar also serves cocktails and all the same drinks only in paper cups. We often paired a visit here with a trip to the snack hut.
The snack hut or shack is basically a truck with options for fast food. We had fries from here often. They are cooked to order rather than food being left out. The pizza here was worse than the restaurant and we did not order this again after the first time. The hamburger tasted nice but was very soft. The doughnuts, both chocolate and sugar were the best part. The sugar ones especially were very tasty and we enjoyed many of these!
The area - If you are worried about this hotel being in the middle of nowhere, don't be. A lot of all inclusive hotels are and this is nothing like those. Firstly, you have the beachfront and path that leads to Roquetas De Mar. This takes around 30 mins to walk and will lead you to a few shops, bars and a marina. There is even a castle to visit here with free entry if you just need a change of scenery. There is not much here but it is at least walkable. In the other direction there is the city of Almeria. You can catch a bus here from the Gran Plaza costing 2 euros and running twice an hour roughly. This takes around 35-45mins. Sometimes the bus can be too full and it won't stop which is unfortunate and did happen to us twice. It was well worth a visit though even if just for the Alcazaba which was used for Game of Thrones. There are various movie locations here also including Indiana Jones too. From the hotel you can reach the Gran Plaza Mall within 15 minutes walking. The mall has Primark, H&M, Zara, Pandora, Lidl, GAME and Toys R Us amongst other shops including a large supermarket. This is where you can catch the bus to Almeria outside Burger King.
Finally, if you get the chance do visit Mini Hollywood. We were sceptical of the price especially given the higher cost through the reps but it was absolutely worth it. What a unique place to visit! Stunning scenery and so many animals to see. Don't underestimate how big it is or you'll run out of time to see it all like we did! It is worth a visit even when the pool is closed and all the shows aren't running. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and under 4s go free.
Overall we had a fantastic stay here at ALEGRIA and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting something cheap and cheerful. This is not a luxury resort and whilst it is a 4 star hotel, there are some areas of the pool in need of repair, especially the slide in the baby pool. Food gets a bit repetitive and it's a shame there aren't more cocktails on the all inclusive menu. On a whole, the location is fantastic and the hotel is peaceful especially on an evening.
I write this from my balcony listening to the waves and the trees in the wind. We will be sad to leave in a couple of days!
If you plan to visit, at least learn a little Spanish. Gracias, Por Favor and Hola would not go a miss here. Uno cerveza and vino por favor may even come in handy too. Adiós!"
