Alegria Colonial Mar Mar Aquafun

We travelled as a family of 4 in August 2024. We booked through Jet2 and had excellent service - the flights and transfers were all on time and seamless. We were the first stop on the coach, around a 30-40min journey. At check-in we had to pay €40 cash for our all-inclusive wristbands. This was for the last day in case you want to carry on eating etc after 12 (if not, you get your deposit back). The timings were: Breakfast 8.00-10.30 / Lunch 13.30-15.30 / Dinner 19.30-22.00. We found this quite late as our kids are 5 & 7 so we were always first in, but this is obviously the norm in Spanish culture as they were often queuing for dinner at 9.30pm. In between the main mealtimes they serve snacks (hot dogs, burgers, nuggets, chips), slush, ice lollies, donuts, pancakes, etc. The food is decent. Varied but a bit repetitive. We’re all vegetarian (one pescatarian) and my son is quite a fussy eater, but we all managed fine. Kids loved the ice-cream station and chocolate fountain night. All the restaurant staff seemed to work really hard to keep it running. We paid extra for a sea view room which had the added bonus of a sunny balcony, and meant we could dry all our swimming stuff quickly each day. The WiFi didn’t work in room until the second-to-last day. We mentioned it at reception but they said there was nothing they could do. I guess it’s not an issue for most Spanish guests but it was for us. Room looked recently refurbished. Good shower and bathroom was spotless. The air con was quite poor which meant nights were a bit uncomfortable. The TV had Disney channel, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, etc. The algae round the pool is an issue and I ruined a bikini on the first day by sitting on the side. I saw them scrubbing it on a morning but it obviously doesn’t make much difference. Overall the pools were great though and my son loved the slides. We estimated a split of around 80% Spanish / 20% English guests (maybe the occasional French family). This was fine but did mean that the entertainment was mostly in Spanish, with the odd line in English to try and follow along. Having said that, the Animación team worked so hard and were always trying to get us involved. The Aqua aerobics class was brilliant and the guy in particular had so much energy. It was more like a show than an exercise class! There is a big shopping centre called the Gran Plaza about a 10-min walk away. It has a H&M, Primark, Toys R Us, McDonalds, Claire’s, JD, etc. We got the bus from the Gran Plaza into Almería (about a 25 min journey). Almería has a good castle (Game of Thrones was filmed there) but not a huge amount else. Worth a trip though to break up the holiday. The area in general is surprisingly humid to say it’s right by the sea. Our only real issue was on return at Almeria airport. They have a ridiculous system where you have to queue to get into your gate and it meant we nearly missed our flight and had to cut through the queue. So make sure you get in the queue early

Just arrived home from a week there with three families, 6 adults & 5 kids. Overall a okay stay but this hotel has quite a few issues. Outside area - Only two pool. The main one was very murky & dirty. Very busy. The smaller one I preferred but was small & tiles coming off. Positive there were plenty of sun beds & always had one for all of us. Food - very very busy. Mostly had to queue to even get in and then was very much like a cattle market once inside but this was peak august. They do have quiet & busy times but overall wasn’t pleasant. Food was nice. Plenty of choice but very repetitive. All inclusive drinks only 11am - 11pm. Not even soft drinks! Cleanliness - exception to the pool, overall very clean though our sheets were not changed all week. Staff - Very polite & nice. Though many didn’t speak much English which was a challenge. Entertainment - poor, didn’t start until 9.30pm & was all in Spanish and queuing time at the bar was horrendous. Location - €10 taxi to restaurants & overall very good value. Overall - this is a very Spanish location and I did find a lot of the other guests were rude & felt very unwelcome so I would not return to this hotel or location. It’s cheap & cheerful & you get what you pay for. I particularly don’t like queuing & being pushed & shoved while on holiday.