Apartahotel Aguadulce

Bay views, an outdoor pool and the freedom of an apartment rather than a standard hotel room set the tone here. Apartahotel Aguadulce suits you if you like having somewhere to sit, make a coffee and keep a few essentials cold, rather than treating the room as no more than a place to drop your bag.

The atmosphere is straightforward and useful. You have a cafeteria-bar on site, Wi-Fi throughout the hotel and the beach within an easy walk, while the central setting puts shops, bars and restaurants close at hand. After a day in the water, that means less organisation and more sitting down. A sound arrangement.

You are in Aguadulce, in Almería, rather than in Almería city itself. Aguadulce Beach is about 300 metres away, and the marina is 500 metres from the aparthotel. The Exhibition and Congress Centre takes around five minutes on foot, so the location is firmly town-based rather than cut off on the edge of a resort.

The immediate neighbourhood is handy when your appetite arrives before your patience does. Lemmon is around 100 metres away, while Marcelino and Asadores Hermanos Cabrera are around 50 metres away. Style Cafe is about 200 metres away for coffee, with further cafés within roughly 400 to 450 metres.

For a change of scenery, Roquetas de Mar is 9 km away. Almería’s historic centre, including the Alcazaba, is roughly 9 km away, and Almeria Airport is about 16 km from the hotel, with the drive taking around 20 minutes.

The important distinction here is not a long list of room labels; it is whether you want an apartment with a sea view and how much sleeping space your party needs. The sea-view apartments are the natural choice if you want the bay to remain part of the holiday when you are back indoors. For two people, the two-adult option keeps things simple. For a family, the apartment arranged for two adults and two children includes two single beds and a sofa bed.

Every apartment gives you a seating area with a sofa bed, a dining area and a kitchenette with an electric hob, microwave, refrigerator, coffee maker and kitchenware. That is useful when you want breakfast without a military operation, or when returning from a dive hungry enough to regard a microwave as haute cuisine. A private bathroom, bath or shower, hairdryer and toiletries are also included.

Air conditioning matters in this part of Spain, particularly when salt, sun and a full day outdoors have taken their toll. There is also heating, a flat-screen TV, a wardrobe and extra-long beds. The apartments have tiled or marble floors, a drying rack for clothing and, in some categories, a terrace with sea views. Upper floors are reached by lift, and family rooms and facilities for disabled guests are available.

Breakfast is served as a buffet from 07:00 to 11:30. That timing gives you room for a proper start rather than forcing you to choose between food and a sensible morning, although early departures require a little planning. The hotel’s own food and drink offer centres on one cafeteria-bar, simply named Cafeteria-Bar, with a coffee house also available on site.

There is no restaurant programme to build your evening around, which is hardly a crisis in this location. You are surrounded by nearby places to eat, including Lemmon, Marcelino and Asadores Hermanos Cabrera, all within a short walk. The kitchenette gives you another option: keep breakfast supplies or a simple post-dive meal in the apartment and leave the serious cooking to someone else when the mood takes you.

The arrangement is therefore flexible rather than all-inclusive. Take the buffet, use the bar, eat locally or make use of the apartment facilities. Your holiday does not depend on catching one dining sitting at precisely the right moment.

The outdoor swimming pool is the obvious place to spend a non-diving afternoon, with a sun terrace, loungers and a solarium alongside it. You can swim, stretch out and let the day become pleasantly unproductive. There is also a public bath for those who prefer their relaxation with slightly less commitment than a full excursion.

For more deliberate recovery, the Sala de masaje offers massage, and the hotel has a gym. That gives you two sensible choices after several days in the water: a little movement to loosen the legs, or no movement whatsoever while somebody else does the work. Both have their supporters.

The beach is close enough for a change of scenery without turning the afternoon into an expedition. If you prefer to stay local, the central setting gives you cafés, bars, the marina and nearby restaurants within reach. Couples can keep things simple; families can use the apartment layout and the pool as a base between trips out.

Check-in starts from 15:00, and the hotel needs your expected arrival time in advance. Check-out runs from 07:00 to 11:30. Reception is open around the clock, and luggage storage is available, which is useful when your flight and your room do not share the same timetable. Car hire can also be arranged through the hotel.

Private parking is available on site in a parking garage, with a reservation required. The aparthotel has free Wi-Fi in the rooms and throughout the property, a lift, air conditioning and facilities for disabled guests. Smoking is not allowed, parties are not permitted, and quiet hours run from midnight to 06:00.

Children of any age are welcome. Children aged 13 and over are treated as adults for occupancy purposes; cots can be requested for children aged two and under, while extra beds are not available. The minimum age for check-in is 18, and cash is an accepted payment method. The beach, marina, airport and nearby restaurants are all close enough to make the location work particularly well if you want to keep transport to a minimum.