I have just returned from a week in albufeira and I wanted to say what a fantastic holiday we had.

I will definitely return.
Despite the somewhat questionable reviews I had read on the net about the Paladim hotel, we found it spotlessly clean. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable and best of all, we even managed to get a sunbed at any point of the day.

The one complaint I do have over the holiday is the Thomas Cook representative on resort and their general attitude. I did not realise when booking that most other holiday companies give you 20kg luggage allowance as standard before they start charging you, whereas TC only give you 15kg. I decided to see whether I could get away with it and did not pay for the extra 5kg. My case was 4kg over on the way out, which was not even mentioned at check in and 3.5kg over on the way back, which again was not mentioned, despite the rep on the bus back to the airport telling everyone that Faro airport is very strict on luggage and will charge you 9 euros for every kilo you are over!

The rep on resort did not appear very knowledgeable and I am sure she was on the payroll of some bars/restaurants down "the strip"!! We attended the welcome meeting as we had never been to portugal before and thought the rep would be able to point us in the right direction. The only direction the rep pointed us in was to the strip. She briefly mentioned the old town right at the end "the old town is the opposite direction to the strip and also has some nice bars and restaurants". That was all she said! All she recommended all the time was the strip, the strip, the strip!!
Thankfully we had arrived the night before the welcome meeting and upon going out for a drink just after we arrived, we asked the hotel staff where they recommended and they had suggested the old town - so we already had knowledge of it before the welcome meeting - otherwise we would have wasted a night out on the strip. We went to the strip for a look during the daytime, but it was really just like any other strip in magaluf, tenerife etc. Blackpool with sun pretty much and not what we were looking for - or anyone else in our welcome meeting as we discovered upon talking to everyone. Also, our rep never even spoke to us - I got in the lift with her one day and she totally ignored me even though I said hello. I thought the least she could have done was say hello back and ask whether we were enjoying ourselves!!

Complaints about TC aside - as I had more (flights etc) we loved the resort (old town), met some wonderful local people, zoomarine was amazing and slide and splash worth a visit.

We had some amazing meals in the old town and a couple of brilliant cocktails at the Picadilly Cocktail bar, followed by fun at the Atrivm bar.

We used the train a lot (another thing our rep gave us no information on) and found this very cheap and easy to use. It was so much easier getting this home at night from the old town than queuing for a taxi!!

I loved Portugal and Albufeira and will definitely return - but not with Thomas Cook. Does anyone know whether Thomson or First Choice will be carrying the Paladim next year? I really want to go back there but not with TC.