Bungalows Imperial Park Unitursa in Calpe

We stayed here regularly for years but we decided to revisit after a 10 year break. It is out of town and there is no public transport so you need to rent a car or find an alternative way. The views from here are stunning. The pools are lovely but they seem a little neglected and quiet now. The life guard on the first day was great and our grandson enjoyed paddling about and sitting in his rubber ring. After that another life guard was working and he was constantly blowing his whistle at folks and he would not allow the rubber ring even in the kids pool to be used. He told me off for playing with my grandson on the park equipment despite other parents doing it. He completely made us miserable and it’s a great shame because our kids grew up using those pools and they had huge blow up inflatable animals they enjoyed playing on. The apartment had a great view though one of the chairs collapsed under my husband, but after talking to reception it was replaced though they didn’t remove the broken one. The apartment was old fashioned and the sofa bed looked dirty and unappealing. The double bed was really small and the single beds had uncomfortable mattresses. The oven we never did work so no toast, and the shower curtain couldn’t prevent water leaking onto the floor. However it was clean on arrival and functional and it wasn’t overly expensive. So we did not complain. The complex has changed and it is now primarily residential now and so all the shops, restaurants, kids clubs etc all gone. We found the receptionist’s helpful and friendly.

This was a late booking but we read a lot of reviews about the place so went pretty much with our eyes open and it would be fair to say it lived up/down to expectations. It's a well spread-out complex, which brings its own pros and cons. Being built into a mountainside does bring with it sea-views for all rooms (or so it seemed) and the views are fabulous but there are a lot of stairs and the only lift to the rooms was small (5 people max and people really don't want to share such a small space in these times of worldwide health scares) and very slow. Staff are generally friendly and polite, especially the reception staff. The rooms/suites were very dated. Presumably they've never been updated but they were of a decent size, including the balcony, and generally kept clean. Our shower was poor but we couldn't be bothered asking if this was the norm. The shower-head basically sits in a fixed unit on the wall and doesn't move so the water shoots across to the back wall, hitting the towels. To get the water to fall into the bath means reducing the force of the shower significantly so you end up with a weak shower. The hotel was generally quiet when we were there so the restaurant was fine but I imagine it would struggle to cope with big numbers in peak season. The food quality was quite variable - we had a 'veal' cutlet that would have made good shoe leather - but there was always something tasty, edible and plenty of it. The house wine was disappointing; obviously very cheap stuff and the most disappointing of any house wine I've had on an all-inclusive holiday. The location of the hotel is fine if you're happy to stay around all day and people with mobility issues seemed happy to do so. The free minibus shuttle service into town helps but is too infrequent and not easy, as others have commented, to get a space in. Calculating connections for the bus to the train station and back adds strain to the holiday if you want to go beyond the town of Calpe itself. The entertainment guys were brilliant with the kids' disco (9-10pm), the highlight of our day! I don't mind that they cater for mainly Spanish holidaymakers in terms of the music but the quiz was 90% Spanish and, sadly, the guys' English wasn't really good enough for the job. Would I recommend this complex? If you're happy to go with the knowledge gleaned from the reviews, then yes but keep your expectations low and hope not to be disappointed. Would I go back? No. I've had far better holidays [for a lot less money] in far better located all-inclusive places on the Costa Blanca.