Apartamentos Torre Ipanema

This was a package booked through Sunmaster. I wre not available as not on the trip but verified the components and arrangements for those travelling - Flights were with Ryanair - it took three of us an hour and a half to complete check in - why so difficult? My friends flew this afternoon and after they had landed I wished them a happy holiday and settled down to watch the TV - at 21.45 I got a tearful phone call. The family were at the apartments which were a Marie Celeste experience - no staff - no guidance on how to get into the building. I set to to help ad thanks only to Trip Advisor discovered that keys are only available at the Dynasty Hotel a taxi ride away. There is no 24/7 number on Sunmaster's website, no number for the apartment block - just the more than fortunate Trip Advisor report with comments on how to get the keys - so at a range of over a thousand miles I managed to help my friends get the kids to bed at 11.00 pm Spanish time - recommendation - Avoid! Avoid! Avoid!

A few points to note: - The apartments are on the first floor - Mainly residential, not a holiday apartment block - Air con only in the sitting room, not the bedroom - 200 euro deposit per room - Balcony is a good size - Beds and bed linen were poor - If you arrive late the keys must be collected from a hotel. Taxi fare is roughly 7-8 euro each way - 10-15 minute walk to the main strip. Roughly the same, maybe 5 mins more to the beach - Large supermarket 5 minutes away - Good location for going to the old town

These apartments are cheap and handy. We had 2 apartments for me and my friends (6 in total). 5 mins to the strip - 7 mins to the beach. It's very secure with a number of locked doors to navigate and it's in a very quiet area

Upon arrival we then had to get a taxi to the Hotel Dynastic to pick the keys up from the office round the corner. Finding the office took us 1/2 hour, then it took another approx 20 mins to sign all documents, pay a security & get keys. We then had to get the taxi back to the apartments, cost 23 Euros. The apartment itself was spacious, bath & shower, you could stretch right out in the bath. Utility room with washing machine, Fridge freezer & oven in kitchen, also coffee maker.Huge balcony with concertina clothes drier, but the views are of other buildings & main road. Beds are rock hard & the pillows have no give, like lying on a rock. The apartments are not cleaned whilst you are there & you have to empty your own rubbish. Towels are changed every other day. Within easy walking distance of both new & old town. The pool is small & no sunbeds but grounds are immaculate. Very quiet, you rarely see anyone else.

Outwardly a smart apartment. However; the cooker didn't work, neither did the grill, nor the toaster. The kettle also took an age to boil. The beds where rock solid and the put me up had a massive dip in it. Only one light worked in the bathroom. There was no remote control for the tv and there was a five minute trek to put the rubbish out. To top it all off, the keys had to be picked up miles away and a 10 euros taxi ride, never again

Hi I booked to stay here from the 13th June until 17th June. Deposit was €200 which you paid to the office or at the Dynastic hotel. This was worth it as I felt the apartment's were lovely and very secure. You pick the keys up from the office round corner from Dynastic or at the hotel if after half 8. Would recommend you check office first. Dynastic address is Dynastic Hotel & Spa, Avenida Ametlla de Mar, Benidorm, Spain. Would recommend a taxi. 15 euro in total to get their and back. We had a great time staying here as it was located in the quiet Spanish area. Plus the beach was 5 minutes walk away. Main strip was about 15 minute walk away but was a nice walk. Would highly recommend that you stay here. I would stay here again. Thanks

We booked through on the beach, the flights apartments and transfer. The transfer dropped us outside a hotel 5 min walk away, which was slightly annoying but we didn't mind to much. we arrived at the gates for them to be locked. Big iron gates and no reception. We walked round and round, went in shops asking how do we get in rang buzzers, nothing. The care taker came out and he had no idea, he rang someone, they had no idea. It was just a joke. We were there 30 mins before we saw in small print pick up from a hotel which is a 10 min drive away, bear in mind we still had our cases! We went to a nearby restaurant and he rang us a taxi, which took us to the hotel and they said they didn't know what i was talking about try a shop round the corner to which we eventually found out was where we pick the keys up. Its an absolute nightmare getting the keys it cost me 30 euro for the taxi. I wouldn't have minded if the transfer had dropped us off there, we paid for a transfer which was pointless as when we got there we had no key. Warning also they want 200 euro deposit when you pick your keys up which i thought was a joke. I said this to her and she said everywhere does it. They don't we came in November and they didn't ask. We were very quiet etc while we were there as we wanted that money back! The room was nice and spacious, not complaints with regards to the room and location as its brilliant and worth the money, just the inconvenience at the start was annoying. So probably wouldn't stay here again just because of that, but i did see a few others mention this as well so its not just me. Also as this is an apartment block they don't have chairs round the pool or anything like that unless you bring your own.

The only highlight the Ipanema apartments have is the Location, we arrived late at night and understood that the keys were to be collected in the Dynastic Hotel close to the Ipanema apartments, it turned out we had look for a taxi to ask a taxi driver where the Dynastic Hotel was, he told us it was 10mins in taxi, so we had to pay the taxi to the Dynastic Hotel and then pay him to take us back to Ipanema apart, the next day we looked for the reception desk which we realized there was none, the caretaker did not understand any English, we than we had to pay another taxi to the office in which if we had arrived during the day to find out the procedure on the day of departure reference return of key and refund of €200.00 which we had to pay on arrival, this all cost us €32 on taxis, the whole experience was an absolute nightmare never again will we book an apartment. The thing about it is the apartments need to update the 5 days we spent there we never seen anyone about, the pool, there was no sunbeds, these apartments are a very boring place to stay never again.

My husband and I had a lovely winter holiday in these apartments in January, on the first floor. The communal spaces were kept beautifully by the caretaker, with pretty gard ens too. It was peaceful and quiet as it was a spanish block but a 10 minute stroll gets you to all the noise you want. The key collection system caused us some worry as we arrived late around 9.30 pm but it was soon sorted. A welcome pack to make a warm drink would have been much appreciated. I would recommend these to future holidaymakers.

We recently stayed in a one bedroom apartment- my hubby and 2 teenage children. There is NO reception - therefore you have to pick the keys up from an alternative venue. It does explain this further down in booking.com info but NOT on the front page which we missed and we landed late night, fortunately a lovely Spanish couple who we're holidaying helped us to retrieve the keys. (A bit of a nightmare but we got sorted) The apartment was really clean and utilities were great! Washing machine etc The pull out bed was fine for the kids and balcony spacious. There are 3 lifts which were all quick and air con in them! There is no air con in the apartment and as we were there in August it was unbearable in the night at times - plenty of cold showers were had. We liked the location 10 mins walk from the old town and 10 mins from the beach. There is some road noise and seems loud initially but you get used to it - maybe our lie-ins were a little long. There weren't any English staying in these apartments all Spanish families which I liked. It's not for stag and hen do's - thankfully! There are no sun-beds around the pool (which is a shame) but there are nice big shady trees if you choose to stay out of the sun. Overall extremely clean and very secure apartments - air con would've been even better and sun-beds around the pool if you can manage without them they come recommended.