Casa Candelaria

Very Good
Traveller Type: Family with Young Children
  : Roof terrace and internal decor
  : No aircon, no safe, no bbq

Wonderful
Traveller Type: Family with Young Children
  : A lovely villa located in a small town of Alcala. Literally at the doorstep of a cosy, little, black sand beach. In my opinion it is the best accommodation in Alcala, mostly due to the condition of the building, interesting modern interiors, close proximity of various local restaurants, Dino supermarket which is in a walking distance (and has a parking if you need to do a bigger shopping) and the beach of course. The villa is really nice, comfy beds (one double in a tiny room and 2 separate beds in the room just next to it). The master bedroom doesnt have a window but this is not a problem, as the massive door to the room overlook massive windows in the corridor. There is also a washing machine (bring your washing pods/liquid), a good size living room with comfy leather furniture, a tv and of course ... a terrace. The Terrace is spectacular - it is of the size of one floor, has a build in bar where you can prepare your drinks, has a big table for approx 5-6 people where you can eat and at the same time watch the Ocean and listen to waves. We really enjoyed having relaxing meals on the roof terrace. On top of this on a sunny day (and most of them are sunny even in the end of December) you can sunbath and drink cocktails without leaving your accommodation. Highly recommended If you are looking for a cosy stay away from the crowds you will not be disappointed.
  : There are many stairs in the building as the apartment is located on 3 levels. The main bathroom is on the lowest level and this can be a problem for elderly people. There is, however a toilet in the terrace. The floor is not even in the living area in the middle floor. This is not a massive issue but you have to watch your steps especially in the evening.

Disappointing
Traveller Type: Family with Young Children
  : The double bed was very comfy, though no window in the room that looks out so felt a bit claustrophobic and dark.The location is excellent, though as we looked out at the other apartment we thought we had booked this caused continually upset.
  : We had believed that we had booked the apart that had the wonderful terrace and the quirky decor (they confirmed with the photos of this apart). Turns out we had booked the old 'villa' with a very bare basic roofterrace with no shade and plastic furniture that is used to store old tiles...the light did not work so dangerous in the evening as a big step . The electrics was poor you could not use two appliances at once as all electrics went off, this happened every day with different appliances eg kettle and washing machine, or using two hobs to cook, or microwave and hob. Thus caused concern in the evening if on the stairs. Wifi only worked downstairs.Very sparsely and randomly 'decorated' it has stained furniture, stained bathroom....toilet downstairs didnt flush properly. Rusted mirrors and is very tired and in need of repair.So to find that we had thought we had booked the other apartment..(they have now made it clearer on their website...you need to book the near beach one for the wonderful sun terrace/nice decor). Was totally disappointing especially as it was myself and my autistic daughter hence why wanted that specific terrace...needed shelter for my daughter and sun for me but still in the same area. Daughter was so looking forward to sitting in the hammock. We could not use the roof terrace together which separated us causing huge upset to myself and daughter. Thus changed our whole holiday and how we had planned it...my daughter hates change as is autistic. They were not helpful when we complained immediately...they just stated in poor English "impossible" and shrugged her shoulders(i cannot speak Spanish).We felt deceived, disappointed and depressed at the 'villa' we were given, lucky we only there for three nights.

Good
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple
  : THe house is beautiful, great location
  : It wasnt clear that i had to pay a 200e deposit on arrival, i didnt mind paying it but i feel i should have been notified in advance. When i explained this the man argued with me and said i had received notification even though i hadnt. Clearly there mistake which is fine but didnt appreciate the argument. and the plug sockets on the roof terrace all didnt work whuch meant we couldnt stay up there to enjoy it. When i complained i was told that oh well there are other plugs in the house, they also said i could check out late at 5pm which i have in writing and they argued with me and said impossibe i had to leave at 12 and that an electrician would come at 10am which i refused as i would be asleep. Apart from that, its a great place today but i wuld prefer a smoother check in and communications with the staff.

Pleasant
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple
  : The house is an old canarian house that is renovated by a modern style architect, hence detail in the living room. It is located at the main Plaza and very close to the Alcala beach. The green marble stairs is not really an improvement, the old details make the house, the doors, old tiles and windows. The lay-out of the house is, you enter by walking through a children's playground. In the basement are the toilet and shower (Spacious and good). Then you walk the stairs to the first floor were there is a large kitchen (did not cook), 2 sleeping rooms and a living room. Also a dining area on the green marble. Then there is the stairs to the roof terrace, which is large and has lovely views overlooking the sea and square. There is no door, the house is open. There is also a shower and toilet there. And good furniture. The neighbour restaurant has a really good paella and can also recommend the restaurant with the blue chairs across the street for lunch. If you are lucky, you can find a parking space at the plaza. Otherwise there is a huge parking lot for the beach. If you walk by the seapromenade, it only a 5-10 minute walk with nice sea views. So drop off your luggage and park it for free there. Traffic jams on the main road through Alcala are often the case.
  : For the first time we had a conflict with the host and this was very upsetting. I have been using booking for more than a decade and this is the first time i needed to find out how customer service works (good!). The telephone call to arrange to meet for the keys was not very smooth. Then she wanted to scan our passports with her telephone. When i objected that only other governments may do this and that this way was not safe she did not respond well. We had no place to go, it was already paid and we felt very pressured. This was really upsetting. Also she asked 300 bail instead of the 200. So this was not helping. In the end she had to stick to the 200, because we could prove this was what was agreed. The door of the house is a sort of electric hotelroom key. You have a card, have to hold it for the doorhandle and then it should turn green and you can enter. This did not always function very well and we it took us sometimes 5 minutes to get in and one time we had to call the host (which was of course not what we nor the host liked) to let us in. The lay-out with the toilet and shower in the basement is somewhat impractical. It is noisy. The municipality start to clean the plaza and beach each morning around 6.30-7 AM with all their most noisy equipment and they clean very long and thorough.

Wonderful
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple
  : House is in a great location in walking distance to bars, restaurants, supermarket etc and right on the beach. Alcala is a working town so and not just a resort. Its a large property, there were only two of us and loved all that space - it would be great for a family and had stair gates and buckets and spades. It was very well equipped, and the housekeeping team came daily which I found unusual for a self catering property. We loved having two terraces. Check in was easy.
  : Be aware that there are two separate properties advertised on the page. I thought we had booked Casa Candelaria (where we had stayed previously and has the most amazing roof terrace) but it was a separate property across the road. Having said that we actually preferred this one because of the space and layout. Casa Candelaria is the house with the green shutters and is near the beach whilst we ended up staying in the house on the beach (White House with brown shutters) The electrics were slightly flaky and the oven sometimes tripped

Pleasant
Traveller Type:

Very Good
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple
  : The view from the roof.

Wonderful
Traveller Type:
  : This is the most beautiful house in Alcala, with views over the sea on one side, and the town square on the other. it has been newly restored and has a fabulous roof top terrace for lazy days, cold wine or beer in its fridge. Many bars and restaurants are within easy walking distance. Lovely walks along the sea shore on the doorstep, as are supermarkets. Cleaning staff very pleasant and helpful and in to tidy up often.
  : stairs are steep but we got used to them. rooms of modest size

Very Good
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple
  : Lovely village location with a small beach on the doorstep. Lots of nice places to eat and drink. A nice walk nearby. We enjoyed it very much. We stayed in the Casa with a sea view
  : There was nothing we didn't like. It was marvelous.