Albir 2024 (archive)

8th ALBIR CONVENTION * 2nd-5th MAY 2024 * COSTA BLANCA, SPAIN

4 DAYS

Thursday 2nd-Sunday 5th May 2024

Costa Blanca, Spain
45 minutes from
Alicante Airport

From Thursday May 2nd to Sunday 5th 2024 we look forward to welcoming back previous attendees and meeting new members at this super friendly event and venue!

This is the perfect location to bring family and friends, and the feedback has been how easily everyone gets to mix, and most reviews describe it as a lovely weekend where strangers soon become friends - and often stay friends for years to come.

ABOUT ALBIR

Albir is an absolute gem on the beautiful Costa Blanca, and the beach is literally just a few steps from the hotel.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE ON THE COSTA BLANCA IN MAY IS 23°

Nearby attractions include the stunning artists’ paradise of Altea (4km), the gorgeous Algar Waterfalls (18km), the famous castle of Guadalest (21km), and even good ol’ Benidorm is only 7km away if you are feeling lively!

KAKTUS ALBIR HOTEL ****

Apart from its outstanding location and its fully deserved 4-star rating, the KAKTUS ALBIR HOTEL is also very welcoming and supportive of our fellowship.

The hotel environment is relaxed and comfortable, the staff friendly and helpful, and the food varied and of the highest quality. Our friend Juan has been ‘Maitre D’ for a number of years now and always goes the extra mile to ensure everyone is happy by offering numerous ‘islands’ of food offerings from a wide range of cuisines.

AMAZING DEAL!

At just €260 per person for 4 nights FULL BOARD (based on 2 people sharing) this is an unbelievable deal for a 4-star beachfront hotel.

No, €260 is not a typo. It literally works out at just €65 per day for your 4-star room including full buffet breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Single occupancy = €356 for 4 nights

20% discount for 3rd person sharing room = €208 for 3rd person

5% discount for 7 nights

CONVENTION FEE

The gift that keeps on giving!

Registration for the 4-day event is £20…and includes FREE TEA & COFFEE (we can hear you doing the maths already…yes, 3 coffees a day and you’re actually in profit!)

For what works out at just 5€ a day you can enjoy a full programme of Open and Closed AA meetings, Al-Anon, Women’s and Men’s Meetings as well as a variety of social activities such as live music, fun quiz, organised walks, and not forgetting our popular ‘Monday Up The Mountains’ day trip!

GETTING HERE

ALICANTE AIRPORT (45 min) and VALENCIA AIRPORT (90 min) are the nearest airports to Albir and are both serviced by budget airlines from numerous European airports including Ryanair, easyJet, Jet 2, Vueling, and Wizz Air.

There are direct flights to ALICANTE AIRPORT from the following UK airports
(correct as of February 2023)

Belfast International
Birmingham
Bournemouth
Bristol
Cardiff
Durham Tees Valley
East Midlands
Edinburgh
Exeter
Glasgow International
Glasgow Prestwick
Leeds Bradford
Liverpool
London Gatwick
London Luton
London Stansted
Manchester
Newcastle
Newquay

There are direct flights to VALENCIA AIRPORT from the following UK airports
(correct as of February 2023)

Belfast International
Bristol
East Midlands
Edinburgh
London Gatwick
London Heathrow
London Stansted
Manchester

ROOM RESERVATIONS

WE CURRENTY HAVE 7 ROOMS AVAILABLE

First come first served - just complete and submit the form below - and then pay the £20 Convention Registration Fee as soon as you receive the reservation confirmation back from us.

THE HOTEL DOES NOT REQUIRE A DEPOSIT
ON ARRIVAL YOU WILL BE ASKED TO PRESENT A CREDIT CARD AND PAYMENT WILL BE TAKEN AT THE END OF YOUR STAY

PLEASE DO NOT CLICK SUBMIT UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO MAKE THE £20 CONVENTION REGISTRATION FEE WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT (you will receive a payment link by email shortly after clicking SUBMIT)

DOWNLOADS

Click below to download the Albir 2024 flyer/poster and please forward this to anyone else who you think may be interested.

FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

ANY questions we get asked will go on here!

Albir is on Spain’s beautiful Costa Blanca, which translates as the ‘White Coast. It’s on Spain’s eastern Mediterranean coast and the hotel itself is on the beachfront.
Alicante Airport is only 45mins south of Albir and is one of the most popular destinations in Europe.. Valencia Airport is only 90mins to the north of Albir, and both are served by numerous budget airlines.
TAXI: by far the most expensive way (minimum €100) but if you join the Albir Convention Facebook group you may be able to split this with other AA’s arriving on the same flight/around the same time.
CAR HIRE: is normally quite reasonable and just about every recognised car hire company has offices at the airport. For a guide on prices visit doyouspain.com (who as act as agents for various car hire companies).
COACH/MINIBUS: The most established transfer company is beniconnect.com although there may be others.
FOR THE ADVENTUROUS!: you can get a bus from Alicante Airport to Alicante city centre, then a tram to Benidorm (beautiful journey), and a connecting tram to Albir, followed by a 15/20 min walk to the hotel. Definitely the cheapest option, if you have 3 or more hours to spare!
Typical temperature on the Costa Blanca in May is 23° with an average of just 2 days rain per month - so bring your shorts. And let’s hope those 2 rainy days aren’t during the convention!
Absolutely not! Yes there will be some closed AA meetings for members only, but otherwise we are very welcoming. It is a beautiful town, and a lovely hotel with swimming pools which makes it a natural choice to invite family and friends to join you.
Through this website, NOT directly with the hotel.
At this stage these are reservations only, and once we get near capacity a small deposit will be required which will be paid directly to AREA 21 (Alicante Intergroup) and which will also include the €20 Convention registration fee.
Yes! If you have submitted your details on this website and received a confirmation reply your room is guaranteed. If you did not receive an email confirmation/acknowledgement please email info@ean.uk to help us correct this.
There is a 5% discount for anyone staying 7 days or longer and it works out like this:
If you have SINGLE occupancy it works out at €89 per night full board. €89 x 7 nights = €623 and if you take off the 5% discount this reduces your total cost to €591.85 for the week.
If you have DOUBLE/TWIN occupancy it works out at €65 per person per night full board. €65 x 7 nights = €455 and if you take off the 5% discount this reduces the total cost to €432.25 per person for the week.
If you have triple occupancy the 3rd person receives a 20% discount. If you are happy to split that 20% discount between all 3 people it works out at €60.67 per person per night full board. €60.67 x 7 nights = €424.69 and if you take off the 5% discount this reduces the total cost to €403.46 per person for the week.
If you are staying longer than 7 nights the 5% discount applies to each additional night.
Absolutely. For example, if you wish to change single occupancy to double or triple occupancy (or in reverse) just let us know.
No need to at this stage, as the 4-night room reservation (Thursday 2nd-Sunday 5th) is all we need. However, once we reach the stage of asking for a small deposit you can extend your break for as many days as you like.
Not through us as our preferential rate is for a minimum stay of 4 nights. At this stage you could possibly book 1-3 nights directly with the hotel but it would most likely be at their standard 4-star hotel room rate.
Technically yes, but it would be directly with the hotel which would be at standard hotel rates which would actually work out more expensive than our very special Full board deal!
This will depend on eventual numbers, as we only have limited capacity in the meetings room.
So understandably the priority has to be for guests staying at the hotel for 4 nights as, a/ the hotel is allowing us to use the facilities free of charge, and, b/ they have given us a fantastic rate for our members,.
And also, it’s only fair we allocate some convention places for local AA’s who shouldn’t be expected to pay for 4 nights accommodation when they only live a few miles away!
However…if there are any spaces left by the time the convention comes round, then we would be more than happy to have attendees who are staying elsewhere!
All meetings are AA-related (open and closed) but we also have Al-Anon participation, including Al-Anon speakers as part of selected AA meetings, as well as dedicated Al-Anon meetings.
At the last convention we also had an LGBTQ+ meeting and a Women’s meeting, and we are open minded to hosting any type of meeting that is AA-related, such as 12-Step, Big Book, meditation meetings, etc., and which can be held in the smaller room we have also been allocated.
Oh, and let’s not forget the ‘Rooftop’ open air meeting! :-)
This convention is very informal and relaxed, and we will be having a fun quiz, live music, a lighthouse walk. and do try to stay on for ‘Mountains Monday’ which is brilliant and unique day out!

TIMETABLE

MONDAY 29th APRIL - WEDNESDAY 1st May 2024

Informal Early Bird meetings and visits to local meetings will be arranged daily for early arrivals (further details nearer the time)

THURSDAY 2nd May 2024

12pm-4pm Registration (downstairs)
6pm Informal Welcome (downstairs)
7pm Bilingual Welcome with our Spanish hosts (downstairs)
8.30pm #1 AA MEETING (downstairs)

FRIDAY 3rd May 2024

9.30am Meditation Meeting (upstairs)
11am #2 AA MEETING (hotel rooftop terrace)
12.30pm LGBTQ+ Meeting (upstairs)
2pm #3 AA MEETING (downstairs)
4pm Matty’s Lighthouse Walk! (Albir)
8.30pm #4 AA MEETING (downstairs)

SATURDAY 4th May 2024

9.30am Meditation Meeting (upstairs)
11am #5 AA MEETING (hotel rooftop terrace)
12.30pm P.I. Public Information Meeting (upstairs)
2pm #6 AA MEETING (downstairs)
3.30pm Al-Anon Meeting (downstairs)
5.30pm Women’s Meeting (upstairs)
8.30pm #7 AA MEETING (downstairs)

SUNDAY 5th May 2024

9.30am Meditation Meeting (upstairs)
11am #8 AA MEETING (downstairs)
12pm BILINGUAL CLOSING with our Spanish Hosts (downstairs)
2pm FUN QUIZ! (downstairs)
8.30pm LIVE MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT