Use three city landmarks
Alicante's old quarter sits below Santa Barbara Castle, while the Explanada faces the port and Postiguet provides a city beach. These landmarks give a useful first framework for comparing apartments. They do not remove the need to inspect the precise street, especially where a route rises away from the waterfront.
Choose the place you expect to use most often and start there. For frequent short beach visits, prioritise the door-to-sand journey. For a city-focused break, an apartment that makes shops and the old quarter convenient may be more useful than one with the widest sea view.
Map ordinary shopping
Find a food shop that suits the way you actually eat on holiday. A breakfast-and-sandwich household needs fewer facilities than a group cooking dinner each night, but both need a realistic way to carry food back. Follow the pedestrian route, including road crossings, rather than drawing a straight line between map pins.
Try combining the errand with an outing on the Explanada. Buy food on the homeward leg, leaving refrigerated items until last. This small decision avoids carrying a heavy bag around the waterfront and makes the apartment's location work harder without turning an ordinary shop into a special trip.
Treat the castle as an outing
A view towards the castle can be appealing, but it should not persuade you to overlook a difficult entrance or unsuitable stairs. Reaching an elevated landmark and reaching an apartment below it are separate questions. Check the current visitor information for the castle when planning that visit rather than assuming that the obvious uphill line is the route everybody should take.
For accommodation, request clear photographs of the entrance, stairs and sleeping rooms. If the property is described as suitable for reduced mobility, ask for the particular dimensions and step information your party needs. A broad suitability label is less helpful than measured facts.
Make beach returns uncomplicated
Before booking, establish where wet swimwear can dry and whether beach towels are provided or need to be packed. Confirm how cooling reaches the bedrooms. An apartment that supports a quick shower and a simple lunch can make repeated beach visits practical, even without a front-row outlook. Prefer that functioning routine to a location whose main advantage appears only in its promotional photograph.
