Guest User
July 1, 2024
This hotel has the perfect location for Vilamoura marina, you literally step outside the door of the hotel on to the marina. Similarly, right out the back of the hotel is the beach. We had a sea view room as we had opted for this believing this to be quieter and it seemed to be the right choice, the view was lovely and we were not disturbed by late night noise. In addition to that there are a number of plus points: 1) The whole hotel is spotlessly clean, the housekeeping is faultless with twice daily towel changes, cleaning soon after breakfast and a turn down service. 2) The staff are very friendly and work extremely hard, ordering to your sunbeds is a bonus and all poolside staff are very helpful, from the towel hut to the pool bar. 3) Breakfast is plentiful, although a bit lacking in the yoghurt department and getting a pot of tea can be a challenge. There is a lot of space in the restaurant, so you are never waiting to be seated and you have a choice of inside or outside. 4) Reception is always open with efficient and friendly staff, fluent in English. 5) Rooms are spacious and well set out with plenty of hanging space and room to get ready. 6) Probably one of the most important facts is that the beds are so comfortable, I have read this on other reviews and they are not wrong. They are huge but are not the typical two beds pushed together scenario. Now for the down sides (and these may not be the same for everyone but were for us) 1) The hotel was so expensive. We looked at the menus in the restaurants for the evenings and chose not to use these due to the price. We went into the bar a couple of times in the evenings but given that two drinks were almost 40 euros, we did not do this again. A strawberry milkshake at the pool bar was 11 euros etc etc. This was hugely restrictive on the holiday and given that we paid over £300 per night to stay here it was already an expensive holiday. We found ourselves buying drinks at the supermarket to keep in our room and take to the sunbed rather than ordering from the pool bar. Similarly, we bought the ready made cocktails from the off licence and took those into the lobby in the evening. This is not ideal and not how we have ever spent holidays before. 2) It didn't happen to us but a number of guests were complaining that they had been asked to leave the bar as they were dressed in shorts. 3) There was a lack of 'atmosphere' around the hotel, in the lobby area it was huge with plenty of chairs but it was very quiet and even sat there with our drinks and playing cards we felt self conscious. There were background singers in the bar but given that the lobby is by far the bigger area and better placed for entertainment and coupled with the expense of the bar, all it does is succeed in ensuring everyone goes out around the marina. Why have all the chairs and sofas in the vast lobby if there is nothing going on there? 4) Similar with around the pool, it could do with something else, it is