Guest User
September 22, 2024
It was our first time bringing the kids on holiday outside of Ireland (ages 18 months and 4 years) and we were apprehensive about how the trip would go. We needn't have worried and a massive reason why were the staff and facilities provided by Martinhal. Firstly the food is excellent for a family resort. The breakfast each morning was lovely and fresh consisting of fruit, juices, pastries, cereal, breads, meats, cheeses as well as a hot buffet. And you could also order omelettes and eggs in whatever style you wanted. The lunch and dinner options were also excellent with a mix of Portuguese, Mediterranean, Asian and Italian options across the restaurants. They also had large and varied kids menus. We went half board and found this very useful so would defo recommend. O'Terraco and As Dunas were particular favourites. Something wonderful about the restaurants is they have playgrounds and colouring corners in them so the kids can wander off and play within full sight of you while you enjoy dinner, such a big plus and relief for anyone with little ones. With 4 pools across the resort there'll always be somewhere to swim at whatever time you want even when it's busy. The busiest pool is the one at the front of the resort which faces the beach and has a poolside bar. So if that's not your thing then work away with the other options. Our favourite was the outdoor/indoor pool as we could go in and out with the kids depending on the heat of the sun and it was a short stroll to the mercado (shop) as well. Mercado onsite is very handy, you can pick up water, breads, meats, cheeses, fruits, milk, cereals etc. and pop them in the kitchen in your house for the week which is so handy. For those wanting a break from the pools you can play mini-golf, table-tennis, tennis etc. and they also have great kids clubs available. You also have a 2-10 min stroll to the beach depending on where you're staying onsite. The beach is beautiful but can be busy. One of the biggest pluses is the staff. Being a family resort you'd expect the staff to be good but sometimes there may be a couple of people not suited to that type of environment. We didn't find that here at all, every staff member we interacted with was amazing and they were particularly great with the kids. When kids were having wobbles it never wobbled them, they still maintained a smile and calmness which is a huge thing for parents not to feel like a burden. Kudos to the entire team, we can't wait to come back.