"Our family of two adults, an eleven year old and a nine year old stayed here for 10 days in July.
We stayed self catering in a prestige one bedroom apartment with a sea view. This is an excellent hotel that doesn't feel overly busy. There are a mix of nationalities and we love the relaxed vibe. Staff are warm, helpful and you can see by the cleanliness and upkeep that there are high standards maintained here.
What's most pleasing is that there are no sunbed wars - you can get up late, relax and head to any of the pools and still find sun loungers. Anyone seen reserving them early in the morning gets a friendly reminder posted on their bed by staff. Whilst we may not be returning in future, we spoke to many guests who are repeat visitors so please help keep it this way and chill out, no need to get up early and reserve beds.
Repeat visitors have stayed across the different sites - Aparthotel, Village, Colina and have enjoyed it (they even have a FB fan page which has helpful info). I think there's about 11 pools here plus beach access so loads of space for everyone and it means you can vary your days rather than stick to one pool. Splash parks and slides are great for the younger pre-teen kids.
Check in is quick as they have a big desk and lots of staff. When we arrived at noon after a 50 minute bus transfer (you can get here quicker by taxi from Faro Airport), our room wasn't ready but we were prepared with a beach bag so got changed, left our cases in the free luggage room behind reception and headed for lunch at the Cafeteria restaurant first (see my separate restaurant reviews). We then found sun loungers next to the quiet pool behind the restaurant and enjoyed our afternoon before the room was ready at 16:00.
Our room was on the first floor (107) and we looked onto the covered heated pool and down towards the quiet pool, Cafeteria and a small glimpse of the sea. Higher floors (4th is top floor) would definitely get a better sea view but we liked being on the first floor as it meant quick access via stairs so we avoided waiting for lifts. The prestige rooms are located in the newest block by reception. There's a tunnel to get to the main pool and the tunnel further down next to the Cafeteria restaurant takes you closer to the village.
The room is a modern finish, clean and well equipped. The kitchen is great and we ate in 3 out of our 10 nights as well as having breakfast and lunch in the room most days. There is an oven which is amazing to see and you can buy frozen pizzas from the hotel shops if you wish. There's an electric hob, microwave, fridge with small freezer compartment, coffee machine, kettle (located above the cooker hood), toaster, crockery, cutlery, bottle opener, tin opener, pots and pans plus washing up liquid and tea towels provided. There's an iron and iron board if needed.
The living area was spacious and we love the fact the pull out sofa bed had two single beds with decent (but thin) mattresses so our kids didn't need to share a double. There are good pillows and single duvets for both the sofa beds and the bedroom (which is two singles pushed together). Aircon in both living room and bedroom with their own separate controls which is great. TVs in each room with BBC, ITV and C4 (which was handy for the World Cup matches!). There's also CBBeebies for the younger ones. Great free WiFi coverage and speed throughout the hotel. Plenty of clothes storage and hangers, a safe with no extra charge, and don't miss the book shelves in the bedroom above the light switches on each side of the bed. Would be good to see some USB and USB C charging points but there's plenty of two pin Euro sockets so remember your adapters.
Our balcony was spacious with a table seating 4 around it and a couple of excellent reclining chairs. Drying rack located on the balcony which we always used for our wet swimmies. The main pool and evening entertainment stage are not located by this part of the hotel so it's quiet here. Our room overlooked the Alfazema restaurant which wasn't noisy at all.
Bathroom has a large walk in shower with both rain shower and a detachable shower attachment which is handy to wash small children. Hairdryer is attached to the wall but it's pretty basic and low on power - nothing prestige about this. The hotel provides hand wash and shower gel.
Plenty of towels (except beach towels) and these were changed most days by housekeeping. We felt the room cleaning could have been better. Floors and shower weren't given great attention, and our balcony didn't get cleaned once and we were here for 10 days which we would've expected a clean at least once.
One annoying feature which we see in lots of hotels now is the glass wall between bathroom and bedroom. It means anyone turning on the bathroom light will illuminate the bedroom so practice going to the toilet in the dark if you don't want to wake the sleeping occupants of the bedroom!
Walls are thin, corridors echo like most of these type of properties but as it's mainly families, it's the usual sounds of children being excited, furniture being dragged on hard floors etc.
I agree with previous reviews that there's nothing particularly 'prestige' about this room. It's in the newer block closer to reception and faces the quiet pool but that's it. There's no robes or slippers, complimentary items or separate lounge or reception for example. I imagine the rest of the hotel will slowly modernise to the same modern decor (or else it'll be left behind) so if it's cheaper to stay in the other parts of the hotel, we would. Whilst the room is modern, it still had the usual hotel odours which are normally bathroom or plumbing related. We had a small problem when we arrived and reception dealt with it quickly - the usual blocked shower drain. Even when we arrived in the room for the first time, the floors were sticky and smelt of Flash. Again, no complaints for your standard rooms but it didn't give off any prestige vibes!
Definitely take the opportunity to try the pools across the main road and up the hill at Colina (their slides and splash park is right at the top). There's also pools dotted around the village as well. Beach access is at the bottom end of the village past the shop and is small but perfect for a visit though don't get caught out by the tide (see my separate review). Bring your own beach towels and pegs/clips (it's windy and towels can be blown off beds) unless you want to pay to hire towels here (again, could've been an opportunity to live up to 'prestige' to waive this charge). Inflatables can be bought at the shops on-site or if you're fortunate you'll find departing guests leave items for re-use. Watch out for seagulls who will land on your beds and tables to rummage for food. The hotel should use enclosed bins as we saw a seagull land on the rim of an open bin and help itself to a half eaten ice cream cone!
Entertainment schedule is good and my son enjoyed the organised football on the astro pitch down by the village. Staff are enthusiastic without being pushy. There's lots of activities for all ages (though Sundays are a day off) plus the usual table tennis tables, pool tables and arcade machines are dotted about the hotel. Evening entertainment includes mini disco and shows performed by the entertainment team.
There's two mini markets on-site (one by the village and the other across the main road at Colina). They are well stocked and reasonable prices. There's a Spar a short walk away (though check FB fan page about dodgy charges) next to a pharmacy and the supermarket is 15-20 minutes walk away.
Whilst you are tagged on arrival with hotel wristbands, it opens hotel doors including your room but it's not used as a method of payment so you need to carry card or cash. For table tennis they need a cash deposit which is returned when you bring their bats and ball back. Pool tables require a Euro per game. At the evening show, there's a stall for popcorn, candy floss and lollipops that only took cash.
We took an Uber a couple of times during our stay. Once to the marina for our boat tour of the caves / visit to the old town, and the other to Vilamoura marina for an evening meal out. Reasonable prices and reliable.
As we were self catering, we didn't eat at the buffet restaurants for breakfast or dinner so can't comment. For hotel restaurants and surrounding area, see my separate reviews.
Overall, this hotel was great for a relaxing holiday with children and we may be back again like many other guests. Enjoy!"
