As Cascatas

"Had a stay for a girls trip recently in a 2 bed apartment. Apartments are huge and clean. Could do with a face lift in parts, broken switches and one sliding door didn’t lock but in general lovely. Pool facilities are fabulous and breakfast was excellent. Snack bar lovely also and all staff we encountered were pleasant. Check out is 10am which I think is ridiculously early, as breakfast doesn’t finish til 11 even. We had a late flight home so paid for a late check out and we were told this was until 2pm. We checked out at 2pm and left our bags. Subsequently our flight ended up being cancelled later on that evening before we left for airport. We asked about the night rate and were being put back in the room that we had been in so it obviously wasn’t occupied so I don’t know why 2pm was the cut off. We asked if they could do anything about late check out the following day given we had already paid for a late check out and would be giving the nightly rate also for the same day. They would not give anything off the rate and would not negotiate on the 10am check out if we were not paying. I thought this was in poor taste given then circumstances and they had already made a profit off us and that we had stayed the previous few nights. Any gesture or reduction or extension by an hour even would have made a difference to their customer service. We decided to move hotels at this point to the Vilamoura Garden nearby. Their staff were fabulous and offered late check out til 2pm free of charge given the circumstances. While the complex is fabulous, the customer service when something went wrong for us would make me reluctant to return. It was a stressful situation for us and a little customer service would have gone a long way. I am giving 4 based on complex itself only."

"Staying in as cascatas at the moment this is our 5th time staying here and it will be our last, we used to love this place but I’m sorry this is not worthy of a 5 star. The main concern being the apartments they are extremely uncomfortable the beds are so noisy and springs sticking out of mattresses making it very difficult to sleep and we are all experiencing bad backs from “trying” to sleep in these beds. There is mould in bathroom and kitchen. We are in a ground floor apartment which is in complete darkness all day does not get any sunlight at all and it is overlooked people walking by bedrooms & sitting room windows. And the amount of mosquitoes in the apartment is shocking I’ve never seen this before we are being eaten alive. We did ask reception if we could move as we were not happy with the apartment and they were willing to move us to a different apartment on the same floor we checked it out but is was basically the same the beds were as uncomfortable and again ground floor completely over looked and no sunlight. The bar food and drinks are a complete rip off. We are extremely disappointed with this accommodation and will be going home needing another break to catch up on our sleepless nights we are having here."

"We stayed at Hilton Vilamoura last September, choosing the As Cascatas apartments, and overall had a really lovely family holiday. The As Cascatas apartments were absolutely fantastic for us, especially travelling with our young son. Having a separate sleeping area made such a difference, giving us space to properly relax in the evenings. The apartments are located within the Hilton resort complex, so you get the best of both worlds – the space and comfort of an apartment with full access to all the hotel facilities, including the pools, playground, gym, games room and spa. A very special mention to Maria in the hotel restaurant, who was truly exceptional. The hotel is incredibly fortunate to have someone of her calibre on their team. She couldn’t have done more for us during our week-long stay and made every dining experience feel warm and personal. There were, however, a few downsides worth noting. The main pool is not heated at all, which we were told is standard in Portugal, but it did make swimming less enjoyable at times. The games room was also frustrating to access – despite being told our key would work, it didn’t, and we had to ask staff for assistance multiple times. We also ended up losing money on a few machines that weren’t working properly. The biggest drawback was the poolside snack bar, which is significantly overpriced. For example, a pizza costing €23 felt excessive, and it was noticeable that very few guests were eating there. Given the hotel’s location, you are somewhat reliant on on-site options, so more reasonable pricing would make a big difference and likely encourage far more guests to dine there. That said, a great tip is to head out the back gate of the hotel and visit Café del Arte – the food there is fantastic, better quality, and at nearly half the price. Overall, despite a few frustrations, we had a very enjoyable stay. The apartment setup, facilities, and standout staff like Maria made it a memorable and comfortable family holiday."