PortoBay Blue Ocean

"We are regular visitors of the Porto Bay group of hotels in Madeira and therefore Prestige card members for the hotel group. The Porto Bay group are our favourite hotel brand in Portugal & South America. We also are regular visitors to the Algarve, although have never stayed in a Porto Bay property on the Algarve, nor in the small resort of Olhas D’Agua, where the recently refurbished Porto Bay Blue Ocean is located. The hotel was originally the RIU Palace. It then became the TUI Blue hotel and after being bought & refurbished is now the Porto Bay Blue Ocean. We have been advised that many of the staff from the previous TUI Blue hotel have transferred over to the new hotel. Overall, we found the hotel to be good. However, in our experience of numerous Porto Bay properties there is much room for improvement on many fronts. That said, the hotel has only been operational in its new format & under new management for several months now. Therefore, we hope those improvements will materialise in time? THE POSITIVES: The cliff top location of the hotel is excellent and the views exceptional. Great position for the impressive Falesia Beach accessed via a number of steps! Overall, the hotel facilities are very good with issues. See below. Guest bedrooms are comfortable & well equipped for a 4 star property Housekeeping ladies were very efficient, hard working & excellent. Evening entertainment we found to be varied & enjoyable. The activity staff were excellent, especially, Nicola, Fatima & Amanda. Adult pool area is a new addition to the hotel and is superb. Flor da Sal A’ La Carte restaurant delivered some tasty dishes & nice wines Hotel gardens were tended to beautifully. Overall, hotel staff were attentive & engaging with the exception of some reception staff. A special mention to Vanda & Ana in the Mercado buffet restaurant. Vanda is a credit to the hotel and went above & beyond with her personal kindness & professionalism with her attention to detail, welcome & engaging hospitality. Vanda, is a true star and should be recognised & promoted. Overall, table service in the buffet restaurant was very efficient. Gym, Spa, Indoor pool, sauna & Turkish bath areas very good. However, not adults only! THE NOT SO GOOD: We had an issue with water in our first room. One day, near the start of our 11 night holiday, we had no water in our room to shower, flush toilet or wash hands. Clearly, this was a health issue. We spoke immediately with reception via the room phone. No one from maintenance appeared in our room to address the issue. However, remarkably, the issue resolved itself remotely after our call to reception. The next day, after enduring a night from hell due to constant running water running constantly during the night into our toilet bowl, we contacted reception again to advise them of our toilet problem! Sadly, it took three calls to reception to different receptionist staff (language communications were difficult) before our situation was resolved. After reception staff eventually spoke with a manager, we were offered a room move, which after viewing we happily accepted. The room move ensured we didn’t have to experience another sleepless night listening to constant running water into our toilet bowl! Alas, there was NO explanation for the problem; no apology from management. We found this surprising & disappointing customer service as valued guests! There was NO form of service recovery from the hotel management or group, apart from the room move! Again, as seasoned travellers and members of the Porto Bay prestige loyalty club, we found this personally disappointing. The Mercado buffet restaurant offered a selection of food options at both breakfast & dinner. However, after an 11 night stay on Half Board basis, we found the food to be exceptionally repetitive. Further, we found the food to be lukewarm at best. The hotel spa, indoor pool, Turkish bath & sauna facilities are very nice. However, in our opinion, our overall enjoyment was diminished by these areas not being adults only! Inside the hotel, especially, in the evening, we found the temperature indoors & within our room to be cold. Yes, we were visiting in early November. However, the interior of the hotel was chilly. OVERALL: We are really huge fans & unofficial ambassadors of the Porto Bay Hotel Group. There is much potential for this hotel and for the right demographic & composition of visiting guests to enjoy themselves. Whilst the recent refurbishment has been tastefully undertaken to this property, alas, we expected more from this newly renovated property from the Porto Bay group. The hotel, thankfully, was reasonably quiet during our 11 night stay. We would dread to think what this hotel would be like at full occupancy during the busy summer season, as it is sold as a family hotel with walkways to the nearby sister hotel, Porto Bay Falesia. The Porto Bay Falesia is having some refurbishment work taking place this coming winter. This is a smart move from the Porto Bay hotel group as the sister hotel, The Porto Bay Falesia, is looking very tired & outdated! We visited the sister hotel for drinks and ate in the Il Bascilico, Italian A ‘la Carte restaurant. We’re sad to report that our food in this restaurant was not that enjoyable! Thank goodness that we had a €15 euro credit per head since we were on HB at the Porto Bay Blue Ocean. We also had discount on our bill as Porto Bay prestige loyalty card holders, otherwise it would have been an expensive evening for disappointing food! The small resort town of Olhas D’Agua was not to our liking. It gave off a feeling & vibe of being run down & tired. Likewise, there are several larger family style hotels owned & operated by other hotel groups in the nearby vicinity of the Porto Bay Blue Ocean and its sister hotel, The Porto Bay Falesia. This must be a nightmare during peak season as we heard noise whilst on our balcony from these nearby large family sized hotels and we holidayed in early November! We expected much from the new Porto Bay Blue Ocean. However, whilst suitable for some guests, the hotel did not hit the spot for us! Sure, there is much to like at the new Porto Bay Blue Ocean and perhaps it will find its feet in time? We certainly hope so! However, whilst wishing the hotel group & the staff all the best for the future, we will not be returning to the Porto Bay Blue Ocean. Likewise, we will not be recommending it to our friends. The area, apart from the superb Falesia beach, is nothing special. Alas, we had high hopes & expectations for the new Porto Blue Ocean hotel. Sadly, the hotel, in our opinion, has little soul and it left us cold. This new property within the portfolio could learn much from the Porto Bay group hotels in Madeira."

"Unfortunately, my stay at PortoBay Ocean Hotel wasn’t very enjoyable. The food at both breakfast and dinner was poor - cold food, hard rice, lack of seasoning. The atmosphere was very quiet and mostly suited to retirees, which made it feel a bit lifeless. I had to move rooms during my stay, and I was also given the wrong pick-up information, which added to the stress. Most of the staff seemed uninterested in helping — it often felt like any request was an inconvenience. Only one staff member was kind and tried to help, which I appreciated. The room itself was clean, but overall, the experience was disappointing and not somewhere I’d return to."

"Very impressive hotel. Nice rooms, comfortable bed, excellent shower but the people working here in all areas I experienced (front desk, housekeeping, maintenance and especially restaurant) were fantastic! All very friendly and clearly hard working. People seen cleaning windows, skirting boards etc all day long and the restaurant staff non-stop with re stocking, clearing tables and always happy to help. Breakfast is of good quality buffet style and with an excellent fresh omelette member going non-stop, two omelettes at a time! I have send individual thanks to the hotel separately but they were very good. Pool facilities good, access to beach a bit lengthy with steps but not a massive distance which also applies to the town and external eating places-there doesn't appear to be an easy shortcut so about a 10-15 minute walk to get there. Early check out on final day meant that the hotel provided on request very full take-out boxes. These were very good -my only criticism was that the two sandwiches in each of our boxes were very dry as someone clearly forgot to butter the bread! A very minor criticism. First time here and would definitely return."