"Had an 11 night stay here.
It all looked nice and welcoming - reception area was light and airy with plenty of seating and open doors leaving to a large outdoor terrace and seating area.
At check in we were immediately offered a glass of sparkling wine - bottles on ice behind the reception desk - or water and asked to take a seat.
My husband and a concierge unloaded our suitcases who then brought in our luggage and drove our car to the underground garage.
Claudia, receptionist, came over to check us in. Diamond recognised and I chose points as we are on All Inclusive. We were given an upgrade to a pool view room and (because we were staying more than 7 nights) a voucher for a complimentary dinner at the à la carte restaurant- which is fully chargeable even on AI.
Once checked in we were shown to our room. It was clean and a good size with two armchairs and a coffee table plus an additional table and chairs on the balcony. There was a coffee maker but no kettle nor milk. The minibar had soft drinks, small jar of almonds, small jar of gummi bears 😊, 2 beers, 200ml bottle of port and 200ml bottle of Prosecco. These were replenished once daily. One day we asked to swap the beer or the port for a second bottle or Prosecco but no, it’s one per room per day.
The bathroom. Where to start? There is one door for the toilet (plus bidet) and shower. Think Holiday Inn Express, but this door is mirrored on both sides! The rest of the ‘bathroom’ is open plan. This is the same layout for ALL bathrooms, even in the family rooms. Some days you got flannels and some you didn’t. 2 bathrobes were provided but no slippers.
All mirrors are tinted brown - even the mirror wall that is inside the shower - as well as the door if you close it. Lighting is also very poor in the ‘bathroom’ with warm lights agsinst the tinted mirrors.
Shower was a good size but we did ask for a bath mat as the floor was quite slippery. There’s a rain shower plus a hand held shower head which could only be positioned at waist height. Water pressure wasn’t great.
The buffet restaurant was very good with a varied selection of food at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast chef cooked omelettes, fried and poached eggs to order. Cold meats, cheeses, cereals, fruit, pastries, bacon, sausages etc.
Lunch and dinner both had hot and cold self serve buffet items with a mix of meat and fish / seafood dishes and always 2 different fish and two meat options cooked to order. Different paellas at each meal with vegetables, rice, potatoes and a great salad selection. There was also a vegan section at each meal. Ice creams, fruit, cakes and pastries were always available. Big shout out to chef Shalini who was really friendly and helpful.
The à la carte restaurant, Medronho, doubles up as the snack bar during the day for lunch and snacks. On AI you can choose certain snack bar menu items, not all, but we felt the food was far better in the buffet so didn’t eat there.
In the evenings they showcase Portuguese food (menu looked good) so Reception booked us a table to use our voucher.
We arrived full of anticipation only to be presented with the ’voucher menu’ which comprised two starters, 3 mains and one dessert - not quite the à la carte menu we thought we were getting. We decided to head up to the buffet instead.
Mentioned to Reception that if they’re trying to encourage guests to use the à la carte restaurant- and subsequently spend money there - then they should let you try the actual menu for your ‘free meal’ but they weren’t really interested.
Evening entertainment was in the main lobby area and was mixed. A couple of nights there were groups of singers who were excellent as well as the magician. Portuguese folklore dancers were amazing. Karaoke wasn’t great and the rest of it was mediocre.
As the World Cup was on they had a big board in the lobby keeping track of the matches and scores. The conference room was set up with a big screen where they showed the matches and there was a ‘guess the score’ competition for each match.
There was an indoor pool, spa and gym none of which we used.
The Star Camp kids’ club is on the lower level by the children’s pool. There is also a dedicated children’s room in the lobby with a mini slide, games, cot and changing table.
The lifts were an experience. There were two lifts which took you to the bedroom floors, garage and reception (on the 4th floor but ground level at the entrance). To get to the restaurant you had to go from your room to floor 4 then walk 100yds to another lift which went down to the buffet restaurant on floor 3, snack bar on 2 (then up outside steps to the main pool) or kids pool on 1. Very confusing.
There were shiny white marble looking steps from reception to the buffet but having watched a gentleman have a nasty fall on our first day we used the lift instead.
All staff members that we met were friendly and helpful but a special mention to Jacqueline in the lobby bar, Francine in the buffet restaurant and chef Shalini.
We do like Iberostar for a lazy All Inclusive holiday and would definitely return if we came back to the Algarve."
