TripAdvisor Rating
Based on 951 reviews
See allLocated in Praia da Rocha, Portimão. This property is a popular choice for family holidays, due to its central location and distance from the beach being an ideal base for exploring all local restaurants and lively nightspots – all within walking distance of the property. The sandy...
More about the hotel
Loved it
2 years ago me, my partner and at the time almost 2 year old son went on OUR FIRST family holiday and we stayed at this lovely hotel all inclusive..... We arrived and were shown to our room in a quick order after first signing a few papers.. The room was nice and clean, old fashioned but not a problem as it gave you the Portugese feel, the staff were amazing and we even made little bonds with a few of them, the rest of the hotel was nice and clean, drinks were always there to get. The games room for us was a big deal every night we would grab a few drinks and Pringles from the bar and then head off to the games room where my son enjoyed going on the helicopter or the digger, he also enjoyed the sitting on the motorbike game with me, there was also prize games to play, me and my misses enjoyed playing the air hockey, pool or even the basketball game where we went head to head and it got heated lol... The entertainment was really good, our first proper night they brought in some parrots that could speak and other things we got a picture with me and my son holding them, they even three a quiz night where you had teams. The walk to the beautiful beach was nothing 5 mins if that has a nice amount of bars on the beach to get drinks from, next to the beach is the stripe where all the shops are from restaurants to souvenirs shops and ice cream parlours. The only thing I would say wasn't good was he good especially the breakfast was hit and miss, well breakfast was never good for me but lunch and dinner were 50/50 but never really bad and the pool was freezing way too cold and tasted like salt way too much. Besides these two little things we all loved the holiday, the hotel, the staff and the destination and we would 100% go again.
Nice hotel and holiday but staff very rude
Don't get me wrong - you get what you pay for in life and this place was cheap when we went. The food was good and the pool area was nice. I'ts very close to the nightlife and the beach and the rooms were clean. It's a good, basic hotel overall. Sadly on the last day, we went to check out and our transfer was at around 3pm. They cut our half board wrist bands and told us that we would not be able to get lunch there despite this being included in the holiday. Their argument was that the last lunch was not included and the one on the first day was. I explained that we were not able to get the lunch on the first day as the flight didn't arrive until 9pm. They didn't care until it became a big argument at reception and only then they gave us a ticket for lunch. Having an argument on the last day of holiday when you're already due to go home is not nice!
so bad
this place gave me the boke, feared up to the max don’t stay here unless u want to feel like ur in the jail the pool was like shreks swamp but worse, i liked the picture of the dolphin right enough, didn’t make up for the lack of aircon though. VERY disappointing !
Think about the price you pay
If I was paying extortionate prices then I wouldn't be happy with my holiday however, we paid £1300 10 days all inclusive including flights transfers and luggage for me my partner and two children. The rooms was cleaned every other day, we got fresh towels on request, we was over looking the pool. Yes you have to pay for the beds by the pool but least you don't have to rush for one and fight through crowds like most all inclusive resorts. The drinks was basic in the day but as it was a family holiday a soft drink and the odd beer was fine by us then the spirits start from 8pm in another bar. The snack bar is good if you are a fussy eater, breakfast wasn't the best food but snacks opened at 11am so I was happy with a coffee some mornings then waiting until 11am. Me, my partner & the kids didn't go hungry. The life guards are very friendly, as was all the staff we interacted with. There's also a lovely Irish bar next door which does nice cocktails. That all said, on the last day we seen a cockroach on the floor in the bar.
The Pipe’s Annual foreign jaunt
Well where do I start? Arrived at 11am only to be told that I couldn’t book in until 4pm. Booked in at 4pm didn’t get into our room until 5:15pm as we were told that we were on the 1st floor, then the 3rd floor, then the 1st floor again, then told that the barrel in the door was broken and the handyman was en route to our room on the 3rd floor, no sign of the said handyman who apparently had gone to the 1st floor while we were on the 3rd floor... After going back to reception and losing my temper (which I have never done on holiday) was told by another receptionist that we were actually on the 13th floor! Got into the room at 5:15pm, bearing in mind that when I booked this hotel with Travel Republic it was cheap and cheerful.... I have booked cheap and cheerful on a few occasions and up until this point have never, ever had to clean a room (allegedly the cleaners had been into the room and had cleaned it) there was splashes of tomato soup inside the microwave, food debris on the worktops in the kitchen area, the fridge was absolutely manking, the list goes on.... and to top it all off didn’t have enough crockery and glasses for 4 adults.... asked for more.... was promptly told no way and would have to manage with what I had!!! The pool area.... on arrival in the afternoon I spotted something very odd... there were lots of sunbeds but people were putting towels on the floor... turns out that you had to pay for sunbeds and parasols (per day)... also I had to pay for the hire of a kettle, toaster and a tv remote (tv was bloody useless as didn’t pick up any channels at all)... have only ever paid for tv remote at all other hotels I’ve stayed at... the only thing I’m really thankful for is that we were Self Catering as speaking to a few other Brits at the hotel said the food was shocking.... people on AI couldn’t get a drink after 6 at the pool bar as she’d shut up shop at 5:45pm!!! The resort itself is beautiful and well worth a holiday but please don’t stay here.... absolutely shocking and I’m no Mrs Bucket by any stretch of the imagination as I’ve said prior I’ve paid similar to stay in hotels in the Canaries and the Balearics and they’ve been far far better than the one we ended up in!!!! You have been warned!!!!