Pinhal Da Marina

We had a two bed apartment in block 12 on 1st floor overlooking the garden, apartment was dated a lot of brown wood panels, two bedrooms very small, kitchen was grand and well stocked with everything you need, a large bottle of water was left in for us, sitting room and balcony good size. No bar area or reception area after 10 pm at night if you wanted to sit and have a drink. There are two pool areas , very quiet. The restaurant is more like a café then restaurant we only looked in did not eat there. There is no mini market on site which would be of benefit to all guests staying to get basic supplies, the nearest Supermarket Spar is about 10 mins walk away down a slight hill so if carrying up waters and messages in the heat it can feel longer going back up to apartments. Walk down to Marina is 15 mins and taxi back up at night €5 there is a taxi rank at Marina. Marina full of nice restaurants and bars with entertainment. Taxi to Albufeira old town €26 to get there. Quiet location, more residential, no mad crowds.

Took a chance with this hotel as booked late and it was the only one with availability. Fantastic hotel, we had a 1 bed apartment 8111, end of the block, huge verandas with sun loungers that caught the sun in the morning and until 6.00 pm. Pools - clean and warn. The one by the apartment was quieter, often had it to ourselves. Restaurant - we were half board but this seems to be a rare case as there were only 2 of us. Breakfast is continental and plenty of choice with good quality food. Evening meal - limited choice of 2 dishes but well cooked, tasty and nutritious. Consisted of 4 courses with table water. Other drinks you had to pay for. Really quiet, I had the best nights sleep here. Beds are a little hard. There is no evening entertainment so the whole place is quiet from around 11.00 pm. Heaven for us. We used it as a base for cycling and have to say we were disappointed. The hotel advertises itself as a Bikhotel with a workshop. The receptionist was reluctant to give us a key and we never saw it. She said it was just a small cupboard. The roads too and from our apartment were virtually impossible to cycle on as they were made of some form of patterned substance that was very uneven. We may come back purely because we loved the food and its peaceful location, but in my view it was expensive for what you got.

I have stayed here several times and always enjoyed it. Appartments are dated, dark wardrobes etc and patio doors not working properly but overall enjoyable and lovely location is the best. One very disappointing thing this time is the fact I asked for two extra bath towels for room as there is 4 of us and two of them are young one a girl in early 20's with very long thick hair. There was a big fuss made of asking for those two extra towels, something I never witnessed before and an experienced member of staff who I recognise from previous stays questioned me in from of another customer as to why I needed two more towels, I couldn't quite believe that they wud be so unprofessional about it and cause such a fuss.