Arrived to a very wet Vila Sol Hotel. First impressions nice gardens / pool / room.

As we arrived in the evening we decided to have a quick bite to eat from the bar. I would say there were about 15 people in the bar at this time so not busy.. However when we approached the barman to order our food he told us it was not possible as he was working on his own!!! i was a little confused and asked does that mean that you have to make the food yourself as i could clearly see another couple eating food from the bar menu? He replied "no" it was that he couldn’t process the request??? any way eventually he gave in and typed our food order into the computer and we were able to eat.. Had another disastrous lunch at the pool bar on our last day. We ordered our four meals and so did another family next to us. When the food came out they gave our order to the family even though they had ordered two different meals. We new that there was a mix up as we could see there was a problem but on no occasion did a member of staff come over and explain what was happening. So we waited for our food which by this time had been taken back into the kitchen ( why they did not give the food to us i don’t know). Anyway 40mins later after the mix up the food comes out STONE COLD!!!!!! we refused to eat the rubbery pasta and cold toasted sandwiches and not once did we get an apology just a snigger.. This was a an unpleasant end to an otherwise relaxing/ enjoyable holiday.

However -
The Spa at the resort was very good. The beauty therapists were lovely and one spoke impeccable English which was fantastic. Not to forget the Great Golf at Vila sol- so I was told by my partner.

I have stayed in many five star hotels around the world and this would be the first hotel I would really question the rating.

My wife and me booked a last minute holiday to Portugal (3 days to book) and the Travel Agent managed to cobble together this holiday to the Vila Sol Spa. We flew from Newcastle to Faro and had a Taxi transfer to the hotel. The hotel is the main building in what is a massive complex of hotel rooms, bungalows and villas covering a wide area. We were put in an apartment which was aprox a 15 min walk from the hotel and its facilities. (A courtesy bus was always available). The apartment we had was in a block of about a hundred or so with a pool serving the guests. There were poolside showers, washrooms and sunbeds. Nothing else. No towels, no poolside bar, no other guest facilities. We had to call for transport each morning for breakfast to and from the hotel and whenever we wanted to go to the main complex.
The apt No was in the 400- 500 so if you go and draw these numbers ask for a room closer to the hotel. The apartment, two bedroom had all facilities but would be only 4 star standard. Beds were very firm.
The hotel hosts many meetings and all week various groups were having seminars in the hotel. The golf course is a 50yd walk from the hotel and while being a golfer did not partake due to the excessive heat (and cost of green fees,club hire etc). Sir Bobby Robson fronts a golf tournament here with various retired footballers etc.
The hotel and staff are very good. A swimming pool is handy at the main hotel (indoor pool also) with towels, loungers and poolside bar. There is a childrens play area.
The buffet breakfast is excellent taken in the hotels Ala Carte restaurant. The evening meals are excellent. If you want to push the boat out then dine in the L"Olive gourmet restaurant at the golf club. A very intimate atmosphere with huge glass walls that slide down into the ground. The food is superb. The wine very good, try the Golfers wine at 20 euros, good enough for your meal.
The hotel, facilities and restaurants are 5 star but is a bit on the expensive side. If you fancy a winter break here then check out the adverts in the back of any good golf magazine where very good prices can be found. I believe many apartments are privately owned so it is possible to log onto an owners web site and cobble your own holiday together at a good discount to a travel agent.
Coutesy buses take you into Vilamoura (make your own way back) 3 times a day and more frequently to the private beach with returns to the hotel.
All in all a good hotel but given the vast area and continual building of villas going on There are many other options available.

We stayed in the Vila Sol in a "Garden view suite".
In general, we liked the hotel, but if you stayed in other "Leading Hotels of the World" you may be dissapointed. We did expect more.
The room is big, but basic. In most 5 stars hotels there are some "touches" or gestures, like a welcome basket of fruit, or flowers in your room. There are no "special amenities".
The grounds are big, calm, silent and green. it's a welcomed change from the typical "beehive" vacations hotels. You don't feel in a crowded place.
Staff is nice and helpful, they want to help but they lack initiative. They would respond to your request but wouldn't try to anticipate your needs. Upon check in, for example, we didn't receive any information on the hotel, the SPA, the beach club, etc. The bad information from front desk was a constant feature. For example, we didn't konw how the SPA worked, or that the Beach Club has three different sections, far away from each other.
The SPA is far from the hotel, and you can't access if you haven't booked a treatement.
The beach is far (around 15/20 minutes by car). it is, however, beautiful and spacious. you don't feel crowded there either. it is, however, a little trek to get there. Facilities in the beach (like toilets or showers) aren't good. The sea is cold, but you get used to it.
Breakfast was fine, not "wow", but ok. We were dissapointed with the buffet dinner. We found there was little choice and quality of the food wasn't great. We don't recommend it. We didn't try the "Olive" restaurant, which is supposed to be very good.
The pool is much smaller than what you see in the website. Sunbeds are a problem when the hotel is full. Everybody "reserves" them before going to breakfast. The pool bar is OK, but we were disspointed that they don't come to you to offer drinks to your sunbeds.
Children Club is nice and well catered, but again, we found the girls in charge lacking initiative.
In general, the hotel seems very golf oriented.
In sum, nice and relaxing, yet, attention to detail is missing and. We liked it, but we wouldn't qualify this hotel as a "Leading HOtel of the World".
it was our first visit to the Algarve and we loved the region. The weather is fantastic, warm but not suffocating, and there's a permanent breeze that makes it really nice.

We were looking for a quick break in the sun, without 5* hotel prices.

We booked a 2 bed Vila Sol apartment for around £1,500 for the week. The apartment was spacious and it's facilities good, although the aircon was a bit hit and miss - worked well in Bed 1, not so in Bed 2. It was new and pretty clean, and we had the terrace as we were on the Ground Floor, which was great! The daily maids simply changed the bed linen and towels, no bathroom or floor cleaning.

The pool was fairly small within the block we were in, and unfortunately was all families with small children whilst we were there - no teenagers - much to the disappointment of my own! Just timing - can't control that.

We did hire a car which we used all week, to and from the Marina, supermarket, airport and hotel.

The hotel was fine, but we thought that we would have been disappointed had we booked it expecting 'Leading Hotel of the World' standard. We spent one morning by the pool there - not sure if we were supposed to - and had breakfast and dinner on a couple of occasions. Breakfast was good, dinner was an overpriced buffet. Ate at the Golf Club restaurant one lunchtime, which was fine until my daughter found a lettuce leaf crawling with bugs in her salad!

All in all, a week which gave us what we wanted, but we wouldn't rush to return.