On arrival we thought we'd made a big mistake! Overall the reviews we'd read had been mostly positive, but for the odd ones which mentioned "Prisoner Cell Block H" - and looking at the apartments we knew exactly where those reviews were coming from!
How wrong could we have been... yes the apatments were basic and did need some updating but as we only used them for sleeping in, they were fine and clean... and once we took a good look around the complex and saw how hard the gardeners worked looking after the grounds, the apartments started to look "almost" pretty!
The Entertainment Team made the holiday for us - they were great, a team of 2 girls and 2 boys, they worked from morning til night with something organised at 11am and 3 pm for anyone who wanted to join in (adults and children alike), organised the evening entertainment , and were on hand in the hippo club most of the day for the younger children.
Alvor was beautiful, a quiet fishing village by day, streets filled with people, bars and restaurant sloping down to the harbour's fish restaurants by night.
We went with two other couples and 6 children (aged 5 to 11) and we had such a good time that we're talking about going back to the Quinta Nova next year. The only trouble we may have, and this might answer another reviewer's question, the staff at the Quinta Nova told us that their parent company were planning a major refurbishment starting at the end of this season, but in May it had still not been given the go ahead. If we can book it, then we'll definitely be going back
All I can say about the "bad reviews", maybe they don't have children or, without wanting to sound rude, maybe they don't share our sense of fun!

We are just back from our holiday.When booking this holiday we thought it would be a great place but it wasnt. When we arrived at our appartments they were handy as they were beside the reception and near the pool. The apartments are very modern and when you 1st walk in theres a bad smell, the rooms are dated kitchen is very small the bedroom you have to shove the 2beds together to make a double bed and the bathroom the tiles are cracked and the shower well i wouldnt call it a shower. The maintainance man came to fix ours then we couldnt get a bath what ever way he fixed it. I would never stay in them apartments again as i thought they would have been better they looked great in the brochure.

The entertainment at the resort was excellent for children and adults they do put on a great show. You have to get involved in their games and you will be sure to enjoy yourself. The pool i thought was very clean near the bar. My son really enjoyed himself for the 2weeks. I would go back again to Alvor the mora but i would never go back to that resort because of the apartments if they were up to scratch i would definitly go back....

After booking this years holiday , at Club Praia De Rocha, I used Trip Advisor to look at the accomodation and see what other travellers thought.
What had I booked ? The accomodation was on holiday truths and the truth was, I wasnt going there !!
So I changed my booking and went to the Quinta Nova.
We had the most fantastic time, accomodation was great, a bit dated but very clean. The Entertainers were great and the nightly entertainment was, well , lets say funny ...
We enjoyed our holiday so much that on returning home, we booked for next year .
We have now just found out that the accomodation is not available next year, does anyone know why ? Our accomodation has been changed .. and we want to go to the Quinta Nova.
If anyone has the same problem or knows why, Please leave a review on this site ..

Trip Advisor Member: Exeter (UK)

We have just returned from our holiday at Quinta Nova Sun Club. All of us enjoyed our stay for the following reasons. - (1) Our accomodation was clean. (2) The range of food available was very good. (3) The staff worked extremely hard to ensure we had a good holiday. All of these factors helped contribute to a relaxed stay.

Seven of us went on holiday, two adults and one child in one party, and two adults with two children in the other. From my point of view I would like to say thank you to all the staff at Quinta Nova for making our stay so enjoyable. We booked "all inclusive" and this arrangement worked very well.

I should also mention that Alvor is a delightful location to visit at night - well worth the 15 minutes walk.