We visited this hotel in 2013 (and 14), and we decided spontaneously to come back here for my wife's birthday. The hotel has, in the last few months, come under new ownership, but we had just as enjoyable an experience as last time we were here and the staff have always been very friendly and accommodating. Our room was perfectly nice, and quite fresh feeling which we were pleased about. Breakfast was perfect, everything you could want, we were more than happy with it. The spa area was lovely, and we used the sauna, steam room and jacuzzi for free, as well as table tennis. There were tennis courts outside our room, they cost €30 euro if two of you want to hire rackets and play so we didn't avail of that. They were very kind in providing a lovely cake and glasses of champagne for my wife's birthday, and all in all we would be happy to come back here to stay again.…
Went away with my boyfriend and his family to this location we was tried from flight so decided to have dinner at the restaurant. we went to the bar which did a very nice ####star martini though later when we did order one they didn't bring the processco shot. we went to the restaurant and ordered 4 starters only 3 showed up and when we asked where my ribs was they told me they had forget, when I did finally get my ribs it was 4 very small ribs and a plate covered in crisps. when came to our mains i had ordered the burger with fries and my boyfriend ordered the steak with wedges. the burger was served with a side of crisps (again) and the burger its self was ok. My boyfriends Steak came which was very small and half of it was fat (hadn't received the wedges). his parents were also unimpressed as his dad pork was served with crisp and his mums wrap was tasteless. half way though eating they bought over the side salads much to the waiters confusion who looked vissablely confused. we sent them back as was already near end of meal, once we had done they bought over my partners wedges (again waiter was confused) which we sent back. we complained to the wait staff who tried there best and was asked to ask the chef the chef didn't seam to care i should also mention was only our group and once other and we waited 20-30 mins between courses which didn't make sense as dinning room was empty was not very impressed we complained and kept being told be passed on and in the end just said the chef said was good so shows lack of care from chef who had only been there 4-5 days according the waiter (wait staff was very good at trying to fix issue) . we did give breakfast a try the next day and luckily was no Crisps to be seen. was lovely choice except all the food was stone cold so meant had to get someone to heat it up which wasn't to bad as was happy to do it. i also was not that impressed with the room as the bed was very hard and when went to grab one of towels from the bathroom found a brown crusty mark on it. Over all i had a nice time on the holiday just not at the hotel. room was liveable which meant it was okay i guess. over all holiday was amazing would recommend eating at Sizzling stone and levels food and cocktails was great. I also recomnd the boat tours and seeing the sights as was very enjoyable if you want to eat go elsewhere burger king down the road would even be a better option least all the food is given to you at once.…
Well, I really wanted to rate this place highly but unfortunately, it just doesn’t warrant it. The hotel, pools, gardens, whole premises, are indeed, 5 star level. The two bed apartment we had here was also great; spacious and convenient for reception areas etc. Sadly, that’s where things go downhill. As reported by others, fixtures and fittings are starting to show their age and linen - towels in particular - not of 5 star standard at all. Location is indeed, quite remote and a car really is essential. No complaints with that. Easy to find, plenty of parking. But now the things that really kill this place; service and food. The one restaurant open at this time of year is the Olive Tree. All meals are there, certainly in December anyway. We were full board. Bad mistake. Breakfast is really poor. Very limited choice, no egg station or anything like it. The hot food left out in buffet style is lukewarm and bland, tasteless and for the 4 days we were there, very repetitive. Limited fresh fruit; largely just bread and pastry products. Coffee is a basic machine and no hot drinks (tea etc) are offered when you take you seat. Lunch and dinner food is ok. Just ok though. Basic. Limited. So this is where 2 stars really kicks in. Service. Appalling. No one seems interested, trained, in charge or remotely aware that this is a 5 star hotel (yeah, right!). We simply could not believe the lack of care or understanding of how to treat customers here. Frankly, with a couple of exceptions, most of the staff here seem to have never worked in the hospitality industry before. Maybe staff shortages are such that they’re filling in with anyone they can find but I don’t think we’ve ever experienced such dreadful service. And we use budget hotels lot in UK. Massively better experience. No one to complain too. Bizarrely, almost feels like no one is in charge or responsible. When we did complain one evening (Christmas dinner!) - that after one hour from time of taking our seats for allocated time of booking we had not received any food at all - the staff seemed to just row and argue amongst themselves. Ask for a drink if you need one too; you won’t be offered one as a matter of course! We left without eating. Not ideal for Christmas. Didn’t go back for dinner again ( waste of full board, I know), Not going to blame the staff themselves; generally a pleasant enough bunch. Whoever runs this place though needs to give their head a good shake. Still reeling at how much we paid to stay at this place. One word; don’t.…
I chose this resort because of its close proximity to my favourite golf course which is Gramacho and although it was built at a similar time it has no connection with the golf course which is a shame that said it is a great place to stay with lots to see and do one small criticism would be the hotel guests being too far removed from the reception
My self and other groups of family and friends booked several rooms with the ability to cancel and receive a refund up to 24 hours before our stay. We unfortunately had to cancel our rooms 8 months before our stay, however, we have been waiting 8 weeks for our refund despite many email requests to the hotel. This is incredibly frustrating and unacceptable.
We stayed as a family of four in the deluxe 2 bedroom apartment. The rooms were spacious and clean and the facilities were excellent. Good variety of delicious food for breakfast and the staff throughout our stay were not only attentive but efficient and very friendly. My only suggestion would be to offer shuttle service to the town centre particularly as this is a five star hotel. Overall, we would definitely recommend the hotel and we hope to return soon. Thank you for making our holiday a memorable experience.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. This was our third stay, but our first since covid. Things have changed. No security on the gates, no free transfers to beaches, no onsite mini market, restricted opening times for the Jasmin bar and a very limited evening menu. The staff appear less happy than in previous years which has a direct impact on their level of service. It’s still branded as a 5 star venue, but it’s far from it. The hot breakfast was mediocre. Luke warm at best. But that’s OK. It could have just been bad timing on our part (we were there for shortly after 8am). The two most jarring experiences involved members of staff. Firstly, my wife had a very unexpected sanitary emergency (let’s just say it was 2 weeks early) and went to reception in the hope that they could help seeing how remote the location is. “No madam” is the response she got. There was clearly no language barrier as the security guard, who my wife had originally asked, understood and spoke to the lady as my wife approached reception shortly after opening. Anyhow, she was given a very short response, with the woman barely able to look her in the eye. THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR A 5 STAR RESORT. So we had to ask them to arrange a taxi to take us to Carvoeiro, which took a painful 40 minutes to arrive. The night before, at the Olive bar, I’d noticed “Cabernet Sauvignon” on the drinks menu. I ordered 2 glasses, only to see Sauvignon Blanc turn up. When I pointed out the mistake the waiter said “Cabernet is red, Cabernet Sauvignon is white”. After I told him Cabernet Sauvignon is never white, his response was”Of course it is”. “no it’s not” I said… his reply was “Of course it is”. I was stunned as his lack of customer service skills. After more arguing in which I attempted to educate him on the difference between Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon blanc, I shouted (which I shouldn’t have done) that he needs to google Cabernet Sauvignon because he will find only red wine. He stomped off to bring me the bottle, which as you can guess said “Sauvignon blanc”. He finally took away the two glasses (without an apology), and this experience left me never wanting to return to that bar ever again, and as the only bar on site it left us with very few options. Can I just say that even if I was wrong about the wine (which I wasn’t) the waiter should never have spoken to me like that. THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR A FIVE STAR HOTEL. What happened to my wife the next morning was the icing on the cake, so I went onto booking.com and found a hotel in Carvoeiro. We checked out, never to return, and relocated for the rest of the holiday. …
We enjoyed the honeymoon package; our 1 bedroom house was lovely, with a relaxing garden area and loungers. We ate every evening at the Olive tree restaurant and the food was excellent, the staff were all very friendly and helpful. We had the most amazing experience at the Spa - the staff were so kind and thoughtful.
Comfortable, quiet hotel. The standard rooms are very spacious with very comfortable beds. However, they need updating to meet level of 5 star rating - poor lighting, no USB points and towels clean but frayed. The hotel has gym but some equipment needs updating. There are 2 tennis courts which are adequate but could benefit from resurfacing. These are only small concerns. The staff are excellent and very friendly and attentive. I would happily stay again.
This is our 4th visit to Vale d'Oliveiras Resort and it did not disappoint again. Excellent self catering spacious accommodation in bungalow. Large lounge and bedroom with good size kitchen and bathroom. We used the on site restaurant for dinner which was very good and reasonably priced. Good pool area for families but each bungalow has its own area outside with sunbeds and table and chairs for eating out. Air conditioned which we needed as weather excellent. The resort is about 15 minutes by car outside Carviero but very close to Pestana Golf resorts with 2 courses Gramacho and Pinta. We will be back to this excellent resort
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