Vilalara Grand Hotel Algarve

“Wonderful and peaceful stay”

Our overall experience was excellent and we loved the quiet and pristine environment of the resort throughout our stay. For starters, we arranged transfers to and from hotel, our transfers went well both ways and our drivers were friendly and attentive if we requested they slow down. I suffer fr... more

Our overall experience was excellent and we loved the quiet and pristine environment of the resort throughout our stay. For starters, we arranged transfers to and from hotel, our transfers went well both ways and our drivers were friendly and attentive if we requested they slow down. I suffer from motion sickness and quick lane changing can make for an unpleasant ride. Once communicated we had a good experience. Upon arrival at hotel we were greeted and someone helped with our luggage. Check in was straightforward and we received a map and brief overview prior to a brief golf cart tour which took us and our luggage to the room. It was helpful as the property is large and we like getting a lay of the land. Upon entering our room, we were pleased with the light bright colors, and cleanliness. We were provided welcome sparkling wine and some pastries which was needed, as travel is stressful and we hadn’t had much to eat or drink since leaving Porto and had flight delays and short connections. My husband hates clutter and he loved that the room had furnishings but not too much as some 5 star hotels do. (He commented after our 3 week stay throughout Portugal and the Canary Islands that this was by far his favorite hotel of our vacation). The balcony was a great size and allowed us to sit and enjoy the sunrise or nespresso early before breakfast each day. We were in room 9404 and the view was panoramic of the sea. We tend to always book sea view and as close to the water as we can get when in vacation as the sounds are relaxing. The room view did not disappoint. Room amenities were also excellent, and we were provided extra coffee pods when requested as well as having some items added to our minibar in case we wanted them throughout our stay. The bathroom was good sized. Our only complaint was our shower water pressure was very poor, like nonexistent. For someone with very long hair it took a long time to wash out shampoo and sand from a day at the beach. Hopefully that can be fixed. Additionally there were few outlets in the room and took some maneuvering on our part to get all our items charged in a rotation. Perhaps one suggestion would be that if an upgrade happens a few more outlets would make the stay more comfortable for some. That aspect didn’t detract from our stay but I mention it as folks with more items may struggle. The service we received from our room attendants was excellent. We also throughly enjoyed the breakfast, and interaction with breakfast staff. As a vegetarian there were plenty of wonderful options and the fruits, juices and egg station were all wonderful. We weren’t pool people so can’t comment on that, but we did enjoy the beach and always look to stay with hotels that have direct beach access given our preference. The hotel did not disappoint in this regard. For food and drink options, we had dinner at two restaurants on site, the trattoria and sadly can’t recall the name of the other. Our experience at the unnamed location was excellent and a good first night of our trip. However our experience at the trattoria wasn’t great. While the food was just ok, our service was not attentive and we struggled when ready to leave to get our bill settled. We had other Italian food in nearby towns that was far better with more attentive service than this and value for money just wasn’t there. We loved the bar service and were appreciative of the wine recommendations from the staff for an after dinner take to room selection. We didn’t experience one unfriendly person on the staff and everyone was helpful. Overall, this is an excellent hotel and likely the favorite of our vacation. We would definitely stay here again and would recommend this location for our friends wanting to visit the Algarve.

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