Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort

nadia makni

Just had an amazing stay at Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort! The rooms were spacious and modern, and the staff couldn't have been friendlier. We enjoyed the variety of delicious dining options and the beautiful pool areas. Perfect for a relaxing and luxurious getaway – highly recommend! PS : Try the Thai pop up best Thai food I ever had !

Fred Ahern

We booked Anantara having visited the hotel in Oman for a dinner and thinking it was one of the best hotels that we had seen. We therefore had decided that we couldn’t go far wrong, however we were very disappointed. We paid £2500 for 6 nights. The website makes the pool look beautiful, and looking out over an amazing golf-course. However this is old. This golf course is currently a building site. There is not a single patch of grass to be seen. What you can see is diggers and rollers as far as the eye can see building the new golf course. As an added bonus you get all of the dust and noise of a building site while you try and relax by the pool. This had been the case for 3 months already and will be the case for a further few months. The hotel knows this. They deliberately do not let prospective guests know this as otherwise you would not book. The website had boasted adult only pool, eating areas and other facilities. Unfortunately this is not the reality. Large numbers of the families from the family side come over to the adult side every morning and set up camp for the day. The pool regularly had children playing ball games etc. It also meant that the sun loungers were at full capacity at all time. There are no adult only eating areas. It isn’t really possible to have a romantic, or intimate dinners. There were children in the gym, in the lounge by the bar, in all the restaurants and by the pool. The only children free area was the adult rooms. We decided to go for the half-board option at the hotel. The Anantara Vilamoura fell short again. The salad bar, cheese bar, and cold meats are all fantastic, but beyond that the food is more akin to school dinners. The meat, fish and vegetables have all pretty much been sitting hot for hours (especially if you try and eat late to avoid the crèche). The meat and fish was always dry, and the vegetables were grey and soggy. It was underwhelming enough that we ate out on 2 of our nights that we were there despite having paid for dinner. We were told that drinks weren’t included (not an issue given my wife was pregnant and i was choosing not to drink alcohol with her). However when we were charged 14 EUR on the first night for a singular bottle of water i was pretty shocked. They assured me that as it was Panna water this was definitely worth it. Given that a bottle costs roughly 2EUR this seemed ridiculous. We brought our own water going forward. My wife has Coeliac disease and is therefore allergic to gluten. This is especially dangerous when pregnant. At the restaurant they kindly mark up what allergens are in each item in the buffet. However further investigation highlighted that these were not correct. On two occasions we had plates of food taken off us after we just decided to check that they didn’t have gluten in. We were assured on 3 consecutive nights that they would rectify this on the subsequent night, but eventually they gave up and put a sign up in the entrance saying that if you have any allergens you must declare it when you enter and meet directly with the chef. This seems crazy. These meals are charged at EUR50 per head per night. I will leave you to decide if it is worth it. On the positives - the rooms were beautiful and very well set up. The reception and porter staff were charming and very helpful, and, if you eat late in the evening, the restaurant was, if anything, OVER attentive once you were at your table (be prepared to be offered drinks c.5 times in your first 5 mins of sitting). We are generally not big complainers at hotels, we don’t view ourselves as hotel critics or having particularly difficult tastes. However, we felt that we had over-paid for this trip and been mis-sold what we were getting. We are young(ish) and had splashed out a lot on a big holiday that fell quite a long way short of what we were hoping for. Our friends and family have been shocked when we told them that it was an Anantara hotel, given the reputation.

Gerard

Pay for use of indoor pool. Pay for drinks brought to pool side. Breakfast wasn't the greatest. Meant to be 5 star hotel, seen better 3 star hotels. Free shuttle to maraina at Vilamoura, from hotel and back to hotel wasn't a good service. Had to use taxi's

Vanessa owers

I’ve been to Portugal a few times and haven’t found a hotel that I’ve really liked that I would go back to. However, I cannot wait to stay in the Anantara again. Me and my partner loved it. The food was great, location was great (especially because we are both golfers) and what made it extra special was the staff. The cleaners were so lovely and they come in a few times a day and make sure everything is stocked up in the fridge. I found the staff really cared about their guests and tbh that can be rare to find. So well done to everyone’s team work. What a lovely holiday we had.

Therese Brorsson

We checked in today and it was below all of my expectations. Since we were early we where offered to go to the pool. The kids pool area looks nothing like the adult area. It's looks like a budget hotel area with dirty sunbeds. We ordered lunch and got served nothing that can be compared to 5 star hotel restaurants. My ceasar sallad was uneatable. The taste was just of anchovies and I had to send it back. My son ordered fish stick and was served some precooked fish sticks that you can buy at Aldi or Lidl. Even though nothing was homemade it was still high priced. We went to the sunbeds and didn't get any service. The toilets was not clean and without toilet paper. The bartender in the lobby area was unable to make a virgin pina colada since it was 90% pineapple juice. Our room was over 30 minutes late and while we got there the shower was full of mold. Later on the late housekeeping continously rang on the door at 9 o'clock while I was in the shower and my kids was sleeping. Who has housekeeping that late on the family area? Since I was in the shower I couldn't open but that didn't stop them from opening the door and after that thet didn't close it properly. Please do your self a favor and book Domes Lake instead. We stayed there the last time and they definitely work harder for their 5 stars.