Hotel Pestana Alvor Praia

- Fantastic location close to the beach, very good pool such as breakfast and evening meal. - Cleanliness, service and general sensation that do not meet the requirements of a 5 star hotel. I do not blame the staff, they do their best but they are very few in comparison to the number of the guests. It is obvious that the hotel "invest" more on its location than on the quality of the service. BUT, all this decreases significantly the value for money ratio.

We’ve been coming to this hotel for over a decade most recently for family holidays with our 3 and 7 year old. For ankle-biters it’s hard to beat, there are indoor and outdoor pools both of which have areas even our 3 yr old can paddle in. The beach is easy to reach via a private lift from the hotel pool area. The beach is very clean with good sand for digging and a gentle slope out to sea and has five restaurants all walking distance from the hotel. There is an all day kids club but we don’t use it. There’s a fun crazy golf course and simple playground on site. The breakfast buffet is excellent with huge variety including kid-friendly options. Evening buffet is fine but we tend to eat out. Drinks and snacks around the pool are expensive; paying €4.50 for a child’s small apple juice poured from a €1.00 litre carton is frustrating but would be our only complaint. There’s a local pizza place which is very good and reasonably priced as well as a small supermarket. Our accommodation was lovely with two double rooms both with sea views, a living area, terrace and bathroom. Bags of space and super comfortable. Staff are all welcoming and kind, nothing is too much bother for them. An adult couple looking for a high-end 5 star experience might find more faults, but for an easy Algarve holiday with young kids with lots of variety of things to do and places to eat you can’t go wrong with this hotel. Highly recommend.