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Pool

Great staff but what is happening with the hotel infrastructure? Since arriving on the 13th June (yes we are still staying at the hotel) there has been power outage after power outage, & false fire alarm after false fire alarm. As I’m typing this the power has just come back on - how long for, well your guess is as good as mine. Not sure whether the issues are hotel wide or restricted to floor 6 where our room is, but it’s sadly spoiled our stay. Not sure whether it’s linked to the power outage, but there’s also a horrendous smell coming from the bathroom (no jokes please, I’m not in the mood). The 2 stars are because the hard working staff are so courteous & accommodating - it would be 1 star otherwise.

Constant power outages & false fire alarms

Stayed 4 times at this hotel so obviously a firm favourite! The staff are lovely, very helpful & efficient. Last year I found the room noisy when people came in late at night - the room was on the 3rd floor above the entrance - this time I asked for a quiet room so I was in 429. Room lovely but it was near an area where the staff sort things out so it was disturbing during the night with their comings & goings. I bought earplugs !! 
Everything else was wonderful, see you next year hopefully 🤞

Sunny holiday

Staff, room, argo bar, breakfast all fabulous. Pool area is lovely but people had reserved sunbeds in advance of pool opening time with items such as tee shirts, books, sunglass cases, flip-flops etc. It was difficult at 9 am to find 2 beds together with an umbrella. This situation should not be allowed & the pool attendants should remove these items. It's not appropriate in a five star hotel. However I do think overall this hotel is wonderful.

Fabulous Hotel

I don't write critical reviews if, with foreknowledge, I would still have visited.  So here goes. 

The location is excellent and all staff very helpful and polite. The hotel had the best holiday hotel pool I've had. Problems are two fold: noise and a general improvement in maintenance etc needed.

The hotel can do little about the building works in the marina - which will pass, but the relentless, monotonous bass- thump etc of the music from Purabeach is entirely self-inflicted. Purabeach may be set apart from the main public areas; no matter, all residents are subjected to loud music from mid morning until well into the evening whether around the pool or on sea-facing balconies. The lyrics are loud and clear. I was lucky, I could take out my hearing aids. I could understand if Tivoli were pursuing a well-healed '18-30' customer base but the average demographic was MUCH older.  The Purobeach facilities looked barely used - although very high prices may mean that it is still be profitable After complaining, the volume was turned down, only to slowly creep up over time.
 
The building fit-out needs a little attention. From faulty lights in the lifts, to the standard of showers etc; I had to fix a faulty waste pipe in sink - was easier than going through the front desk, which didn't always yield the desired result. I challenge Management to shower in Suite 717 and not find that the water pressure is unacceptably weak, that the shower tray is dangerously slippy and that the water temperature setting was effectively very hot or cold (with almost nothing in between).

Oh, and did I mention the prices of drinks ?!

Without a change in policy, I couldn't happily visit again - which is a shame.

Unnecessarily noisy and needing a little TLC

This hotel has the perfect location for Vilamoura marina, you literally step outside the door of the hotel on to the marina.  Similarly, right out the back of the hotel is the beach.   We had a sea view room as we had opted for this believing this to be quieter and it seemed to be the right choice, the view was lovely and we were not disturbed by late night noise.

In addition to that there are a number of plus points: 
1) The whole hotel is spotlessly clean, the housekeeping is faultless with twice daily towel changes, cleaning soon after breakfast and a turn down service.  
2) The staff are very friendly and work extremely hard, ordering to your sunbeds is a bonus and all poolside staff are very helpful, from the towel hut to the pool bar.
3) Breakfast is plentiful, although a bit lacking in the yoghurt department and getting a pot of tea can be a challenge.  There is a lot of space in the restaurant, so you are never waiting to be seated and you have a choice of inside or outside.
4) Reception is always open with efficient and friendly staff, fluent in English.
5) Rooms are spacious and well set out with plenty of hanging space and room to get ready.
6) Probably one of the most important facts is that the beds are so comfortable, I have read this on other reviews and they are not wrong.  They are huge but are not the typical two beds pushed together scenario.

 Now for the down sides (and these may not be the same for everyone but were for us) 
1) The hotel was so expensive.  We looked at the menus in the restaurants for the evenings and chose not to use these due to the price.  We went into the bar a couple of times in the evenings but given that two drinks were almost 40 euros, we did not do this again.  A strawberry milkshake at the pool bar was 11 euros etc etc.  This was hugely restrictive on the holiday and given that we paid over £300 per night to stay here it was already an expensive holiday. We found ourselves buying drinks at the supermarket to keep in our room and take to the sunbed rather than ordering from the pool bar.  Similarly, we bought the ready made cocktails from the off licence and took those into the lobby in the evening.  This is not ideal and not how we have ever spent holidays before.
2) It didn't happen to us but a number of guests were complaining that they had been asked to leave the bar as they were dressed in shorts.
3) There was a lack of 'atmosphere' around the hotel, in the lobby area it was huge with plenty of chairs but it was very quiet and even sat there with our drinks and playing cards we felt self conscious.  There were background singers in the bar but given that the lobby is by far the bigger area and better placed for entertainment and coupled with the expense of the bar, all it does is succeed in ensuring everyone goes out around the marina.  Why have all the chairs and sofas in the vast lobby if there is nothing going on there?
4) Similar with around the pool, it could do with something else, it is described as a resort hotel but it does not have this feel, no tennis courts, no aqua aerobics in the pool, no animation team.  In fact we saw people including children being told they could not play with soft balls in the pool.

All in all, it is clear that the hotel and Vilamoura itself is responding to the majority's needs and it appeared that as a hotel and resort for groups of golfers it would be absolutely ideal and there is evidence of that everywhere.  Vilamoura marina has numerous restaurants to choose from with good service and reasonable prices although again can be taken over by large groups regularly.  It is not particularly authentic and having only been to Porto in Portugal prior to this we were disappointed by the lack of traditional Portugese feel.   This is a modern resort built around the marina in the 1980s and still extending but you will not go short of choice and compared to the prices in the hotel eating out is affordable.  

I have had to give this hotel 4 stars because of the extreme cleanliness and professionalism but cannot stretch to 5 stars due to the expense of food and drink.  If golf is your thing then we would highly recommend it.

Excellent location for marina and beach but very pricey and popular with groups of golfers

This hotel is ideally situated by the marina of Vilamoura and Praia da Marina Beach. There is a plethora of shops, a casino and entertainment venues in the immediate vicinity. Vilamoura's lively social and nightlife attracts many celebrities for relaxing weekends and holidays. The hotel's Conference Centre hosts major events, high-level meetings and new product launches. The hotel is a 15-minute walk from the Roman ruins on the opposite side of the marina, and Oceânico Pinhal Golf Course is a 5-minute drive away.

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Tivoli Marina Vilamoura