Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort

A C1 year ago

5/5

Just about to finish up a 7 night stay with family during early March. This really is a fantastic resort and probably made better by coming during off season. The best part of the entire stay is the staff. Every single one was helpful, friendly and went over and above to make you feel attended to. One in particular deserves a special mention (think his name is Saafiro?) always so pleasant and attentive at breakfast. However i wish I remembered more of their names as they all individually made such a good impression on our stay. From the moment you arrive, there are staff to greet you and take your bags. The room is well kept with at least two visits a day that have it spotless after and have nice touches with chocolates and curtains drawn at night time. Found the room staff great even though English might have been an issue (should have learned some Portuguese phrases before coming over). The pool area wasn’t crowded for early March so very relaxing with a big heated pool and a second big pool suitable for small kids. The staff would come down of their own accord and deliver water with selection of fruit in it, free of charge and without being asked also. Very nice touch. The food in the hotel is great once you order the right things. The hummus dish, the prawns, chicken Caesar salad, the side salad, the fish of the day deserve a special mention. Felt the Gnocchi pasta had lovely fresh basil sauce but needed a bit more seasoning/or maybe make the gnocchi smaller themselves to make it tastier. We found it expensive to eat in the hotel every night but the resort provides a free shuttle to Vilamoura where there’s such a great selection of restaurants to try (highly recommend going for Portuguese tapas or Indian food). Very very expensive for alcohol at the bar but reasonable for wine in the restaurant in terms of price. Great wine selection also and recommend asking the staff regarding wines, found them very knowledgeable and passionate about Portuguese wines. Breakfast has a very good buffet selection with lots of pastries, cereals, nuts, seeds, fresh Algarve honey, smoked salmon, fresh detox smoothies that are different combinations every day, selection of fry items, a separate area where they will do whatever type of egg you want to your liking (recommend you time the eggs yourself as they tend to underestimate this given it’s very difficult to monitor times for everyone’s eggs). Found the lady who was the chef looking after this area so friendly and accommodating. Spa was a little underwhelming considering only the sauna was working and spa pool didn’t feel heated. Could see how it would be great if the weather was hotter, the spa would be ideal as you have access to the balcony and lots of seats to relax on with great views over the golf course. The gym is so well stocked with a variety of machines, so well kept looked really clean although I didn’t spend a lot of time there. Some suggestions to improve the hotel would be - paying for a 3 bed room and the third bed being a camp bed is not acceptable for the price. Needs to be a proper bed! - more access to fresh water/ice near rooms however that might be done - reduce expense of drinking at the bar, means more people will not want to stay around at hotel - minibar is crazy expensive - larger sized teacups in the rooms - remove bidet and fit a hand wash sink instead as opening toilet door without washing hands is far from ideal. Overall though, would highly recommend this resort purely just because of the experience with the staff. They really make this place what it is.