If you want a holiday in an unspoiled and wonderful natural environment this is for you. The accomodation is simple but more than adequate. It is low environmental impact and that is right given the very special location in a nature reserve. The facilities around the accomodation are very good and the whole complex is beautiful, well kept and well serviced. Staff are very helpful.

The Ria Formosa national park area is absolutely wonderful and constantly changing depending on tides and weather. We saw chameleon, amazing birds, fantastic flora. The whole area is breathtakingly beautiful.

We travelled by bike (hire available from hotel) along costal roads to unspoiled fishing villiages, inland through fruitful valleys to waterfalls and other amazing natural features and along the safe and well signposted 'ecovia' paths which can take you through the wetlands giving fantastic access to birdlife, through peaceful fishing and inland villiages and to the very beautiful town of Tavira.

If you want tourist bling don't go here. There is no night life to speak of on the site other than a very pleasant piano bar with great staff and generous measures (can recommend the Portugese brandy and excellent local beer) at the time of year we were there anyway. However if you want to see a beautiful part of the world, enjoy being surrounded by interesting wildlife and like miles of clean, beautiful and almost deserted beaches, you will love this place too.

Very nice hotel, beautiful surrounding, 1 km to Natural Park Ria Formosa.

Read some of the reciews on here and was a bit concerned as we were travelling with a 4 year old and a 1 year old. Flight was on time and we got a taxi at the airport to the resort. This was most of our holiday money at once as it is around 50 Euros to make the journey. You can do it loads cheaper if you get the train to Tavira, and we did that journey in reverse back to the airport. The train and 2 taxis to the station and then from Faro station to the airport cost less than £20 for all 4 of us!

The resort is lovely. They ar updating the accommodation over a period of time so some of the apartments are a bit dated. We booked a 2 bed standard and were upgraded to a 2 bedroom superior. It was lovely. Actually it was the one on the ground floor on the picture at the top of these reviews (unless they have changed to pic!) It had a washing machine and a dishwasher, although no detergent for either and we didn't bring any so we washed up using the shampoo sachets and lived to tell the tale! We didn't buy any in the little supermarket because everything in there is REALLY expensive. Looking back we could have brought a suitcase of food with us as we only used one persons hold baggage allowance anyway....

The complex is really quaint. There is a kiddies play area and a kids club, a pool, LOADS of green space for the little ones to run around. The train to the beach is really cute and the kids loved it. You can take a buggy on it too. The walk to the beach is down the side of the railway track and is fully paved if you fancy a stroll.

The bus for Tavira stops outside reception (takes 10 minutes) and from there you can get the train to Faro, Villa Real on the Spanish border and loads of other places. We managed this perfectly easily with 2 small children. There was always a taxi or 2 outside the railway station in Tavira. Reception print you off a bus or train timetable straight away if you ask and will phone a taxi for you.

It is a short walk of about 15 mins or less to get to Santa Lucia. (No distance for us as we walk 25 minutes to and from school every day!) There is a footpath alongside the road. The bus stop for Faro is a bit out of the way, but as I said before, we got a taxi to the railway station and hopped on a train.

I would thoroughly recommend Pedras D'el Rei to families as the beach is lovely and the complex is safe. If you are looking for noisy nightlife and Brits Abroad then avoid it and leave it lovely for us because We are going back next year!

Me and my boyfriend (21 and 23) booked this holiday hoping for relaxation and enjoyment. We wanted somewhere away from the hustle and bustle but still with things to do. After reading some really good comments I was excited! We got there and immediately noticed the drive from the main road to the actual complex was quite a way. But when we arrived we thought the place was lovely - the gardens, the whole environment.

The room we were given was horrendous. It was literally a room with two single beds that doubled up as sofas and a tini bathroom. There were another two beds in a cupboard, I'm not joking. I opened it thinking it was a wardrobe! I cannot believe they would put four people in this room. It wasn't big enough for 1!I never go on expensive holidays, even where I was younger my parents always looked for a bargin. But I can honestly say it was just awful, smaller than your average living room. We asked to be moved and the guy told us they were full. By this point I was crying my eyes out and we were considering changing hotels - there was no way we could spend a week in that tiny room. Eventually, they moved us. And what can I say? I'm glad I cried and stayed firm because the new room wasn't a room but an actual appartment with separate bedroom and space to move about. It wasn't massive but was perfect for the two of us and it was nicely decorated.

We went to the beach on the little train which we loved and discovered a stunning beach with soft white sand that went on for miles. We spent alot of time on the beach, however there was no 'strip' of bars and restaurants. These were found quite a long walk away in santa lucia or taxi/bus to tavira. We really liked tavira. It was cultured and pretty. We found some great resaurants too. It was very romatic. One thing I will say is that I really struggled being vegetarian. I wasn't expecting anything fancy but come on, cheese omlette EVERYWHERE!? Luckily after alot of searching we found a couple of veggie friendly places. In Tavira, the best restaurants were on the east bank of the river (the opposite side to the square, bus stop, taxi rank etc). You have to go up and down the little side streets to find the restaurants tucked away. Our favourite was Abstracto - simple delicious!

On the whole, there was a total lack of things to do. We couldn't buy any presents for people back home coz there were no shops. We saw a market advertised in luz de tavira that we thought we'd go to one evening. Disaster! We got a taxi there coz it was quite far away and when we'd finished looking at the 5 or 6 stalls we couldn't get back. There were no taxis or buses (despite the fact the hotel receptionist told us we would be able to get a taxi), no people around, no shops or restaurants. It wasn't a town, the market was just on a random street. We finally found a little cafe and went to ask for a taxi number and the woman just said no and that was it. We had to walk home along a main road in the pitch black for about an hour, it was terrifying. It reminded me of a horror film. My boyfriend stayed calm for me but when we got back he admitted that he too was really scared. That night was the icing on the cake and when we went to eat in the hotel restaurant and there was nothing but cheese omlette I started crying again. There was a general feeling between us that we were supposed to be enjoying our holiday yet we were actually just getting through it.

One day we decided to venture out to faro. After trekking to the bus stop the bus never came so that day was wasted. Tried again another day and it did show up thank god. Faro is lovely and good for shopping.

We look back and laugh now. There was some good days. It's a shame that the hotel wasn't in tavira itself. We can see why a family who were happy to stay in the complex for the whole holiday would love this place (if they were given a decent room). But for a young couple looking to stroll along the promenade, no way!