If you want a big hotel with bars ,restaurants , 2-3 swimming pools and lots of people then this hotel is not for you.
However if you want a small quiet hotel with a very nice swimming pool , pleasant secluded surroundings , able to relax in peace and a slightly idiosyncratic approach to service then you will enjoy yourself.
Room was OK , bed a bit hard but the bathroom was excellent . Modern TV . Nice balcony to sit out on.
Comfortable lounge , plenty of books lying around to read ,
Breakfast served in dining room which opens onto the swimming pool area ( you can sit outside to enjoy if you want ) Same selection of cold and warm buffet every day but enough choice to give some variety.
Tea,cake and biscuits available at 4 p.m.
Dinner has to be booked in the morning from a choice of 2 starters and 2 main courses. Cheerful waiter serves the meal and drinks if required. We ate in once ( sitting outside ) food reasonable standard.
During day there is a bar and you take your own drinks and snacks and then fill in the honesty book in the bar area with the cost of whatever you have taken ( price list in the bar).
Swimming pool small , maximum depth about 4 1/2 ft with plenty of pool side lounges . Also jacuzzi operated on solar power.
One important thing is to think ahead e.g booking dinner, arranging taxis , paying the bill as the receptionist operates a very interesting timetable. In theory she is there in the morning till about noon and then back in the evening for a couple of hours but during the time we were there this schedule was very flexibly observed .However it is fair to say that as long as you knew what you wanted and when then she was very efficent and well organised On a couple of days there was a stand in who was equally as helpful. One niggle we arrived just after noon and had thought we would be in time to book dinner for that evening as we had been up since the early hours and didnt want to go out. Unfortunately this didnt appear to be possible . we were too late !!! As a result in the evening we went 250 yds to their sister hotel which is much bigger. The only problem was that dinner there was a bog standard buffet in a very crowded dinning room.
Location is a bit of a problem it is on the top of a hill and it takes 15- 20 minutes to walk down to the square in the old town , this means lots of steps and an incline of 1 in 4 at times. Walking back is only for the very fit and we always took a taxi 5-6 euros incl tip. TO get there from the hotel turn left at the end of the drive walk upto the T junction turn right , follow road round turn right at the next T junction go under the bridge joining the 2 parts of the sister hotel then turn left go past entrance of sister hotel , turn left and cross road at T junction to viewing platform and then walk about 15 yards to the left hand side of the viewing platform where the start of the walk down to town begins ,very steep to start with but then just keep going straight down till you come to the cliff top turn left to walk into town and just as the road starts to go up again turm left into town.
One warning unless you like boats dont bother walking to the Marina , the walk is very depressing on all sides there are unfinished buildings, the houses and shops around the Marina are some architect's idea of fun i.e odd colours and shapes but not many of the shops are occupied and the whole looks past its sell by date.
- Cerro Da Marina Albufeira
- Cerro Da Marina Hotel
