we spent two great weeks here last week in seo 1st week in oct 20011 the dom pancho was a great place to stay was in just the right place to get out and about our appartment was on the 5th floor facing the pool.We had the sun first thinh in the morning till it passed aver the building at roughly 6 pm at night for the whiole ot the two weeks the weather was scorching hot every day in fact was to hot some times for walking about best to do your walking early morning or later evening .THE APARTMENT ....was for a 3 star all you need was clean and had all you needed there was tv , micro , cooker ,fridge with a small freezer kettle , and all the pots and dishes you nned to do your meals .Cleaning every day towels changed every 4 days and beds changed once aweek staff very friendly .What you need to hire is a safe this costs you 17.50 a week and a 15 euro deposit a must for peace of mind you also need remote fot tv again 15 euro again refundable on leaving and tha same for air con 15 euro and refundable apparently some guests seemed to like going home with the remotes hence the need to take a deposit not a prob really . the HOTEL WAS IN A QUIET PLACE WITH PRACTICALLY NO NOISE the only thing you heard was if the hotel a
had entertainment on you could hear the music in your room ,but seeing we were there at the end of season this was not an issue only two shows and they were done by 12 pm the only other thing you heard was the party makers clomping along the tiled corridors on the way back to there rooms once in there rooms no noise .All the staff were friendly and helpfull from the front desk down to the cleaners and pool staff .I read in other posts about the pool it was very deep 1.5 at shallow end to 3.3 meters at deep end and yes no life guard BUT if you have kids who cant or are not good swimmers the kids pool is there for them to use surley if you have young kids you would be watching them all the time having been to a few other hotels with pools i have only once come across a pool with a life guard and that was only in there main pool so up to customers to keep an eye on kids .The state of the pool maintenance man was out most mornings cleaning stuff from bottom of pool but bear in mind there are flowers and trees all round pool area so you are bound to get flower heads and petals in pool most days but overall pool and pool area was great plenty of loungers snack bar open all dady prices not to bad and good music played alll day as well .This sums up the hotel bit i will defo be back for another visit .
We had two days out when in Albureria one to Faro which is well worth doing taking in the old town whith its breath taking churches and especially the chapel of bones where people left there bones to the church and they used them to build the chapel its very eerie when you see all the skulls but a must to see .Also went round the veg market and the fish market had a meal which cost 13 euros and stopped for foto shoots onn way back weel worth 35 euros a head .We also went to the gypsy market in Quartgira on a galf day trip at a cost of 17 euros and was well worth it .The srtip in Albuferia was a bustling busy place with some fab places to eat best to follow you nose on this one as all we tryed were good (except one get to that later ) chinese food which we like was really good the Chinese Garden at the top of the strip is well worth a visit and a very freindly place .The only down side is the pavements as they are mostly cobbles so you need to pat attention to where you put your feet .You can wonder till late and have loads of fun drink prices on ave were 2.50 a pint and 3.50 fpr spirits and 6 euros for cocktales The one place i was not amused with was right outside the hotel on the main road am not going to name it but wont be hard to place it went in first time was just as a party of 12 came in only one lass working she was taking orders inside and out side she was running the bar running down to kitchen with orders then back to pick them up so run of her feet which was ok just had to wait a bit longer no prob meal was ok but they had stopped doing sweets as the staff did not have the time .Second visit the owner who was Brittish i rekon was entertaining his pals this time one guy doing all the work waited 10 min to get our order then 25 min and still no meal our our drink in the mean time the owner kept going behind the bar turning up the music to the point where you could not hear each other talk then i noticed they were all smoking at the bar which was only about 3 to 4 meters away from us yes they had the windows open but still got the smoke so meal got left hardly touched and left so be warned just in case .Last but not least the old town is a must to see and to have a meal in ,we ate at Jo Jo s was great , and to see all it has to offer the sand sculptures are fantastic to see but old town is a 45 min walk from don pancho but a nice walk or do what we did walk one way taxi the other a taxi cost us 4 euros on way back so was 5 for a tip this was a fantastic hol my first to Portugal but i can say this it wont be my last or to the Dom Pancho ....work and health permitting that is ..... hope this helps some one

My wife and i went to albufeira in Oct 2011. By this time the hotel price was in between £30-40 but the weather was awesome. the beach is good 20 min walk from the hotel but its like 5 min to the strip. the kitchen facility was good. It was good value for money

Stayed at this hotel for 9 nights at the end of September and I would definitely return. We had a late check in and upon arrival we got a friendly greeting from reception. My first impressions weren't good when I seen the corridors. They are very dark, dated and have sensor lighting. It seemed like we were walking forever before we reached our apartment door. At this stage I was absolutely dreading what the apartment would be like but I got such a nice surprise.

Apartment
The apartment was bright, modern and spacious. The kitchen was very modern and it had a fridge,microwave,toaster and hob. The bathroom was also modern and clean. The sitting room had a table with 4 chairs, an L shaped sofa and the tv had ITV & Channel 4 etc. The bedroom was a decent size and the lighting was good. The only problem was that the mattresses seemed to be too big for the base. Our room was cleaned most days and towels were changed twice in 9 nights.

Pool
The pool area is lovely . The grass and trees gives it a really nice feel. Most mornings it was about 11am when we went the pool and we got a bed no problem. The pool is quite cold and on some windy days it wasn't very clean. This could have been easily sorted though. The indoor pool was closed.

Pool Bar
The food at the pool bar is nice and we ate lunch here most days. The staff were always helpful and friendly. We did buy water and ice creams in the shop most days as it was alot cheaper. The shop is 2 mins walk.
We never ate dinner in the hotel and the restaurant always looked empty. To be honest they didn't seem to really advertise the dinner service.

Entertainment
The hotel entertainment wasn't great but we didn't expect it to be from previous reviews.

Location
The location was perfect it was about a 5 min walk to the strip, 5euro in a taxi to the old town or about a 20 min walk to the beach.

I would definitely return to this hotel. I really just feel that the corridors need better lighting. The hotel & location was perfect for the type of holiday we wanted.

After reading the reviews of this hotel I have to say I was quiet nervous as the bus drove us to our accommodation , but I have to say I really had no reason to be. My family and I checked in around 10pm, there was 6 of us aged between 16 & 48. The reception staff were very efficient and pleasant and greeted us with a smile. We stayed in one of the Apartment Villas across the pool from the hotel. The apartments were very spacious with all the amenites we needed, The location was perfect, 2 min walk to the supermarket, 5 mins to the strip and a 20 min walk to the beach that leads to the old town......(if you prefered not the walk a train left from the top of the strip to take you to the old town every 15mins!!) Overall I cannot understand why this hotel has been given such bad reviews, the apartment was clean, towels were changed every 3/4 days...but we had brought our own from home, the staff were very helpful & the pool was large with a nice relaxing area..Def will be back again with no hesitation!!