Positives- Friendly staff. Rooms are nice. Peaceful relaxing break. Good indoor pool + jacuzzi. Had an amazing half hour massage only €25. Hotel showed football matches and Australian open tennis in the lobby bar which was a bonus for us.

Negatives- The worst selection of food I've ever had from a 4-Star hotel and I've been to quite a few all-inclusives and the food was luke warm at best.
Had to pay €5 for a compulsory swimming hat in order to use the indoor pool and jacuzzi, they said it was for hygiene but it was basically a hidden cost and an easy way for the hotel to make a quick buck.
All-inclusive stops at 11pm, which we thought was a bit early.
The outside pool snackbar that normally serves burgers, hotdogs, drinks & ice-cream etc was shut while we were there because it was out of season.
Location isn't good because you're out in the middle of nowhere, which is good if you're after a peaceful holiday but bad if you want to visit the bars on the strip. There was however a courtesy bus that takes you down to the town and brings you back which was good.
Unfortunately, Saga were doing a special 3 week for the price of 2 deal while we were there, so the hotel was packed with over 65's, they were all very friendly and kept talking to us, but not what you want when you're 3 lads in your 20's so we felt a bit out of place.

This was our first Xmas away, stayed 23/12 to 30/12, picked this Hotel based on price & generally good reviews.

Overall we had a good holiday and enjoyed the stay, the hotel was more aligned in the winter to the SAGA clients and was a little dated in the way the approach and general decor. Thought the staff was really really excellent, especially the Bar Manager - Anna, receptionist & Hotel Deputy Manager, if you take some time and talk to these people - well worth finding out the local information!

Summary

Positive

1) Large apartment / rooms, with good cooking facilities - very spacious
2) Friendly staff - in particular - bar (Anna) & reception staff
3) All rooms have a pool view
4) Plenty of lifts
5) Pool facilities were good
6) Panoramic view from 5th floor dining room
7) Free Shuttle bus to the town
8) Good value all inc deals

Negative

1) Food was often luke warm, if this bothers you staff would warm in a microwave
2) Hotel had a separate lounge for entertaining SAGA clients and thus the evening entertainment (piano player most nights) was more lent towards the older clients and could be described as poor
3) You are not able to walk to the town, we had a hire car so did not find this an issue
4) Lighting in bedrooms was a bit dim, it was for example difficult to see to read in bed
5) For Xmas dinner the hotel wanted extra money - we thought this was naughty given we had booked for the Xmas break - why not include in the holiday cost?

Tips

1) Hire a car - cheap & easy to drive in Portugal - we paid £150 for a week all inc
2) We found the bar expensive so upgraded from 1/2 board to all inclusive for some thing like 17 euro's a day per person - great value - when a beer + coke is no change from 5 euro
3) Try and beat the saga people to the dining room - otherwise - not much left some nights and had to wait for fresh food
4) Drink up & Stock up before 11pm, as this is when the all Inc bar deal end !

Hope this helped you

Travelling with extended family, we were disappointed to learn on arrival , that they only offered the All Inclusive Lite option off season. This meant that there was only one choice of restaurant, no snacks and limited times for drinks. On site facilities were practically non existent.Check with your travel agent before you travel what you will recieve.

The accommodation itself was lovely and an apartment can easily accomadate a family of 4. Being December, we thought we would partake of the indoor pool facilities - these are privately owned and not part of the hotel. We were each required to purchase a swimming hat to use the pool @ 4 euros each and then told off for making too much noise , despite there not being anyone else using the pool. The jacuzzi was cold and you could, but dip in the pool, as it was not long enough to swim in.

The food quality was atrocious, catering only for the meat and 2 veg palate. Despite advising the hotel staff that our party had at least 10 vegetarians, no attempt was made to offer any vegetarian dishes other than boiled veg, To add insult, one evening, beef lasagne was put on the buffet with a veg lasagne label, thus causing great distress to those that tried it,

Overall the staff were were unfriendly and not at all interested in making our stay more pleasurable. Whilst relaxing on the sofas in reception, we were advise that we were not allowed to slouch or lay on them and were for sitting on only.

Overall, it was pretty much a very dire holiday - definitely not a 4 star experience.

Hotel too remote,not suitable for elderly .
Shuttle bus shared with sister hotel ,holds 36 people,if full have to wait 40 mins in hot sun for it to come back and pick you up.Olhos da Agua nearest village 40 mins walk away,not much there,beach further 10 mins wak but down a very steep hill,not suitable for elderly .
Food very average,entertainment musiconly,highlight of stay folk show.
Would not return to this hotel.