We read the reviews before we booked a last minute deal and were expecting the worst. We were both pleasantly surprised by the apartments. Large and clean! We asked for an apartment facing the pool but actually got one facing the gardens in block two which turned out to be perfect. The double veranda was in the shade which meant the room was cool on returning from all day at the beach. 15 minute walk to beautiful beaches and the centre but not a problem. Excellent bus service free from the hotel when you can't be bothered walking. Even so the taxi service is 3 euro 90. Be warned the pavements are difficult to walk in. Forget heels but flip flops were even painful.
Visit Casa de Rocha for food at sunset - devine! Have a beer at the other end in the bar at the fort Santa Catarina - lovely chill out music on all the time. Dolce Vita restuarant a must for wonderful and traditional italian food.
Probably not ideal for children this hotel, grounds a bit small and not much very close by but if you can stand the wee walk go for it!!!!!!
The Poruguese are wonderful wonderful people and cannot do enough to help.
Highly recommended for couples looking for a quiet time away. :-)

Myself and my partner stayed in these Apartments for a week in August/ September 2009. We were a bit wary having read the other reviews before we went but were REALLY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED. The staff were so friendly and willing to help in any way they could. Reception was 24 Hours and would help in any way day or night. Our room was gorgeous, it was very clean and spacious and very modern furniture and fixings. Everything worked really well and the we had a huge balcony. We expected (from some reviews we read) that the rooms would be basic and just for sleeping in, but they were so much more than that. I have nothing bad to say about the Mirochoro at all....the only 3 things that I could see that would perhaps annoy some people are:

1) Location: The hotel itself is about 10 minutes walk into Praia Da Rocha. However there is a shuttle bus (to both Praia Da Rocha and Portofino) that runs three times a day to and from the beach except on sundays. The ten minute walk is actually quite nice and by the time you get to the beach your not exhausted at all. We preferred to walk the ten minutes most days. A taxi into Praia Da Rocha is only around 4 euros which is quite reasonable. The hotel never charged us at all to order a taxi.

2) Air Con...as in the lack there of. If you really couldnt bear to stay somewhere without air con then dont go here in the heat of summer (July) I found that at the end of August/Sept is was totally bareable and we didnt even need it. We asked for a fan from reception and were given one for the duration of our stay. (free of charge).

3) Pool.....the pool is not big at all, but I think big enough. Myself and boyfriend are more beach lovers anyway so it was fine. The beach is like Paradise! Theres a little cove further along the beach thats a bit quieter....golden sand and crystal clear waters.

So to sum up, id def recommend the Mirachoro ii, great value for money and a lovely get away for couples

Just returned from the mirochoro, at first We were put in a very dated moldy room with run down furnishing kitchen cupboard doors hanging off wall electrical sockets hanging off the wall not child safe I would say......this room was in the same block the reception was in...

All in All there are 3 blocks

We went down to complain about this ( btw we are not moaners just hard workers)
and we were begrudginly moved to block 2 which was much better, brighter cleaner loads of space (Room 317) Double balcony etc... my only gripe about the room was it was a twin so has a couple we had single beds, Also no Air con or ceiling fans it was extremely hot at night kids were irratated by this at night... we did ask for a fan at the reception but was told there wasn't any...

cleaners were friendly but really did the basics changed towels empty bins they never mopped the floors which over a week of going back & forth with the kids became really sandy...

The Hotel facilities no matter what they say on there web site are virtually non exsistant!!
*The pool is very very small no where to sit if not there early enough.
*'No Entertainment whatsoever'
*Bar With Restaurant Area Very Pricey A small portion of Fries 2.50Euro's
*internet 1euro for 10mins

They wanted to charge us 2.50euros to call a taxi from the reception area (what a rip off)
Also There was no public telephone in the hotel so make sure you bring a mobile or would have to find a telephone box out on the street....

Has mentioned before best thing to do Asap is to get some shopping in at the local food store.. There is a Lidl, Aldi, continente supermarket a mcdonalds barclays bank all within a 10 minute walk...

The Hotel does provide a shuttle to the beach 3x a day
also 3x a day to portimao harbour area which you can pick up a river cruise & see the caves,,,or just relax and have some fresh sea food or window shop (a nice little area)

Be carefull though when dining out has restaurants bring you bread&butter pat'e ollives etc we thought this was complimentry but its NOT so be warned...This added another 7.50 euro's to the bill.

Praia da Rocha beach gets 10/10 Is a beautiful beach loved it,, this is the closest beach to the hotel.......I wouldnt say it was in walking distance for young families (about 1/2 mile a way) but you could always get the hotel shuttle...

So to summarise Hotel Very Basic But O.k

Would I stay there again??????? if a couple maybe yes If a family with young kids Noo.
Not that its not family friendly just nothing for the kids to do apart from the tiny pool.

We choose the Mirachoro II because it was for us among the cheapest options o stay 11 nights in Praia da Rocha during high season. We got a very roomy apartment big enough for 4 people which had two big balconies and was perfectly clean and in a fairly good condition, only the kitchenette was a bit old.
The cleaner came every day sometimes quite early around 10 and sometimes as late as 5 pm, brought new towels and cleaned the bathroom.
However, I think the floor has not once been cleaned during our stay and got more and more sandy.
The 24h available receptionists where friendly but not helpful at all.
It doesn't matter if we asked for a coffee maker, about the hot springs in Caldas da Monchique or a concert location - they tried there best but at the end coudn't answer a single question.
The beach is around one mile / 15 minute walk away and was very nice (although the water is damn cold) and was not nearly as crowded as I had suspected.
We didn't use the free beach shuttle service as we had a rental car and made trips to other locations and more remote beaches most days.
A free parking area is available.