We stayed for 7 nights towards the end of September 2011, and as echoed in some reviews below, you get what you pay for! We swapped from room 304 to 302 because of a serious ant & silverfish issue, and it had twin beds. Couples be warned - there's only 2 rooms with double beds in the apartments!
Equipment in the room in pretty hit & miss, aside from crockery & cutlery. Room 302 had tea towels but not the microwave 304 had. Both rooms had a fan, iron and ironing board. Yes the beds were uncomfortable, but you can always catch up on sleep by the pool the next day!
We found the staff to be very friendly & charming and they couldn't have been nicer. The pool area is fine, but the pool did look a bit mucky. It was too cold to swim in though so we weren't bothered by it.
We did a sea cave trip for €15 which was great (organised at the Marina) and jumped on the local bus into Faro.
My only complaint has nothing to do with the Rio Apartments. It was impossible to find anything authentically Portugese about Vilamoura. We looked for little local restaurants and all we could find were places selling steak & full English breakfasts. We fared better in Faro itself but that's not by the beach!
Overall, we wanted a bit of late summer sun and a cheap holiday. If I had the same requirements again I would absolutely come back and stay at the Rio Apartments.

We stayed for 7 nights in the Rio Apartments in September 2011. I wasn't expecting luxury as we hadn't paid very much for the stay. Reception was open when we arrived and the room (216) was clean. The cot i had requested was not provided but when i contacted reception it was brought to the room very quickly, there was a 5 euro a night charge for the cot. The rooms are dated and the beds are not very comfortable but there was plenty of room and 2 fans were already in the room which were very much needed. The cleaners only come in on week days and don't do much more than make the beds and empty the bin. The towels were not changed all week even after i asked reception to arrange fresh towels. The gardens were great for our 17 month old son to run around but the kids pool was too deep for him. The apartment staff were not very friendly, they did what you asked in as basic a manner as possible. The bar and restaurant, which are a separate business, are ok but we found the restaurant to be quite expensive. We ate in it once and it was the most expensive meal of the week, you can get better food at a cheaper price at the marina. Again, the bar staff were not very friendly. The marina is about a 15 minute walk and we spent much of the week here.

If you are looking for cheap accomodation as a base then the Rio Apartments are fine and in a nice area. If you want a better place to stay you need to pay more.

Rio apartments promises so much on first view however the apartments are as we expected very basic but in much need of maintenace. We arrived 11pm and thanks to tripadvisor we phoned ahead to make sure we had access to our apartment . Please be aware this hotel has its reception manned PART TIME and as such you will be left waiting unless you phone 24 hours ahead.
Once inside we were given apartment 124 , ground floor looking out over the front reception car park, not good as everyone and his mate are eye to eye with you on your balcony. We requested a move to an apartment overlooking the pool area and to be fair that is what we got. Reception staff are helpfull , however im sure 124 is a much complained about apartment as we did overhear others requesting a move (this does'nt seem to bother the reception staff as I'm sure its a regular thing).

The pool and area was clean and maintained each morning however again not in the best of condition.

Surrounding gardens were very well kept and quiet if you prefer to be away from the over populated sun lounger/pool area.

The marina and a lovely beach is about 15mins walk or taxi (4.50Euro) It's well worth the trip.

On the whole I would agree with most reviews , you do get what you pay for. Don't expect 5 star accomodation for 2 star prices. Ours was a 2nd cheap holiday week in the September sun and Rio was a base for that.

just returned from 1 week at the rio aparts. we thought it was a bit too basic for a 3 * .Self catering facilities were very basic we only had a kettle and our son & his wife in another apart only had toaster.If you take children beware ,the hot water in sinks & shower was boiling.ther is a major shortage of sun beds therefore towels appeared before 7 in the morning but owners didn,t claim them until much later,(ther are even less mattresses) The man
ageress did remove towels from unclaimed beds 1 morning but they were back next day. Don't expect to find any bars between Rio and marina to quench your thirst. We don,t know if its every Monday dut the restaraunt and bar was closed for staff day off. Would not go back