In 2011 we visited Pestana Dom Joao for the first time. The experience of th hospitality and excellent service was for us a motif to come back in 2012. The first impression has been confirmed on our last trip. We enjoyed our stay in the Hotel and noticed that an improvement has been made with the route along the beach to reach the village of Alvor.

a relaxing stay while the insides are opiscina with cold water and the coffee is not good quality. In fact it was the worst coffee to be soluble. For the rest ... the staff ... friendly and helpful especially the reception

A group of eight of us stayed at this hotel in late January,we stayed on a half board basis,which was a good idea as breakfast and dinn er were ample and varied,our only concern with this was the clearing away of dirty plates led to waiting for a table.The rooms were very clean and tidy with ample clothes storage.Our only other gripe was the very slow service at the bar especialy if you are behind a group of 36 other golfers,the drinks were the usual outrageous pices ie £4.50 small beer,large wine£8.50,just along the road there is a bowling alley whose drinks are far cheaper lovely hotel,fantastic beaches and views ,

We stayed in the hotel for one week B&B and we had a great holiday overall. We couldn't really fault anything. The staff were so nice and friendly and every area of the hotel was clean and comfortable.

We spent a bit more to book a sea view room on the 3rd floor (if you go lower the view is a nice but a bit restricted) our view was well worth every penny. We could always sit and relax when we got back after a day out and enjoy a glass of wine and a few nibbles before getting ready to go out for the evening. It was so relaxing and peaceful. all you could hear was the sound of the waves, then later a really hot shower and out into Alvor for a meal. Bedroom and bathroom lovely but take your own travel kettle, tea and coffee if you want a nice cuppa. TV was also great, lots of English channels, BBC, ITV, channel 4 and a few good film channels.

The hotel was about a 10 to 15 minute walk from Alvor town centre. We had a hire car, lots of free parking at the hotel and 3 minutes drive into town. Driving in Portugal is so easy and the roads are really quiet.

There are lots of good restaurants in Alvor (find Ruccula restaurant in the town centre, the food is fantastic and very reasonably priced). Eating out is about the same price as home (maybe slightly cheaper). A really nice bottle of house wine was about 8 Euros. The people were very friendly and all spoke excellent English. The local fish and meat dishes were excellent.

Breakfast at the hotel is fine, not a lot of choice of hot food but perfectly OK. You could have fruit, cereal, yoghurt. Cooked breakfast was a bit limited but not bad. There was a great choice of all different types of home baked bread and rolls with marmalades and jam. You wouldn't starve at breakfast, there was enough choice for everyone. Can't comment about dinner as we always ate out.

We went to Portugal for the golf. If you are in a Pestana hotel then you get 40% discount on the golf at the 4 local Pestana courses. It works out to be about £33 per round each. Watch out though, the buggy hire is 40 Euros! Electric trolley hire is about 20 Euros each! Pull trolleys 5 Euros. We went at the end of January/first week of Feb. It was lovely weather in the day, cold at night. The golf courses were busy but should imagine they would be packed from March onwards. As a two ball, we found that play was slow. Courses were in good condition. There are many other courses to play but as we were staying with the Pestana group it was good value to play the Pestana courses.

To sum up, we would really recommend the hotel. While we were there in the winter it seemed more suitable for adults and retired people. No children there at all but this is probably very different in the summer with a lot of families and children. The hotel had a nice pool and well kept gardens and was 50 yards from a lovely sandy beach. Small supermarket 2 minutes away but this was much more expensive than the supermarkets in town. All in all a beautiful area of Portugal and a great place to stay.