We were on a busy trip to Spain and Portugal, fitting in as much sight seeing as possible and a few people has suggested going to the beach. Coming from sunny Queensland in Australia, this seemed a little wasteful, but we were soooooo glad we included it. Firstly it gave our sore feet a break from all the cathedrals, museums, etc but secondly it introduced us to a beautiful part of the world. The beach is quite lovely. The highlight was definitely the hotel itself - the rooms are lovely and the views are stunning. The service was excellent and the food was amazing.
The only downside was the poor wi-fi coverage, especially by the pool. We were keen to share our experience with family and friends!
The spa isn't expected to be open until 2012, so this will also be a welcome additon to a place that was certainly worth every second of our "wasted time"!!

In busy, crowdy Praia da Rocha (in the summer, at least) there's an oasis of calm and luxury.
You can relax in the beautiful pool or walk to the beach just below the hotel. Beautiful view, beatiful hotel, very nice, polite and helpful personnel.

We stayed in the Bela Vista Hotel for a weekend and we were truly spoiled and enjoyed every moment of it. The hotel is beautifully decorated, the facilities are excellent, the staff was helpful and made us feel very special. We had the dream get-away weekend.

We stayed here for a week ( 24th September-1st October) and it was a wonderful experience.From the moment we drove through the gates and left the busy street in front of the hotel we felt truly spoilt.This is a destination hotel-don't let the fact that it is in the over commercialised area of Praia Da Rocha put you off.There is direct access from the hotel to the stunning beach below,reception reserve sunbeds on the beach for you and you can take poolside towels down.There are good beach bars and restaurants on the beach and some lovely walks along the seafront..Try to ignore the built up area behind the hotel full of cheap restaurants and bars,but if you want to catch up on sport and enjoy a cheap beer then this is an option!The amazing views of the beach more than make up for the area behind the hotel-this is an oasis Breakfast on the terrace is a wonderful experience and we ate in the restaurant twice for dinner-it is pricey,although they do offer a very reasonable guest menu alongside the main menu,and you get what you pay for,the food is of Michelin star standard-the best we have ever experienced in a hotel.Service is attentive,friendly yet low-key.The pool area is stunning,in fact the design and attention to detail is superb across the entire hotel-an amazing restoration of a beautiful old building with a choice of character rooms in the main building or modern rooms in the new wing-we stayed in a sea view room in the new block and it was gorgeous with a huge bathroom with l'occitane products.In the local area we would recommend turning left out of the front gate and walking for 10 minutes or so until you reach the last of the cheap bars and carry on a few hundred yards to the restaurant All Beef on the right-lovely food and service,or carry on past and visit the local blue and white Portuguese bar/fish restaurant on the left and sit on the terrace for the most amazing sunset views overlooking the beach.Ferragudo a fishing village across the estuary from Portimao is also well worth a visit for fantastic fresh fish restaurants on the harbour.It also has a lovely beach with a couple of nice beach bars and is very unspoilt.Allin all we would highly recommend a stay here at the Bela Vista and look forward to a return visit.