Just Take it Easy and Enjoy

Advantages: Fabulous Location, excellent hotel amenities, good value for money
Disadvantages: Dont recomend for lively holidays

...We visited last September for a weeks holiday to the Tivoli Marinotel on bed and breakfast basis, previously we had stayed at this hotel a few years back as a family, thus the reason for visiting again. First impressions on arrival were good, as we were greeted by the concierge immediately who welcomed us to the hotel. The five-star Tivoli Marinotel has a mixture of leisure and sports facilities, is situated on 30,000 square metres of landscaped gardens, has direct access to a magnificent reserved beach and has its own Vilamoura Congress Centre, within the hotel. The Tivoli has a privileged location in the heart of the well-known resort of Vilamoura in the Algarve, with its marina, infra-structure and non-stop, year-round entertainment. All this, a mere 20 km from Faro airport. the hotel has an excellent location right...

cookeec1 28.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Tivoli Marinotel, Vilamoura

  Not Sure-a? Choose Vilamoura!

Advantages: Beautiful location
Disadvantages: A little pricey in parts

...'We (Portugal) were a world power for about 15 minutes' (see end ^) *Why Vilamoura?* Faced with the prospect of a long, easy summer after the gruelling 19 exams I had (yes, 19!), I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take a holiday with some of my close friends to somewhere slightly exotic, yet on a reasonable budget. Now, here's where I feel I'm cheating the place slightly by letting you all on a little secret - personally my first choice wasn't Portugal. I had a long list of places I wanted to try; Turkey, Majorca, Spain, Budapest, Greece, Italy? even Russia! But Portugal didn't find herself on the list for reasons, now, unbeknown to me. Anyway though, after much searching and realising it was getting late (December 04 by this point), I began to fully get my act together and search out some private villas...

tashat 14.08.2005 · Read review
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Review of Vilamora (Portugal)

It's not MY kind of place but it's a great hotel

Advantages: Great conference venue
Disadvantages: There's not a lot in the area if you don't like golf

...The Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort and Spa (henceforth to be referred to more simply as the Hilton Vilamoura) is an enigma of a hotel - it's a five star resort with beautiful interiors but one that looks from the outside like it was designed by Disney. It's absolutely not the type of place that I'd ever choose to stay in because I just don't do holidays in this sort of destination and it's not the type of place you'd usually go to for business - for one thing there's nothing around here to do business with. So it was a new experience for me to visit such a place - although I'm quite relieved we've been here during the 'off season' when there weren't too many people around. The company I work for holds an annual business meeting and invites people from the European team plus visitors from the other regions. For three days...

koshkha 29.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa, Algarve, Portugal

Vilamoura - give me more-a

Advantages: Quiet and relaxing
Disadvantages: Some restaurants are expensive

...Are you looking for relaxation? Are you looking for glorious beaches? Are you looking for exquisite eateries? If the answers to the above questions are "yes!", then this could be the resort for you. Putting golf aside, (I am not a fan or a player but there are championship golf courses galore!), Vilamoura is predominantly a quiet resort, - ideal for couples and families. The marina is the core of the resort and boasts yachts large enough for small countries to reside! By night it looks magnificent with the lights from the many restaurants and bars glimmering on the waters. All of the menus specialise in glorious fish dishes, however if prawns, crabs and salmon do nothing for your palette, steaks, omelettes and pizzas are also on offer. There are a selection of bars, (some offering karaoke), and only one nightclub called...

DEE 18.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of Vilamora (Portugal)

The place to visit when in the Algarve

Advantages: Fairly priced, good variety of animals which are well looked after, well kept and clean park
Disadvantages: None

...When I had first met my wife we decided to take a nice little holiday somewhere so I booked us a nice week in Portugal and organised us to stay in Vilamoura and we simply loved the place but what we have remembered the best about our entire trip was the visit to Zoomarine. The theme park is situated in a fairly remote area of Albufeira and spans quite a large area of land which in turn allows for large areas for the animals to be housed. The park has a large variety of animals including dolphins, seals, sealions, crocodiles, aligators, birds, tortoise and others with the animals well looked after. The park has a great variety of shows on offer aswell as a large swimming area (something we didn't know about until we were there), a number of gift shops and a large restaurant with hot and cold food on offer that was fairly priced...

tangoman1984 27.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Zoomarine, The Algarve, Portugal

LTI ALFAMAR

Advantages: Location
Disadvantages: Too quiet for some

...disappointed. There are 3 key points I want to make - - the food is great. Both breakfast and dinner is served as a buffet and sometimes this can lead to bland and uninspiring food, but at the Alfamar the food was superb. The choice is huge - starters, main and desserts in great abundance, and so well presented that among our holiday photos are some of the buffet tables. I cannot praise it highly enough. In fact we ate far too much. - which leads me to the second point. The location is superb. From the hotel to the beach ai a walk of about 100 metres. The Falesia beach stretches about 5 miles from Vilamoura in the east to Ohlos D'Agua to the west, and the hotel is about halfway along this beach. If you like beach walking then this is definately the place. You can walk into Vilamoura in about an hour, or you can just walk the beach as do...

Freddy555 14.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of LTI Alfamar Beach & Sport Resort, Albufeira

Great place to relax & unwind

Advantages: Hardly ever rains
Disadvantages: Hardly ever rains

...Earlier this year I visited Portugal, landing in Faro and staying approximately 20 miles from Faro in a small town near Loule. The main tourist occupation would seem to be golf as there are golfing parks everywhere, however if you visit the local towns you will find a variety of other things to occupy your time. At the time of my holiday the Loule 2000 carnival was in full swing, a lot of time and effort was put into the costumes and floats and they where very impressive. The atmosphere was wonderful. The time of my holiday was in March 2000, the weather was wonderful the temperature averaging in the 70's. There are a lot of English living in this area of Portugal, but when you do come across a local, they are usually very friendly. I visited many places during my short stay, Prair da Rocha, Albufeira, Vilamoura, loule...

sarah_stitch 17.08.2000 · Read review
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Review of Faro (Portugal)

AN IDYLIC DESTINATION - UPDATED OPINION

Advantages: Sun, sea, sand and fabulous food
Disadvantages: THERE ARE NONE!!

...really seem like an imitation of South Fork!) we were able to relax. Vilamoura itself was a purpose built resort and surround (so lm told l personally wouldn’t know nor care!) excellent golf courses - apparently some of them are world class! There are loads of cafe bars and restaurants surrounding the marine - some of the ships and boats are huge!! There is only one real nightclub, which is attached to the casino in the resort, and although it is on until 6 am a lot of locals frequent it. Also it seems the resort of choice for the sporting celebrity (again l wouldn’t know from Adam but) - on our trip members of the Portuguese football team, Alan Shearer and Lee Westwood were to be seen. Another tip about casino nite club - on entry you are given a bar card on which you charge drinks - at the end of your evening you must pay...

purdy 26.07.2000 (31.07.2001) · Read review
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Review of Vilamora (Portugal)

BEAUTIFUL ALGARVE

Advantages: Beautiful Scenery
Disadvantages: Hard to park

...in was called Vilamoura.It was a lovely place with a nice Marina.It is quite an exclusive place,the restaurants situated round the marina were quite pricey.As a treat though you can have a special night out watching the world go by. Great place for people watching. Albuferia which was a short drive away had more on offer to the people wanting a bit more nightlife.There were hundreds of restaurants and bars,but struggled to get a decent car parking space. That was the only complaint we had, I suppose most touristy places are like that for parking. I would recommend going to the Algarve, and one day will return....

belinda9 19.02.2001 · Read review
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Review of Algarve (Portugal)

Stag Weekend - The Total Test.

Advantages: Good Base Of Operations, Family Friendly, Central Location, Golf Nearby
Disadvantages: English Style Pub, Bit Run-Down Decor In Bedrooms

..., something that always disappoints me when going abroad. The old town, which is much nicer, and aslo has the beach right next to it was a left turn, down a flight of seriously steep steps and a walk across the Marina car park. The restaurants were you're standard tourist based sea front affairs, although don't go anywhere near the one run by the ex-pats. The food was terrible and it took 3 1/2 hours for us to finish our meals. There are plenty of golf courses nearby, of a good standard, although you need to be able to play golf to a half decent standard to really enjoy the course. Vilamoura is just down the road, and in my opinion, is far nicer than Albufeira. Overall, the whole place isn't bad for a cheap week away, stag do or such likes. I wouldn't recommend using the hotel for any more than a base, and at £60 a night, there are...

beevorm 13.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of Vila Gale Cerro Alagoa, Albufeira