Vilamoura Garden Hotel

Dylan Mcclinton

I recently stayed here for a short break with my brother, and overall we had a great experience. We booked a twin room which was clean, comfortable, and had everything we needed for our stay. Breakfast was included and, while fairly standard, it was tasty and a good start to the day. The location worked really well for us, about a 25 minute walk to the marina. We actually enjoyed this as it was close enough for convenience, but far enough away to stay peaceful and quiet. A nice bonus is that the Hilton spa is just across the road, and guests can get a discounted rate, which is well worth taking advantage of. If I had to suggest improvements, it would be a slightly wider breakfast selection and stronger air conditioning. That said, every room has a balcony, and we often preferred just opening the doors for fresh air, which felt even better. Overall, great value for money, friendly staff, and a place I would definitely return to if visiting the area again.

A M

We recently stayed at the Vilamoura Garden Hotel, which is advertised as a 4-star hotel. Unfortunately, in our opinion, it falls short of that standard and feels more like a 3-star hotel. The positives: The rooms are clean, tidy and spacious, and the pool area is cosy and pleasant. There is also a free shuttle bus into Vilamoura Marina, although you need to catch it from the Hilton Hotel across the road rather than directly from the Garden Hotel. Breakfast was also nice, with a good selection of options. The negatives: The bar was one of the biggest disappointments. It was quite expensive, and there was no bar staff permanently manning it, meaning reception had to call someone from the restaurant whenever you wanted a drink. For a 4-star hotel, this really didn't feel up to standard. At breakfast, you have to pre-order fried eggs, while omelettes come at an additional charge, which again felt unusual for a hotel advertised as 4-star. On arrival, we were also charged for breakfast despite being booked on a B&B basis. The pool area itself is cosy, but it lacked atmosphere. We felt that some background music around the pool during the day would have made a big difference. As a result, we ended up spending most of our days at the beach instead. During our stay, there was also a football team staying at the hotel, and unfortunately it felt as though the team was being catered for more than the other hotel guests. This affected the overall experience and made the hotel feel less like the relaxing 4-star stay we were expecting. Overall, the hotel has some good qualities, particularly the spacious and clean rooms, cosy pool area, free shuttle service and decent breakfast. However, the service, bar prices, lack of atmosphere and some of the additional charges don't match what we'd expect from a 4-star hotel. For us, it's no more than a 3-star experience. There are some positives, but we wouldn't say it lived up to its advertised 4-star rating.

Ellie F

This hotel is NOT adults only. We booked on the premise of this however, two days into our stay the pool was overrun by children. Screaming and shouting completely ruined the peaceful stay and made us not want to stay at the pool. It’s listed as adult only however management explained that as the hotel only made the switch this year they still have to honour the family bookings made in advance. It really shouldn’t be advertised as adult only till these stays are finished. The management did allow us spa access at the Hilton to compensate for the false advertising, however it was of course an indoor pool. The outdoor hotel pool itself wasn’t the nicest, overhung by a lots large trees a lot of debris falls in that isn’t cleaned up as well as a film of suncream floating on the top even at the start of the day. I had to pick a spider out of my partners hair while he swam in the pool. The only day i seen the pool being cleaned with a net was the day a plastic bag floated in it for two hours. There was however, plenty of sunbeds and there didn’t seem to be that sunlounger rush you get at other hotels. There’s not a lot around the hotel as you’re far away from the marina and beach so there’s not much escape. There are shuttles that run from the Hilton to take you there however, we just opted for ubers as it was around 4€. There’s a spar a five minute walk away for all your room drinks and crisps. Shops will come up on google maps 3 minutes away - don’t bother, they’ve been knocked down & maps hasn’t updated it. The hotel itself is nice on the surface with all the amenities you could want. Rooms are spacious, robes provided, unfortunately ants invaded our room crawling in through the cracks in the locked balcony door. Balconies lack anywhere to dry your towels. Had a great sleep until the last night when a pair of drunk girls ran around the corridor screaming at 3am & sounded like they were fighting eachother when their mum dragged them into their room - embarrassing. Staff are polite and welcoming. Unfortunately a lot of them are new, especially the bar staff who have made me some of the worst cocktails i’ve ever had and the price point isn’t cheap. The price of an average cocktail at the bar is around 9/12€, we also paid around 7/8€ for a spirit and mixer. We ended up just getting drinks from the spar and having them by the pool instead. We’re half board and you cannot swap dinner for lunch (which there’s a reason for). The pool snacks are delicious but again expensive, you’re looking at 15€ for a basic chicken sandwich and chips. We attended the dinner on our first night and the food was great, it’s a menu rather than your standard buffet so you order a starter, main and dessert and pay for your wine. The king prawn dishes are excluded and you’ll need to pay for them and they were out of stock of a few menu items which limited the menu further. The food we did receive was delicious however and we couldn’t fault the service. The downside was it felt like eating in a nursing home. The environment was somewhat sterile with what sounded like call centre hold music playing so we didnt bother again and just headed to the marina where there’s lots of good options alongside entertainment as there isn’t any at the hotel. Half board isn’t really worth it. The food and the staff are the only saving grace for this place and for what you pay just to be there it doesn’t cut it. What was supposed to be a calming time away more often than not turned into an additional stressor. Book quite literally anywhere else.

Stephanie Farrington

Excellent hotel, we went end of May. Quiet, peaceful, clean and relaxing. Lovely staff, great breakfast, chill pool area. Havent got anything bad to say about it, we will probably stay again.

Helen Matthews

Lovely small hotel, great if you want a quieter location, the free shuttle bus from 'The Hilton' 1 min walk away was really helpful to use for either marina or beach. Rooms lovely, staff were really helpful on any questions, free- WiFi, a variety of breakfast options & ate one evening meal here too which was amazing. Pool on the smaller side but still usable. The only downside we were on the ground floor level which was quite noisy from reception/bar/sofa area, could do with a door leading to the rooms.