Algar Seco Parque — Hotel in Lagoa

We stayed here for a week and really enjoyed our stay, the big positives were the amazing views over the Algar Seco rocks and being in a brilliant location, very peaceful but just a short walk from all the main shops and restaurants. The bungalow was spacious and had very good air-con that kept us cool, with a fully equipped kitchen that we made use of for breakfast and lunches. Also fast WiFi in the room and by the pool!

We had a strange sort of arrival as we got there in the evening (8pm) to find a bit of a treasure map to find our bungalow left outside reception so we set off walking, then a gardener (I think!) chased us down and offered to drop us to our bungalow which was lucky as I don’t think we would’ve found it otherwise. The next morning we went back to reception to ask about the pool and it’s a good job that we did as apparently the card we had been left was temporary and would stop working, and there was lots of info we needed about our stay that we did not get on arrival!

The whole stay was very pleasant on the whole but there are a few less positive points I think are worth noting for future guests - there was an insane amount of flies in our bungalow, like as if there was something attracting them to the room which made me feel very uncomfortable, I spent most of the first night swatting and shooing them out as I could not sleep with so many flying around me. This got better through our stay as we were careful to close the doors and the net curtains - The bed itself I found very hard and uncomfortable and the pillows very lumpy so struggled to have a great sleep while I was here but this is more my preference I suppose - The pool was a pretty long walk back and forth from our bungalow so was harder to pop back if we needed to during the day, also lots of loungers being claimed by guests around the pool which really annoys me, we actually removed some towels and used the 2 empty loungers and nobody even came back to claim them so they were reserved for no reason, perhaps staff need to be more mindful and ask guests not to do this - The pool bar was more of a restaurant and focused on serving meals to large groups who weren’t from the hotel, so was a little strange I felt to be swimming and walking around in a bikini right in front of fully dressed customers who had just come for a meal. There wasn’t much focus on pool side snacks and drinks, perhaps a smaller food menu of just toasties, fries etc that could be taken to eat by the pool for hotel guests would be a nice addition, but we did just bring our own baguettes most days - I wouldn’t recommend using local taxis recommended by the hotel staff they were very inflated prices compared to Ubers which were plentiful (€75 to airport compared to the €45 we paid in Uber!)

Overall I would recommend and definitely return again despite the few things above, but I think I would stay in a hotel room rather than a bungalow as we would’ve been closer to amenities and just had a slightly better experience. Thank you for...

This was the most perfect place for our family holiday! Do not hesitate to book if you want a relaxing, interesting place to go on holiday. Algar Seco Parque is a very special place and the staff go out of their way to look after you. We spent a week here with our children (14 and 10) and we could have spent two weeks very happily. The accommodation is beautiful, comfortable and absolutely everything you need is provided. Fully air conditioned and serviced every day which is phenomenal. The resort is beautiful, calm and immaculately kept. Every single member of staff treated us like family and couldn’t have been more kind (especially Nelson and Sarah at the Bistro and Magdalen and Bruno in reception). We had a family birthday whilst we stayed here and they made it unforgettable. The pool area is relaxing and incredibly clean/well run. You can have drinks by the pool and there are toilets and a shower so you could spend the whole day there. |There is so much to do in the local area. Here are our top things to know:|Pool towels are provided - we suggest bringing your own for the beach as you can’t take these down there.|The local beach is brilliant and a 10 minute walk away. We hired a pedalo with a slide on top - so much fun. The sand is loose so buy one of those sand screws if you want to take an umbrella down. The reception provided us with an umbrella, boogie board, bucket and spade for the week!|You are spoilt for choice of restaurants in the local area (literally within two minutes’ walk). We highly recommend the Earth cafe for lunch and Bella Rosa for dinner. The food at the Bistro on site was incredibly tasty!|The local shop is a three minute walk away which is ideal for bread, milk, water etc. The Bom Dia small supermarket in town has more and is walkable (10 minutes). You would need to drive to a bigger supermarket but we spent a week just using these two shops and it was great.|Bring trainers so that you can walk down to the cliffs/caves comfortably.|We took a morning trip on the Santa Bernarda pirate ship - so much fun, a 25 minute taxi drive to the boarding spot. |Don’t miss out on a walk along the boardwalk, a drink in the Boneca cave bar, a mooch round the many souvenir shops and a trip to very authentic market/butchers!|The local people are incredibly gentle and kind - learn a few Portuguese phrases if you can as they are so appreciative of the effort.|The most perfect holiday destination - we couldn’t have...

8 of us (6 adults, 2 kids) stayed in Villa #5 (Gonçalo Velho) for a week in June and it was the perfect place for our family trip. We were looking for a somewhere that could accommodate us all, and had some amenities (e.g., pool, food options) without being a full-blown all-inclusive-style resort, and Algar Seco Parque fit the bill perfectly. Highlights of this place: ||1. Location -- amazing location, very close walkable distance from town, the beach, the boardwalk. Restaurants, shops, and small grocery stores within a few minutes' walk. Right next to the Boneca Bar which is a cool spot located within the rock formation. Loved being close to the beach/town but not RIGHT next to it which would have been a bit too chaotic for us. ||2. Property -- really lovely and well-kept property with beautiful gardens throughout. It's not massive and sprawling property so it definitely feels more intimate and quiet. The villa itself was huge, with more than enough space for us all, and was spotlessly clean (bonus: they clean the villa 5x per week). We loved having our private pool which was so refreshing. Having the bistro on-site is also extremely convenient, especially for those in our party with small kids who reported back that both the food and service at the Bistro were lovely (shout out to their server, I think her name was Sarah?). ||3. Service -- everyone we encountered was super friendly and helpful, especially our host at the front desk (I believe his name was Arnold). Before we arrived, they had arranged to have a high chair and crib brought in for the 1-year-old in our party, there were freshly cut flowers in the kitchen and living room upon arrival, and the villa also came equipped with a book they've printed with information about literally everything you could think of, from a list of recommended restaurants to instructions on what to do in an emergency. Every detail was thought of and you can tell they really want to ensure their guests have a great time. ||By chance, I found Algar Seco Parque through a search on Google Maps, and was interested in it based on all the excellent 5-star reviews. Well the reviews do not lie -- this place was awesome. Thank you to the whole team for the super relaxing and...