Colina Village Hotel — Hotel in Lagoa

This was an incredibly cheap March 2024 11 day holiday for the two of us and we read many reviews knowing specific types of peoples “problems” with the complex and booked here anyway knowing non of it would be a problem for us. Especially at the price we paid. If it wasn’t clean enough, we’d clean it ourselves, if the beds weren’t uncomfortable we’d deal with it, if there was no wifi we’d buy a data eSim, if the pool was cold we wouldn’t use it, if there was a problem we would speak to reception rather than complain on a review site afterwards etc etc. Expectations were well and truly checked BEFORE we booked. We are very well travelled individuals who love a bargain.

Our apartment was huge and modern so I’m assuming it had just been refurbed. It was also clean and lovely.

The area itself is very quiet with not much around at all which was what we knew and wanted for out holiday.

Beds were very hard which I love (I don’t know why folks complained previously about uncomfortable beds, each to their own I guess). It would have been better to have duvets rather than multiple sheets on the beds but this didn’t really bother us. Birds start tweeting loudly at approx 6am when it starts to get light so bring earplugs if that bothers you.

The kitchen was lovely with a table to eat at but was missing a few daft things like a second “large” cup and more than one teaspoon. We asked for a second mug but didn’t need another teaspoon but I’m sure reception would have given us one if we asked. There was a serrated knife and a bottle opener as well as everything else you’d need. I’m not sure if we ever got the oven to work properly or not as the instructions didn’t make any sense settings wise….but we made it work nonetheless and cooked many meals in it.

Large lounge with aircon and a table and four chairs to eat at and a coffee table, sofa and single seater. Lockable door to patio worked.

The bathroom again was huge with a very powerful shower over the bath. The bath plug itself drained quickly and there’s no way you’re getting a full bath of hot water (it does get cold in Portugal in the Winter) as the water tank is too small but this really wasn’t an issue. His and hers sinks (yes the bathroom was this big) was great but the cold tap wouldnt budge on the one but again this did not bother us.

No Wifi in your apartment, but we knew this prior to booking so it didnt bother us. Free Wifi at reception is dreadful but by the pool it is very fast.

We parked right by our apartment front door.

Outdoor terrace had nice sunlight in the mornings.

Pool was incredibly cold in March and was unusable (not an issue) even though it was 17 degrees and sunny.

Complex is approx 20/25 fast pace walk downhill to the town centre which we knew when booking, so anyone complaining about location needs to do their homework prior to booking.

Because of the distance from town you may find that “certain people” stay at the pool all day long drinking and speaking very loudly the entire time about the most mundane things and chat on Facetime with speaker on full blast etc. Whenever these “types” are about you’re best off heading to a beach for some peace and quiet.

Large well stocked Intermarche supermarket is a five minute drive away or about 25 mins walk.

We did not eat at the restaurant or drink at the bar.

We absolutely loved our time at Colina Village and would heartily recommend and stay...

Value for money accommodation, relaxing atmosphere and quiet, mixture of families, couples, older folk. Nice outdoor pool but maintenance and cleaning is lacking overall. Stayed there now for 4 weeks in the last year and not once did I see anyone cleaning the pool area or surroundings. I think the breeze takes away most of the issues. The indoor pool is in need of a lot of care, smashed glass panes which are there now for the past year or two at least. Tiles missing or damaged, pool starting to look dated and worn out. I suspect that local residents are also accessing the pool area at the weekends as it gets considerably busier with Portuguese and the whole extended family units are there yet you won't see them during the week at all and they seem to drive out of the complex once finished. This isn't surprising as there was no supervision of the pool area at all. The children's playground area is a big waste in my opinion. Basic is an understatement and there is a massive opportunity here to provide great entertainment space for the children to bring families back again and again, particularly considering the isolated location of the complex. My own kids were bored with it after a couple of minutes the first time we visited as there is little to do, particularly for older children and they had no interest to spend time there on this occasion as a result which is a real shame for parents. Barely ever seen any children down there playing. Tennis courts are also underutilised and the space could be better used as mini golf or the like, table tennis tables, boules etc. On our most recent visit which finished this week, we had to move after day one as the mould and upkeep of the first apartment was not acceptable for a returning customer on a two week stay. The second apartment was much better and had clearly been relatively recently updated a tad. Plenty of parking on site near to your front door. Pillows were again extremely uncomfortable and the pull out bed is not great either. As others have said, the place could do with a big overhaul but the only maintenance I seen ongoing was an elderly man struggling with some of the gardening duties unfortunately. On this visit we noticed some issues with electric sockets also with the air conditioning unit in the bedroom seemingly leaking inside the wall down into the socket below which was then arcing/shorting which was concerning. Obviously we then felt that we could not use the Aircon unit in the bedroom which was unfortunate and I find it hard to believe the that this was the first time anyone noticed this in the unit as it was very apparent and frightening. Overall I would recommend Colina for its value for money however I would add that it is the luck of the draw where you are located and the standard of the accommodation you receive. It will also depend if you want a complex based vacation or will just use this as a base. I would also recommend you purchase a pillow from Decathlon or something as they are truly useless and will ruin your...

A charming collection of villas that reflect the price you pay.

My partner found a great deal for here so we decided to book. Our overall sentiment is that Colina Village is a very good budget option to visit the Algarve although done expect the Ritz.

The apartments are very spacious with good utilities although they are very outdated. Most utilities and furniture are in severe need of an update or regular maintenance and better cleaning. Our AC and boiler packed in (thankfully on our last night). The pool area could do with a massive renovation as big tiles in the pool were missing and the ladders out felt like they could snap on your own weight. The sun loungers are extremely uncomfortable and found ourselves in the lacking pool most of the time.

The location is very good. A 20 minute walk to Cavroeiro that boasts some amazing restaurants and some beautiful scenery with tours of local caves on the water. Takes around 4-5 mins in a Uber/Taxi which the reception can arrange for you. They also run a free mini bus service with return into town 3 times a day but unfortunately it isn’t very punctual with time.

The restaurant is nothing special food wise but like other parts of Colina Village it could do with a serious update. The bar I couldn’t really fault, the prices of alcohol reflected what we found in the local area.

Most staff we dealt with were very polite and helpful and was only a handful that let them down. We stayed at the end of April where a weather event caused a multi nation outage. We initially weren’t too fussed about this as we had stocked up on food and water the day we arrived. We inquired as to when the power was expected to return as we did not have any signal or power for around 4 hours at this point and had no idea what caused it or if it was a regular occurrence. We were told that a Russian cyber attack had knocked out a large part of the European power grid and they were not sure when it would return. We obviously had no way of confirming what the reception staff told us and naturally took his word for it. We were also informed that a dinner service would be available for guests at the restaurant due to the inconvenience. This was untrue. We arrived at the restaurant at 6:30pm sharp to a closed restaurant and bar. We observed several staff members taking water, food and other provisions into personal bags and even cars.

In a nutshell it is perfect placed in a picturesque part of the Algarve only an hour away from Faro airport and really not far from a very beautiful town. We did feel it was very family oriented. The walls are very thin so hopefully you’d be lucky to have quiet neighbours. Colina village does have a certain charm but don’t think we will be returning...