Hotel Quinta do Lago — Hotel in Loulé

There are so many good points to this hotel that I was tempted to give it 5. |It is a truly beautiful hotel and the staff are wonderful always going that extra mile to try and help. The ambience is fabulous, even the cheapest rooms are huge and comfortable with a large balcony and lovely views. The breakfasts are excellent with a really wide choice of food, which even on their busiest days was being constantly replenished. Every single waiter and waitress are busy making sure everything is perfect for you. The pool staff go out of their way to make sure you are comfortable and in the shade or full sun, whichever is your preference. The porter/concierge staff provided a similar service. The bar was welcoming. We had the seafood Royal buffet on the Sunday night and it was absolutely excellent.|So why not 5? It may seem a bit churlish - but this is a 5* hotel and it just didn't quite come up to the mark. The things I'm going to mention are admittedly small, but were important to us. |I don't think I have ever stayed in a hotel of this quality where the bottles of water are not topped up every day. On the first day there are some small bottles in the fridge and one large on on the table. I asked at reception whether these were meant to be replenished and was told if I wanted more they had to be ordered and paid for. In fact, over the 10 days we were there the large bottle was replaced about 4 times, so a very contradictory message. |Another small, but very irritating thing was that in the shower there is only a small soap dish at shoulder height, which meant constantly bending down to put down the shower gel or shampoo with water getting in the eyes each time etc. A shelf would have made life much easier. |Finally, the pool was really cold, so much so, I wouldn't go in. The weather wasn't particularly hot or sunny, so it would have taken a long time to warm up and dry off. I asked what the temperature of the water was, given that everyone was saying that there had just had a heatwave and the pool is in full sun all day. It was obviously being cooled down as I was told it was kept at c26-28 degrees, which isn't particularly pleasant for a leisurely swim. Everyone going in was saying how cold it was and there were very few people in the water. |The other aspects which did not quite meet the mark for us, have nothing to do with my rating, as they were not in hotel's power to do anything about them and were very personal.|The hotel is in the middle of nowhere - or at least anywhere walkable. There are no cafes, bars or restaurants within an easy walk, so we had to drive or Uber everywhere. There are, however, many wonderful restaurants a short taxi ride or drive away. Many people chose the hotel because they didn't want to move from the. poolside - but we prefer to be able to explore. With the weather decidedly iffy, we hired a car so we could see more of the area. |As I said, my review was so close to full marks - but...

Having been to Portugal a few times we thought we would look at staying in this area for a last minute sunshine break. |Loved the area although quiet and more laid back -just what we wanted!|The hotel staff are the pinnacle to this hotel from the housekeeping to the restaurant staff, they were friendly and approachable and always with a smile. |The room we stayed in was very clean and we enjoyed the balcony area to watch the fabulous sunsets ! |We had tea and coffee facilities, bathrobes,slippers, and free water.|We didn’t eat dinner at the hotel so can’t comment but the breakfast was fabulous with a great choice. My omelettes were the best I’ve had ! |The beach is a ten minute walk away via the bridge, ponte da Quinta do lago. |We also visited Bold Octopus, Izzy’s ,The Shack, Bovino, Casa Velha and Gigi’s for meals. All highly recommended but strongly advised to book ahead in the high season ! |We also visited Quinta Shopping Centre enjoying a meal at the Cheeky Pup and spent another a day visiting Vilamoura and Quarteria via an uber. |An enjoyable break and stay at this 5 star service hotel even though we are not golf enthusiasts! |We enjoyed afternoons around the pool although on our last afternoon I’m sure there were a few ‘ unwanted guests ‘ who didn’t appear to be staying at the hotel. (I would suggest to management a system to check who are staying/ paying guests as it looks like non residentials can access this exclusive hotel from the...

The pictures don't do this hotel justice. It's not the most modern to look at and the rooms could do with a bit of superficial modernising. That being said, the rooms are very well maintained and in perfect condition. All the staff were very pleasant and attentive, especially at breakfast, around the pool and during the evening meals. We are foodies and were very happy with the quality and variety of food on offer. We had a different bottle of wine each night and a few glasses of the house white during the afternoon and they couldn't have been nicer. No nasty cheap wines here. The pool was nice and there was always plenty of sunbeds (in July). If you like spending most of your time at the beach then this place may not be for you. There is a tidal nature reserve between the hotel and the beach so you have at least a 10/15 min stroll from the hotel. All the Quinta do Lago golf courses are around 5 mins drive away and the hotel will drive you there and pick you up free of charge. We...