Pestana Dom João II — Hotel in Portimão

We thoroughly enjoyed our week’s holiday in Pestana Dom João II. The hotel is perfect in a strange way. From the outside it is very dated and of a 70’s/80’s design that would not inspire confidence if it were in Ireland. Once inside the reception area is nicely styled and feels relatively modern. There is a standard “sun holiday” breakfast room on the ground floor which is fine but there is also a veranda. The veranda overlooks the garden and pool area and is about 100 yards from the sea. Breakfast here on a beautiful morning was bliss. The pool area is very basic but very very nice, the salt water pool is a treat and there are plenty of sun loungers and parasols (with no-one up at 5am with towels). The sea is now only 50 yards away. The back gate of the hotel grounds leads to a boardwalk which stretches both ways along the length of the beach and is very picturesque in its own right. From the boardwalk it’s now only 25 yards to the sea. The beach is sandy and clean with a gentle slope into the water, at which point you’re in the sea. The water is glorious, cool enough to be a haven from the heat but not the cold Irish Atlantic where sea swimmers can smugly boast of their comparative bravery/insanity compared to the rest of us (me). Back in the hotel you come to the rooms, the dark corridors once again grimly remind me of those from my youth (except there’s no children pounding up and down them 24 hours a day). The walk down memory lane continues in the room where dated fixtures and fittings make you fear the worst. Except suddenly you realise that it’s not pre-celtic tiger Ireland and even if the decor is dated it’s clean, freshly painted and actually quite nice. Then after two days you realise that not only would you definitely come back to this hotel but you possibly shouldn’t recommend it to others in case it gets too popular. Because the thing that made this hotel really stand out was the other guests. They are mainly Portuguese and the few who are Irish/UK aren’t the type who want to treat every night of their holidays as if it was the end of a wedding with the need to get as many drinks in and songs sung as possible. I love those occasions but not when I’m on a relaxing holiday (I didn’t even realise that there is a hotel bar). There is also mercifully none of the Irish qdl crowd who think R O’C is aspirational. I want this hotel to stay exactly as it is, I want it to be somewhere that the guests are mainly Portuguese and a few nice Irish/UK. Please...

We stayed here beginning of August. A family of 3, two adults and a 15year old. On arrival, a warm friendly welcome. |We asked for a room to be on the top floor and paid extra for a sew view. Wow the view was beautiful.|Room was very spacious. Room 526A.|Separate shower room to the toilet and sink , which was very handy. ||Pool area was great, plenty of Sun loungers. |Pool bar was very busy at times but easy to get a bite to eat and drink. All pool staff very friendly and work hard. |Beach restaurant, food very good and good choice of drinks. All staff very friendly and work hard. |We only had breakfast at the main restaurant. Which had a good choice for everyone. |Not sure on lunch or evening meals. ||We felt there was a very relaxing vibe at this hotel. Which we enjoyed . Every staff member worked so hard and very friendly. We could not fault one staff member at this hotel. |Evening bar staff worked hard and very friendly, after a couple of nights they knew what we were drinking. ||Going to the pool in the morning was pleasant, no hustle for a sun loungers. ||Had a couple of days at the beach. Wow , one of the prettiest and Beautiful beach. We walked up to the caves. Very stunning. ||Easy to walk to Alvor, lovely shops and restaurants. |If you don’t fancy the walk you can down load uber and order a cab from there. |Great restaurant outside the front of the hotel. |Along the beach on the broad walk there are amazing restaurants to eat there. ||Now for the minor issues, sorry to write this. |Our room had issues with the air con, no beach towels and no bathroom towel for our daughter. we did notify reception. They did sort this straight away. But air con still not good. ||Other issues……|Ants in the room all over my daughter’s bed. |Rooms were dated. Hardly any storage for a family of 3. |Shower tray just flooded the floors, no shelving to put your toiletries. |No tea or coffee facilities . No water on arrival. |Pillows were lumpy. Toilet seat not fixed correctly. ||Because our room had amazing views, we put up with the issues. ||I would definitely like to go back to Portugal, very warm kind people and love the chilled atmosphere. ||We didn’t want to come home. Thank you for a wonderful holiday. ||If you book , go with open mind about the hotel, as it is a great hotel. Just needs a...

Despite some positives our overall experience with this hotel was not great. |The hotel (and their travel agents) are advertising 'deluxe' rooms which are not deluxe in any shape or form. |In hotel speak there is a difference between 'standard' and 'deluxe' with the latter indicating more space, better view etc. |Our room looked onto a car park.|No view of the gardens or sea and simply as seen in the picture. When we complained we were told to contact our agent. And given some useless corporate waffle about 'lead in rooms'. Most worryingly the receptionist described the room as 'the cheapest view' and wanted the around €800 euros to upgrade. |The room we had was costing €299 per night through Sunway.|Additionally we were told we would have a three hour wait for our room to be ready upon arrival. Rooms are not ready until 3pm and this appears to be non negotiable. You can get changed in the Spa toilet of you want to put your bags into storage. |Apart from the view, and the general tiredness of the room (peeling bathroom door) there was an additional 10% service charge for drinks at the bar/pool. Just to pull the pint or pour the drink.|We also had three out of six days when our room and the neighbouring rooms were made up by three pm, meaning we had to request maid service. |To be fair about it thisproperty has a lovely garden, some nice features, decent location near sea and boardwalk and a few EXCELLENT staff members but the overall sense was that reception staff were disinterested and service was minimal. |I would add that the town of Alvor is a taxi ride rather than a walk and though the fare is only €4 or so, there are no paths to walk along if you go on foot. |Breakfast was fine. |Is this hotel living up to it's four star service and potential? I would say...