Dunas Douradas Beach Club — Restaurant in Loulé

Dunas Douradas Beach Club is a first-class establishment in a great beachside location, with excellent staff and a pleasant, laid-back ambience despite the luxurious five-star surroundings. A very well-appointed, tastefully decorated apartment, with a large balcony - complete with a Weber BBQ - overlooking attractive gardens and the sea. Comfortable beds and well-lit bathrooms, with good shower pressure. We did not use the home entertainment systems much, but there seemed to be every TV channel imaginable in multiple languages, and guest-access Netflix.|| ||I am actually a little reluctant to write this review, as we were guests at Dunas Douradas, courtesy of a friend who very kindly invited us to stay in a property that he owns (paying only for cleaning), so our comments must also be seen in this light. Nevertheless, feedback - even from "non-paying guests" like us - can sometimes be helpful, so here goes. ||||My primary takeaway is that we thoroughly enjoyed our stay, not least because all of the DDBC staff were quite excellent. Friendly, helpful, relaxed. They left a very positive impression on us, from the cleaners to the reception staff to the swimming pool attendants (who were most accommodating in arranging for us to use the sauna). Even in a * luxury establishment such as this, one is always dependent on the smooth interaction between staff and clients at all times, and the personnel here were a real credit to the brand. 10/10! ||||The apartment itself was large, elegant, and very well-equipped, albeit the lack of any personal effects (it is not "lived in", so it had none of the usual things you might find in a typical holiday rental - books, games, foodstuffs basics like salt and pepper, olive oil, or coffee filters in a kitchen cupboard, etc) might make it feel a bit impersonal and hotel-like to some people. ||||Maybe this is just us. In fact it probably IS just us, as the apartment's kitchen delivered a couple of amusing surprises during our stay. By any standards, the kitchen is fabulously well-equipped for cooking. It is a chef's dream. It has EVERYTHING, including high-end Bosch oven, Bora induction hob, citrus presser, the whole nine yards. And yet I suspect nobody has ever cooked there before us. I made a large piece of salmon in the oven, but when I went to find oven gloves, in order to take the burning-hot dish from the oven, there were none. Everything else under the sun, but no oven gloves. Had nobody EVER used the oven? Then I used one of the two excellent Teflon-coated frying pans, but could not find any non-metal spatula. There were at least two steel spatulas, but these will happily destroy a Teflon frying pan. Had nobody EVER fried anything in the apartment? It is, of course, possible that they have not, but have eaten out every single day, or ordered Uber Eats. Even so, it might be worth adding these two simple and inexpensive items to the housekeeping list, just in case a future client does want to "self-cater" in what is clearly an ideal self-catering apartment. ||||It might also be a good idea to have a "Welcome to Dunas Douradas" guest-file providing basic information on how things work, what to do about beach towels, and containing lists of things to do, places to see, restaurants, local shops, bike rentals, etc. We were lucky to have friends living locally in Quinta do Lago. Not everybody has that good fortune, though I have no doubt we could have got answers very quickly from Reception. There was a thick file for the oven, washing machine, microwave, dishwasher, etc, etc., but this seems to have been provided by the contractors who built/decorated/furnished the apartment. ||||Please do not take these comments above as a criticism, but more as a "what on earth did the previous people do here...?" observation. We were very happy in Dunas Douradas, and would recommend the place to anyone, with no hesitation. It was quiet while we were there, but the impression given by the receptionists was that the place has a rather different vibe in high season. If the DDBC staff can perform even half as well under the pressures of August as they did in November, then this place is a winner....

We have been here a lot, almost every year for the last 10 years. We love the apartments and the area but there are some things that have really annoyed me in the last couple of trips that I’ve resisted complaining about until now.||The service in the restaurant is almost always too slow. They are not attentive enough and often leave you waiting for long periods where nobody checks if you need anything meaning you end up standing up and approaching them. Today we ordered lunch and it took 40 minutes to make two wraps with some fries.||The coffee they serve in the bar is abysmal, €4.35 for a Latte which only half-fills an already tiny cup, on top of this it’s from a Nespresso machine, so you’re not paying a premium because a skilled barista made it for you, it’s just a rip off opportunity. If the coffee were €2 it might be acceptable but otherwise it really isn’t.||There’s a lot of things in disrepair, there are sunken tiles by the stairs to the pool, there are missing cobbles all over the resort which are trip hazards. The sun shade in our apartment is broken.||The resort can arrange a car to drop you to and from restaurants etc. they are much more expensive that Uber but if you want door to door service they are your only choice as the resort security do not permit Uber or other services to drop you to your apartment door. This is ok if the weather is good but if it’s windy and/or raining and you have small kids it’s not really ok.||The little shop/mercado is great as a convenience, but some things are also very overpriced. €5.50 for a small box of berries, €5 for an ice cream cone.||Overall I still like the place, but all of these little things erode the 5-star experience and certainly make me unlikely to recommend it to anyone and over time make me feel less enthused about coming back. I hope someone at the resort reads this and takes some action on...

We booked a last minute 4 night stay here over the Aug bank holiday. Subsequently we booked the last available apartment and we a bit concerned it wouldn’t be that great. We shouldn’t have worried! The place was beautiful, spotless and well equipped. 2 beautiful balconies with partial sea views and a stunning roof terrace. The photos really don’t do this place justice. ||The on site restaurant, Saudade, was also excellent. Decent food, a beautiful view of the dunes and the sea and reasonably priced for the area. We also used room service from here when we were too tired to cook and it was great.||The hotel has an on site shop which sells all the basics and is great for fresh croissants, bread and bottles of water/wine/pool inflatables all at very reasonable prices (unusual for a hotel shop!) ||Pool area is small, but lovely and immaculate. Plenty of loungers and no issues getting a sun-bed even in the height of August. Pool bar service is great.||There is a beautiful beach just across the boardwalk and great routes to run/bike across the dunes towards Quinta do Logo. ||It’s hard to find fault with this place. The only very minor negative was the perimeter wall around the resort is a bit scruffy and could do with a lick of paint. Our apartment was right on the edge of the resort which meant we could hear the sea at all times but also meant we could see this wall which was a bit ugly. It certainly wouldn’t put me off coming back though, and also means that the resort is very secure. Most apartments probably can’t even see this. ||Staff are fabulous, nothing is too much trouble and the standard of housekeeping was exceptional.||If you’re looking for the flexibility and space of an apartment with the hospitality of a hotel then this is the place! ||We would love to come back and have already recommended this...