Holiday Inn Algarve

The issue with the noise comes from the heat exchanger which is situated on the balcony meaning it is noisy if you want to sit there and have the air conditioning on in the room.
The breakfast is ok,just ok. The main niggles are you queue for food, then queue for bread and pastries but then queue for a 3rd time just to get butter. All in the name of Covidi suppose.
The main problem with the hotel is the total lack of sunbeds for the 100 plus rooms. The are about 40 in total. The ugly face of modern tourism is displayed every morning in the fanatical attempt to reserve one by placing a towel on it and disappearing for the day. The hotel does nothing at all to manage this despite having signs up to say reserving sunbeds is forbidden. For this reason alone, we would not return to this hotel

Friendly, attentive service. The hotel is set on a nice beach surrounded by pretty cliffs, with calm waters. Lots of boats and boards to rent, plus chairs, but all of these are booked direct on the beach from separate companies. We could not get chairs so we bought some cheaply on the nearby "avenue", €11 each. A short walk west on the beach took us to hidden tiny caves and archways that completely delighted us. In August, it was a bit crowded on the beach at high tide. The pool was very nice, with multilevel decks offering great sunset views. It was a little challenging to get a chair (go early), but there was a nice bar with good snacks (try the toasted sandwich with tomato and chicken!) We were always able to get chairs in the late afternoon The buffet restaurant had a beautiful view, and breakfast there had lots of delicious choices for any taste. Dinners seemed a bit bland, but we might not know the right seasonings to add. The hotel is at one end of an avenue that runs above the beach, with a very close-by food market. We loved strolling the avenue every night, with everyone out shopping and dining. We highly recommend this hotel!

Whilst travelling during peak season you expect the hotel to be busy but the pictures do not represent the reality. When you enter the beach from the hotel, you have a private company that takes up 90 percent of the sand to the water and if you want to sit in this area you need to pay 20 euros a day. When there is high tide you have nowhere to sit and the beach as depicted on the pictures, are misleading and not an accurate representation of the hotel. Most people come to enjoy the beach, there is literally no space on the beach and the paid area, the hosts are aggressive and do not allow you to sit near, even though you are a guest of the hotel. The beach was not relaxing and do not trust the pictures on their website, as they do not show that most of the beach is siphoned off.

There are no extra beds/ seating near the pool and whilst you can understand that covid requires special arrangements, the hotel just takes a blind eye to any issues. 8 other families and couples were horrified with the situation as there is nowhere to relax unless you want to pay another 200 euros minimum. Not the best way to spend your holiday and the client relations manager has no interest in assisting. We requested a follow up but nothing was reported.

The location of the hotel is in a very touristy area but has some nice gelato and seafood restaurants. Best beaches can be found at praia da rocha and praia grande, which are not too far. They tend to be alot more secluded and does not have too many tourists there.

The breakfast is the same everyday and there is no variation on this. The views are really nice but aside from that there is nothing special about it. The rooms have really old showers and space is very limited. The beds were very comfortable and the ac was average. Wifi is inconsistent and if you need to work for business purposes, it is not a reliable connection as you are unable to work from your room, as my friend had to work in the bar.

We decided to leave the hotel due to the poor service and they offered no compensation for our bad stay. The manager was too busy to speak and as they had a full hotel, the staff didn't care for the guests. Disappointed as I like staying at IHG hotels but they need to enhance the service provided by the client services manager (as it was very poor) and take accountability for the services provided by the hotel. The pictures should also be updated to show that it is packed like sardines, rather than the empty beach as shown on the pictures.

Avoid if you want to have a decent holiday!