The Domes Lake Resort

Firstly. The website for this hotel is very economical with the truth. Here's what you need to know before booking.

1. Of the four gourmet restaurants advertised, two are only open three days a week, and one of those (the off-site beach restaurant) serves dinner only on Fridays and Saturdays. The Sora food truck didn't open at all until our fourth day and, even then, only served cold food.

If you're staying for a week, you'll need to plan ahead and make reservations accordingly. I suspect most guests are on half-board and end up eating breakfast and dinner in the buffet restaurant.

For lunch, if you want a hot meal, the only option is the Estrella Bar. It's pleasant enough, but if you're there for a week you'll probably find the menu choices become repetitive quite quickly. A few additional lunch options would be a welcome improvement.

2. 'Hotel access to a beach'. This is a gate that takes you onto the street where the beach is a 5-10 minute walk and there is no hotel facilities on the beach. This is a public beach you would need to pay for sun loungers etc.

3. Of the four pools located at the resort all are mostly very shallow. IE:- for kids. and lots of them. I wouldn't recommend sitting near the hotel if you are a couple as its very noisy and very busy. The hotel has whats called 'a residence'. This seems the norm in the Algarve and what this is is basically a mixture of tourists and also self-catering holiday homes for the Portugese. This makes the resort busy with a lot of large (and loud) local families.

4. The adults area needs some work. It was however a real oasis for us and a few others. As previously stated there was no food here for half the week and was also off-limits for a bit at the start due to a large wedding taking over various areas of the hotel and making a ton of noise. It really needs a larger pool/area like the adults only pool at Domes of Elounda but it was nice and peaceful.

5. The relaxation/spa area is brutalist bordering on miserable and really needs some TLC. It felt like you were in another resort. Various masonry falling apart a bit and some parts and areas not working.

6. Villamoura harbour.. Don't even think about it. Unless Irish bars and football tops are your thing. Which if they are lets face it.. You're probably at the wrong hotel.

Now for some positives. The hotel is beautiful and very well designed. I really loved the design and decor and especially the artwork. All the staff are lovely and helpful bar one miserable guy at reception. Out of all the staff the unhappiest/most unhelpful seemed to be at reception which is a bit weird. Luckily we didn't have much to do with them.

The food is really really good. One of the best buffets dinner i've visited. (Porchetta on Italian night for example). Went to Acosta for dinner on our last night and had an absolutely delicious Lobster rice dish. It was just such a shame that the bass drum from a nearby bar/club was all you could hear for the duration. Pretty weird at 8:30pm!

The rooms are really lovely and peaceful. Great blackout curtains and really well sound proofed. Nice 60" tele as well. Bar area is a bit small but was really nice and never totally full to capacity even during England games. A few small problems were ironed out immediately by the really helpful Monica and it was nice to meet Nadia who I know will be reading this (Hi Nadia. Sorry I didn't get a chance to ask you whether you have visited Elounda. I hope so!)

One last thing thats worth checking when you check out... £300 was taken from our account as a deposit when we checked in. This was actually taken out of our account (rather than a pending payment) and NOT taken off our final bill. So we had to flag it and slightly argue about it before getting the money back. Overall very happy once finding the adults area open and able to enjoy it. Came back really relaxed after an initial few days of sussing it all out/wedding etc. Check out the massive Koi Carp in the lake and enjoy and explore!

We have been coming to this hotel for about 8 years and have always been happy but saw areas for improvements. This year the service in particular has been exceptional. Pilar warmly welcomed us and we had a lovely gift of chocolate during our stay together with a lovely note thanking us for our loyalty. A special mention needs to go to Raissa and Housekeeping who do an amazing job and all have a lovely smile when you encounter them. Bar staff in the evening were so helpful too and knowledgeable. There are too many people who deserve a special mention but all are an asset to the hotel. We look forward to returning.