Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort

We chose the Anantara with Covid in mind expecting a 5 star hotel would have high levels of hygiene. Our room met our expectations. Covid measures were excellent. Everything was cleaned, tables, chairs , etc with sanitizing stations everywhere. Masks were compulsory indoors and staff wore them everywhere. There was a free shuttle to the marina where there were plenty of restaurants and bars and people were Covid aware. The hotel was like morgue in the evenings with no attempt to create any ambiance. No entertainment , music etc . which forced people to go down to the Marina to embrace some atmosphere. The MASSIVE complaint I have was on arrival we were told we must vacate the hotel by 3pm on day of departure as the hotel would be used by the players at the Portugese Masters golf tournament as a Covid bubble . That was not a real issue as we had an evening flight home which we chose so that we can enjoy a full day relaxation and the 3pm was an acceptable compromise. On the day of departure we were told that we had to leave at 12 and they would ship us off to their near by apartment complex. Apparently the PGA wanted earlier access and the hotel agreed without consideration of their current guests. I feel REAL disappointed with that treatment. If I wanted to stay in a second division apartment complex I would have booked it. Instead I booked a 5 star hotel for my complete duration. SHAME on you for treating your current guests with such derision to favor the pampered elite.

I have just returned from a 7 day stay in this hotel with my teenage daughter. I preface this review by acknowledging that the hotel was probably besieged by last minute British holiday makers, with very little warning and for which the hotel was clearly not prepared. The things that I enjoyed: The room was lovely. The food (when it arrived) was of a good standard. the pool areas were great. the hotel's recommendations for eating out were, without exception, superb. The restaurant manager was a delight (see below) The issues I have are largely due to the service provided which was either very good or very bad. There was clearly an issue with the Poolside bar. They were often overwhelmed and it took too long to give your order and to get fed. They were patently understaffed and were servicing not just the restaurant but all those around the pool who ordered food to their sunbeds. The problem was apparent for the first three days despite trying different times to eat. One day, the third was so bad that we waited an hour to be fed, the staff that day were avoidant and unfriendly and people were getting up and leaving having only had their drinks after waiting so long and their requests for an update on their food order went unanswered. That said, I spoke with the hotel restaurant manager after lunch to voice my concerns. He was superb and dealt with it as you would expect in a hotel of this quality. He was apologetic, acknowldged the issue and we were provided with lunch on the hotel the following day, on the lounge terrace where the service was a totally different experience and was considerably more efficient. So, I would recommend the lounge terrace as the better lunch option. The timing of the room servicing was also erratic. you never knew when they would land. on one day, they did not turn up at all until 5pm by which time my daughter had returned to the room to shower for our evening out. we had ben out of the room pretty much all day. They said they would come back later and do the turn down service at the same time. They still had not been when we returned from our evening out. They arrived at 9.45pm, by which time we had been out, come back and were in our pyjamas. so our room was not serviced that day. that same night, we were woken by the door bell and then some gentleman letting himself into our room after 10.30pm. it was apparently to service the mini bar. it was ridiculous to come at that time of night. which I explained as I sent him away. I raised the above two issues the following morning in the hotel reception to be told that the minibar would not normally be serviced at that time of night, which then begged the question of who was entering our room that late. The issue was to be raised with the hotel manager and I was told that they would get back to me. I didn't hear anything from the manager regarding our late night visitor and frankly could not be bothered to chase it up. I would have thought that reassuring guests about hotel security might be something that would be attended to promptly and appropriately. This is not what you would expect from guest relations. In respect of room servicing, I was asked what time I would like the room to be serviced that day. I suggested 11.am that didn't happen either. they arrived much later, again when my daughter was in the room. In the end I requested a room service later that night when we were out for dinner, which happily they did. The hotel provides complimentary water. but we had to chase it down every day as it was not brought as a matter of course. So the service generally let the hotel down during the majority of our stay. On the last day that we were there, the guest numbers had dropped considerably and it was a different experience. You caught a glimpse of how the hotel probably runs when there are sufficient staff members to the number of guests. So as I say, a mixed bag. I enjoyed my stay, largely because we were desperate to escape from the UK and enjoy some sunshine. I am not sure I would choose to return to this hotel, as in different circumstances, I would have been extremely irritated by the patchy and sometimes unfriendly service. A final tip. The hotel offer a free shuttle into Vilamoura, but sometimes there is quite a wait for this, if everybody wants to go at the same sort of time. You cannot book the shuttle. We didn't bother after the first night and took Ubers instead. they work really well, are reasonably priced and quick to arrive. they are also considerably cheaper than the taxis that the hotel book for you.