Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa

This is my 3rd stay in Hilton Vilamoura. However, I have noticed that a lot has changed: 1. Swimming pools are dirty. I have seen baby wipes in the pool for 3 days, you can see dirt around the pool near the pumps, and generally water is turning green 2. Staff don't seem happy and I have spoken to a few. They are nice and friendly people but generally don't care attitude. 3. Half board - You get a menu with 3 items to choose from. Normally half board is either a buffet or Al a cart menu to choose from i.e. starter, lunch and desert. This should be clearly stated in the booking section if dinner is served with minimal choice so that visitors can opt out of half board. Hilton is know for its brand and visitors pay a higher price to stay at a Hilton resort and therefore expects the service they have paid for.

We've just returned from a lovely stay at Hilton Vilamoura for 7 nights. It's our second time in Vilamoura with our toddler son, our last visit being two years ago when he was a baby. Largely we enjoyed our stay. Hotel staff are very friendly and accommodating. Lovely welcome when we arrived due to celebrating a special occasion. Special mentions to Anderson (who works extremely hard and seemingly has little time off though he assures me he does have days off), Riu, who we only saw once however the one experience we had of him was lovely and he was very accommodating, Antonio and Roberto working hard poolside with loungers and towels, Saugat, looking after us every morning at breakfast and Bruno who kindly gave our son some rubber ducks when he had a meltdown one morning due us taking away the ipad! (yep. Really). Breakfast is nice though selections limited. My first lunch experience was not good as I had the vegetarian burger which lacked in taste and the bread was overkill. This worried me as it was our first day and I thought "is this a taste of what was to come?". I needn't have worried as every lunch I had at the hotel after this was delicious including the one at Aquarella by the sea (the beach restaurant). I highly recommend the poke bowls, all well made and delicious. Dinner at the restaurants was OK, though a bit of a chore to keep checking where dinner was going to be every day. The kids menu both lunch and evening is very limited. The hotel should offer half portions of main meals to give more variation, because I like my son to have a good mix of vegetables every day. Rooms are nice and of a good size. We had a deluxe room. Large bed, a cot in the room for our son and bathroom is lovely with a bath and separate walk in shower. You are not allowed to hang clothing on the balcony which I completely understand and fully support however I think the hotel should have a laundry room with a coin operated dryer as the only option they give you is to use their laundry service which is not cheap! There is a drying line in the shower cubicle but naturally this will not dry swimwear in ample time. Covid considerations fully observed and felt completely comfortable during our stay. Couple of things to note: - we were not helped with our luggage to our room on arrival (we saw other guests after us get help). We had three suitcases a two year old and a stroller. - bottles of water are complimentary at breakfast as are coffees such as lattes and cappuccinos but no one tells you this. Why not? I found this out though seeing other guests and had to go out of my way to ask reception. - there are two large mirrors in the room but no full length mirrors, so I went a week only seeing what I looked like from thighs upwards before going out. - the private beach is nice, but don't forget your beach towels as you can't pick any up at the beach. This is a bit poor as it means you need to haul heavy towels to the beach (I saw a family of four do this with two toddlers and two strollers. Why not send staff back occasionally with the used towels on the shuttle? My partner had to get an Uber back to the hotel and back to beach to collect our towels. Also no one tells you this beforehand. There are no guides in the hotel rooms with information regarding this. - there are some lovely (non Hilton) local restaurants within walking distance where you'll get homely Portuguese meals cooked for you for a very reasonable cost. Steer clear of restaurants on the main marina strip unless you have a craving for unimaginative extortionate food. You'll be paying for their fancy locations as part of your bill. Summary: we went to Madeira last year during covid and had a better experience at the hotel we stayed there which was four star plus. I did not see the five stars of this hotel. I would not come back. Next time I will try another hotel or possibly stay in the apartment on a self catering basis. P.S hotel will reply to this review saying they hope we'll try them again and they look forward to us coming back to give them another try etc etc which suggests inauthentic responses. Best thing about Hilton was staff (minus the lack of help with luggage and info regarding what's available to guests), worst thing was lack of choice at breakfast, limited food options and not being informed about certain amenities and what is available to guests. Jet2 Indulgent Escapes experience is fantastic. Would do that again.