I stayed there in late May early June upon recommendation by Oxon Flyer and was not disappointed. I had two free spg nights I won in a raffle and used points for the other nights.


As a simple spg gold I got an upgrade to a better room (Deluxe -> Grand Deluxe) in advance which looked like this one:
https://www.starwoodhotels.com/pub/m....123230_ub.jpg

When the checkin lady noted I have two kids with me in tow, she called housekeeping to have the sofa bed converted to a bed.

The benefits in terms of breakfast were rather confusing. At checkin the lady said points stays include breakfast, the free nights don't. When we reported for breakfast, we were on the list for the free nights, but not the points nights. Luckily the lady who checked us in was on duty on those days so she sorted it out to be free on all days.

Spg gold bennies were supposedly free breakfast, free internet or 250 points, so I went for free internet assuming breakfast was included. In the end breakfast and internet was free and I got 250 points. Not complaining

The resort is pretty nice, yes, the out door pool is not heated, but according to the staff it gets very warm in summer.

There are two outdoor pools, we only tried the bigger one to the west, which looked more inviting and was closer to our room. Didn't look at the indoor pool, the weather was simply too nice to go indoors.

Breakfast is at the Jardim Colonial, the selection is pretty decent. Definte yes if its free, avoid if you need to pay.

The O Pescador is very nice, the food is good, the childs menu very nicely done and value for money (aprox 9€ for food and drink). Adult food and beverages are priced atrociously high, especially if you compare it to the excellent eateries just outside the hotel.

Beach access and condition is stellar. The 'sun beds' are free and there is no territory capturing going on in the morning at the beach.

At the time we stayed there the place was full of guests from the British isles with a sprinkling of German, French and Russians. The garden on the west end in front of the cliff was having 2-3 weddings a day, and lying by the pool it felt like they were getting married off on an assembly line

On the pine cliffs end of the resort it seemed that the timeshare guests had activities of their own, lots of football being played, barbecues etc going on.

We had rented a car in FAO, so we were pretty mobile, exploring the neighbouring towns for dinner. Albufeira has nice parts, the downtown by the beach was so absurdly horridly touristy that it was interesting again. We made a trip to Loulé one day and were pleasantly surprised.

Overall this resort is good value for money, especially if you are mobile to meet your nourishment elsewhere and stock up at the larger grocery store a few kilometres away. :-::-::-: