Hi everyone,

we just came back from a 12 day stay at the W Algarve... and as I had been there three years ago, posting this pretty negative post, I also want to post another one now as the W Algarve definately improved.

After our first stay, I thought that I would not come back to the W Algarve again, but beginning of this year I was looking for nice vacation destinations in South Europe and as Greece seemed to be super expensive this year, but saw some good offers at the Algarve - and I found a possibility to book the W Algarve on a Best Rate Gurantee for a good price. I saw that it recently was rated 4,7 at the Marriott Website - so I thought we can give it another try. I found a Wonderful Room, booked it for three guests for 10 days. And in the end we stayed two days longer, because we liked it and had more time. We planned to go to Lisabon afterwards, but as it was nearly 40° there, we thought we better spend it at the Algarve then in a sweaty city.

Compared to our first stay, there has been A LOT OF improvement.

The staff was mostly more professional, especially at the breakfast. They handled the fully occupied hotel nearly without bigger waiting times. Also, and that's the important part, the food quality improved a lot. We have been dining at the Paper Moon, at the Market Kitchen (Sushi) multiple times and also had a couple of Lunch Breaks near the Wet Pool Area. The food was always good, and we were surprised that after our last stay, it got so much better. Of course, it's still pricey, and you will get similar food outside of the resort for a fraction of the price, but at least they did their best in terms of quality and service. Also the breakfast got upgraded with an a la carte menu, the Eggs Benedicts and French Toast have been really tasty.

Additionally, they now offer much more: Live music in the new AIR called space next to the cliffs during sunset, some DJ in the bar, a guitar band at the Market Kitchen during dinner. There has been different promotions during our stay (Ayala Champagne, the new Algarve Outlet Mall), and sometimes they brought even some free cold small drink at the Wet Pool.
The best service came definately again from the guys at the Valet. They are not only valet drivers, they give you good restaurant tips, help you driving around the resort and are always smiling. They give the positive vibes!

But the hotel is definately not perfect yet - we got cards for another guest in the room (with similar surname), funny - but my wife was not pleased that there was another female name on the card
Also, I was in bad medical condition and needed ice in the room two times a day in the room. After managing this at the beginning surprisingly 100%, after 4 days it stopped and I had to call and ask.
Also, don't hope for an upgrade, especially when the resort is occupied. I tried NUA certificates, that got rejected because they block some rooms, even if they are available - and I also had some unpleasant discussions with the W Insiders about an upgrade for the second half of our stay as we booked two more nights. That upgraded Suite was definately spacey, but you could see already a lot of worn out parts (holes in the wooden doors, dirty carpets, mold in the shower corners). As well, sometimes the room cleaning came just at 16:00 and often there was no turndown service at all.

So in general I would recommend the W Algarve now and also consider to come back.
Expect a nice, but not perfect stay, don't expect an upgrade, and then you will definately have a nice stay now at the Algarve in the resort.