Pine Cliffs Gardens

Mesas pegajosas por todas partes, comida horrible en todos los restaurantes del resort, excepto en Mare. Nunca entenderé las buenas críticas. Este no es un resort de 5 estrellas. El personal también parece increíblemente miserable. No es culpa suya, pero te hace preguntarte si tienen buenas condiciones laborales. Evítalo a toda costa si quieres un auténtico resort de 5 estrellas.

Magnífico complejo, pero la sección del jardín de Pine Cliffs está muy, muy alejada: ¡se necesitan 20 minutos para ir a la playa y 12 para desayunar! Se trata de apartamentos amplios, funcionales, modernos, ideales para estancias largas. Sin servicio nocturno, sin consideración de peticiones concretas (piso, hora de llegada), lo cual es lamentable en un 5*. El sitio es sublime, la playa seguramente la más bonita de la región, el personal muy sonriente. El Spa es destacable, espacioso, muy bien equipado.

Had heard a lot about Pine Cliffs and had always stayed maybe 5 minutes away, closer to Albufeira. Our usual accommodation was fully booked this year so we decided to try Pine Cliffs. We stayed in the Gardens, a perfect 1 bed apartment with everything needed - except a full length mirror! Would have been nice to have one in the bedroom area. The size, amenities and standard of furnishings was excellent. The kitchen area had every appliance needed and more! Full size fridge freezer if you wanted to be more self catering, although we had B&B option so didn't actually eat a meal in the apartment apart from snacking. The in resort restaurants and cafes are expensive, if you are trying to keep to a daily budget, this is not the place to eat! However, we really enjoyed the food in Zest Cafe and Corda Cafe for quick lunch bites. Staff for the most part are excellent, although there is a manager/supervisor in Zest that is a bit "sour". Breakfast is excellent, superb choice of food and the staff are excellent. Staff will bring you tea/coffee/juices, but if you go to use the self service speciaility coffee machines they are very slow so there is always a queue. They are polite and remind you when breakfast is finishing, but don't throw you out or make you feel unwelcome or turn off the coffee machines (have been in hotels that do this!) The beach is fabulous and every day when we went down we managed to get sunbeds, although in the height of summer I'd say it would be difficult. Didn't get to try Mare, but it always seemed busy and had a good buzz. Lifeguards on duty were good to have and very attentive as the sea was very rough and plenty of kids in the surf getting knocked over by the strength of the waves. The grounds of the hotel are immaculate, although one morning we were woken up at 7am by a very noisy leaf blower! Maybe no power tools before 9am would be nice. It can be hard to navigate, there are pathways everywhere, but the map isn't that good. There are some signposts but the first morning trying to find breakfast was hard, and the indoor pool entrance. Even when you find it once, every pathway looks the same and there's multiple entrances to all buildings so you're a bit confused for a while. Didn't try the outdoor pools, so cannot comment on temperature but we did get in the sea and it was quite pleasant. Overall it was an excellent stay at a resort that lived up to the reputation. We'll definitely be back.