Last year I was fortunate enough to spend five wonderful nights with my husband in the 5 star Tivoli Marina hotel, Vilamoura in Portugal on a bed and breakfast basis. The breakfast room was very comfortable and there was plenty of outside seating. Breakfast itself was excellent as there was plenty of choice for all guests even the ones with the pickiest of appetites . The hotel has a spa and a gym. We stayed in a spacious suite which overlooked the swimming pool and we had a view of the sea. There was a turn down service at night and a delicious chocolate left on the pillows each night. The hotel overlooks the beautiful Marina which has bars, restaurants, cafes, pubs. We had a stroll round the Marina most days and in the evenings would have a meal in one of the restaurants there. One evening we enjoyed an evening meal at Peppers steak house which is in the hotel, the food and service was excellent, we felt very spoilt, the waiter was very attentive and made sure our wine glasses were topped up. The steaks were cooked to perfection. On the beachfront is the Pura beach club restaurant where we decided to have lunch and for desserts we had a dish which was similar to the rice pudding we would normally have at home but a slightly different variation it had quite a lot of fruit in and was very very sweet. The look on my husband’s face when he was eating it spoke volumes.
Part way through our holiday we had a taxi from the hotel and visited the busier resort of albufeira for the day. The taxi fare was approx. 30 euros each way but it was a quicker more comfortable way of getting there. However, there is a direct bus from Praia da Marina to the bus terminal in Albufeira. We had a good day in Albufeira old town wandering along the cobblestone streets where you’ll find many shops, restaurants and market stalls selling holiday trinkets . There are two beautiful sandy beaches in front of the old town Praia do pescadores and praira do peneco.
To sum up we both enjoyed our holiday in Vilamoura, I enjoyed the peace fulness of the area, it was a little to quiet for my husband who said if he went back to Portugal he would stay in Albufeira where there is more going on. We couldn’t fault the hotel at all and would highly recommend a stay there. Walking around the Marina itself was pleasant but I thought it would have been better and safer if it was pedestrians only as pedestrians do have to look out for bike’s, cars etc.
March was a good time to visit as the weather was warm during the day , it did go cool in the evenings so a woolly or a thin jacket would be advisable in the evenings.