Hotel Costa Gramatic - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: thomas
Opinion submitted in Mar 2006 by : miriam & thomas (69. 4)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
very good resort, loved every part of it
PAAAUUL helped us with our luggage every time we needed him and he fixed the toilet wen thomas broke it..
we met THobias he rockd
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Hotel Gale Nautical - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: KentEscapes - June 2006
Opinion submitted in June 2006 by : Anthony & Glad 62 young
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We returned on 15th June 2006, after spending a week's break at Hotel Gale Nautical in Armacao de Pera.
We had a ground floor room which was at the side of the hotel overlooking the gardens, rooms are excellent, clean and bright with air conditioning, maid service daily very good, only down side no tea/coffee facilities or fridge which is really needed, if only to keep your water cold. We also found quite a few of the restaurant and bar staff quite unfriendly almost to the point of being rude.
On booking we took B & B and really glad we did, the breakfast were very good plenty of choice for all, only fault we found was that the cooked food was only luke warm. We did try the restaurant one evening and the food was not up to a 4* standard, for £90 a week extra each we would have felt really cheated.
The hotel is quite some distance from the beach, across a busy duel carriageway and through the dunes and down a long slope, once down the sands are clean and we found plenty of space. From here you can walk in both directions.
We found some really nice places to eat and not expensive, but if you like fish (a choice of other foods as well)you must try the Estrelia de Mar which is just a long beach hut really, but very good, the fish is brought in straight from the boats and very reasonable prices.
Also the Water Dog is an excellent place to eat if you are looking for traditional English food, again very reasonable.
I would go back to Armacao de Pera but would find another hotel.
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Hotel Gale Nautical - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: Seguro Holidays - June 2006
Opinion submitted in June 2006 by : G Jones 60 ish
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just returned from a lovely weeks break at this hotel. Rooms very clean light and air conditioned,although no extras i.e. tea/coffee making facilities or fridge, which we felt was needed.
Bar and restaurant staff not at all friendly, general staff ie.rooms maids etc. ok.
We took B & B basis and really pleased we did so, breakfast very good selection, cooked and otherwise, but the evening meal which we did take in the hotel was dreadful, no variety, not hot and served outside with sea gulls flying all over the place and quite expensive at 18e a head.
Plenty of places to eat out, do try the Estrelia de Mar the last little restaurant on the beach, beyond are the fishermans huts, excellent fish and other dishes and very reasonable, looks nothing but excellent food. Also a good place if you are wanting English style food is The Water Dog, good food and reasonable at about 8 euros + drinks.
The hotel is not on the beach but across a duel carriageway and over the dunes with a long stretch down to the sands, once down the sands are really clean and plenty of little places to get tea/coffee etc. Not the place to go if you have walking problems.
We enjoyed our week but would not return to the same hotel due to the unfriendly staff, and situation of the hotel itself.
Plenty of trips out arranged by the hotel or tour operator which are reccommeded as other than the beach and plenty of pleasant walks there is little to do.
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Hotel Gale Nautical - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: (First Choice Discounts) First Choice - March 2006
Opinion submitted in Mar 2006 by : Beth & John both 48
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just back; March 26th 2006. Excellent hotel, was on B & B, great size room, breakfast to suit any taste and lots of it. We did not eat at the hotel at night as we had heard it wasnt up to par; Resort is primarily for the Portugues, with unfortunately lots of high rise going up as we speak to accommodate them, but the beach is fantastic; unspoilt with walks to Gale and stunning cliff walk to Carvoeiro. And the small streets above the beach are quaint and worth a visit with a market on a Saturday morning. Local bus service was dire; poss due to out of season service, but expensive. Local places you must visit are Lagos (Lagosh),Silves (Silvesh) and Carvoeiro. Miss out Albufeira; a mile walk down hill to the old town from bus stop, okay if youre like us and are able and like to walk, but the old town is all dug up and a nightmare, due to roadworks.
Armacao de Pera has lots of nice places to eat out,but you must visit Estrela do Mar, the last restaurant on the beach before the the fishing huts. Its very bohemian, with old metal chairs and an easy going none posh atmosphere. Fish is the big thing as and excellent, and during out visit they had a Tourist Menu; which consisted of starter, main, sweet, drink, which included beer, juice or caraf of wine and coffee for 10 euro, cheap but excellent. Porters in the old town did a similar for 10 euro and was also good.
Local wine, honey and Jams are fantastic and great.
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Hotel Garbe - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: Thomas Cook - July 2007
Opinion submitted in July 2007 by : Smiths - Somerset (55,50,17)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
The Hotel is in an excellent position next to a lovely, long, clean sand beach and close to the main town. It is listed as a 4* - which slightly overrates it -
I would put it at a 3+*. The rooms have two large single beds, reasonable cupboard/wardrobe space for 2 people, kettle with complimentary tea/coffee, very efficient air con, but small bathroom. The shower curtain made it too easy to flood the floor.
To be fair the room was kept clean daily and towels replaced regularly.
The dining room was pleasant and not overcrowded - the food choice was reasonable and always hot - maybe not too a good choice for young children. The waiters were helpful and cheerful.
The reception was open 24 hours and all staff seemed to understand English and were efficient.
The Bar was well set out and spacious - though putting a television on the main stage area was a mistake, they should have found a separate area. The drinks were relatively expensivive to the rest of the resort bars (about twice the normal price), the entertainment was poor and amateurish - so not worth spending the time in there. There were also ants.
The pool is small for the size of hotel (no life guard) a few sunbeds available which were snapped up very early by towel brigade - Other loungers were available on terraced areas overlooking the pool - ratio of about 1 umbrella per 2 beds - not bad.
Access down a few stone steps onto lovely sand beach - only spoilt by numerous sited sunbeds and umbrellas at expensive rates (2 beds & umbrella for 12 euros a day). The gaps in between these sites started to be filled up before 8 am by locals with towels and umbrellas - by 10 am getting crowded.
Very pleasant walk from hotel to furthest end of the old town resort took about half an hour - all flat - though the stone pavements quite slippery + watch out for occasional dog mess. Usual bars, restaurants and souvenir shops along the way as well as entertainers (mainly pan pipes). Seemed very safe with no hint of trouble. We particularly liked The Beachcomber Bar - very friendly staff, excellent ice cream sundaes and good up to date music.
Very enjoyable holiday - would consider going back.
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Hotel Garbe - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: May 2006
Opinion submitted in May 2006 by : Lynne Clarke 44,46
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
visited Hotel Garbe in May after taking quite a lot of time looking at reviews etc to make sure we had made the right choice. I even put in armacao de pera in google images to get some candid photographs of the area.
We wanted to play golf for most of the holida y so looked on a site called leisurelink which showed lots of different golf offers. Although this site is not particularly good it did give the direct web page for the hotel which was excellent. It also showed different golf packages available. If you do play golf abroad you will know it is very expensive to play in the Algarve so any package that helps is well worth looking into.
After spending some time looking at Hotel Garbe's website and checking out the actual golf courses you could play on in the package I rang the hotel direct. Fortunatly for me the Portugese lady spoke English but even better she put me through to Jane who is English.
From that point onwards it couldnt have been easier. Jane was so helpfull and very friendly dealing with any queries. I made sure there were rooms available then booked our flights online from Bristol. I then got right back to Jane and booked our room, courses we wanted to play on and tee times.
The only downside here was that we booked about 10am for each day but were not aware that because that is the most popular time of day we would have to go out in a four ball. I have not been playing long and although I am quite a good lady golfer would have found this very intimidating and uncomfortable. Once again Jane stepped in and re arranged all our golf times to around about 3pm each day which was much quieter and we were then able to go out in a 2 ball. Jane did say she would mention that next time people book. She was so helpfull and didnt make us feel like we were being a nuisance.
We also booked extra leg room at the front of the plane for a small fee. We paid to use the executive lounge at the airport, this was excellent and I would definatly use it again. It cost us £27.00 for the two of us. We were in a very comfortable room above the main waiting area in the airport so you could see everything that was going on, when people were boarding etc. There were only 4 people in the room you had a large sky television if you wanted it, lots of newspapers and magazines and more importantly free food and drink. We would have paid far more in the bar downstairs then we ever paid in the lounge it was foolish not too. The hotel was magnificent the staff very friendly and we had a lovely room. I would definatly reccommend that you book a sea view room. We booked b&b which was reccommended so that we could use all the local restaurants which are very good. Breakfast was amazing and kept us going most of the day with just a small snack about 2pm with obviously 2 large beers.
Our package even included a hire car for 7 days and was there waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. The transfere on a coach was estimated at about hour and half in our hire car we were there in about 35 minutes.
Just a small note on a couple of restaurants one on the beach to the left of the hotel called Santola Restaurante was excellent for sea food. One on the main road called Clippers we ate at 3 times it was so good. The only one really that was a let down was a Italian pizzeria it was rubbish. We also wanted to watch the European Cup Final one evening and were unable to find somewhere to watch it until we stumbled on a lovely small bar called Kippis Bar the people were lovely with a large screen were I feel sure lots of people would be watching the World Cup. They were very attentive but unfortunatly only sold chicken pies or cheese and ham toasties so eat before you go if you dont want this.
Try to walk along the beach about 10am to see the local fishermen bringing in their catch it is fasinating.
Any way would definatly go back again lovely holiday but might not go in May as its high season at the golf clubs might try September.
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Hotel Garbe - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: Independent - 2006
Opinion submitted in July 2006 by : Sinclair - Merseyside 2 x 50+, 22, 20, 18
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Our 3rd visit to the Hotel Garbe as the location is excellent, right on a superb beach. Mainly Portugese families in this resort which is really nice. Although the hotel is in an excellent location it is let down by alot of minor niggles which could be avoided if there were more staff and more attention paid to details. The rooms are never ready on time when you arrive to book in at 2pm. There are constant shortages of room items i.e. towels, pillows, soap, shower gel dispenser, coffee and milk. Faulty lamps, plugs, shower/bath taps, plugs etc...
If you ring reception to complain they do eventually deal with the problem (sometimes very slowly and not satisfactorily) but the point is that guests should not have to complain at all. This could be an excellent hotel but unfortunately falls below standard on these issues!
Some lovely restaurants to visit, all the fish restaurants seem to be good but especially La Tasca and Al Grehala (oldest). If you do have any food that is not to your liking then please let them know as this will be recified without complaint.
Overall a lovely resort and will certainly return and probably to the Hotel Garbe but mainly because of the location and not the service.
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Hotel Garbe - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: we booked direct - Dec 2005
Opinion submitted in September 2006 by : Peter Ringwood (45, 43, 12 & 8)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
The Hotel Garbe proved perfect for our requirements a short break over Christmas (seven nights). This was a return visit for the adults but this time we also took the two children.
The Garbe is quiet and peaceful (not for people wanting a lively party atmosphere!) The beach area is picturesque, but in the background the town is not very picturesque with its towering skyline (Armacao de Pera is the Portuguese's holiday location; see the travel books). Having said that, you will find a few local areas that are very attractive and you can shop in the real local shops, which is great fun.
There are plenty of walks along the beach and you can catch a bus to go further.
The Garbe is a great place to stay for relaxation. The choice at breakfast is amazing, hot or cold there is something for everyone. The staff are fantastic and can't do enough to help.
The Hotel Garbe is in a great location on the beach and it was worth paying extra for a sea view!
We pre-booked a hire car and picked this up at the airport and no problems. As we were taking the family we found that it was best to book with the hotel direct, as the local travel company/airline wanted to put us in two rooms, however the Garbe does has rooms for the family. The children slept on camp beds which was not a problem. The hotel arranged some entertainment, which included swimming in the sea on Christmas Day. We stayed half-board.
We are returing in December 2006.
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Hotel Garbe - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: Independent - Feb 2005
Opinion submitted in Jan 2006 by : Julie Holmes - Stockport (50,47,15)
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Beach is fabulous - we went in February and the beach was empty, I believe it is very busy in summer. Mainly Portuguese tourists. The hotel is fabulous, right on the beach and the staff are amazingly friendly and will do anything for you. This is our 3rd year here and we will be going again Feb 2006. The Raj restaurant attached to the hotel is an excellent Indian. there are 3 Chinese restaurants - one is much better than the others and is furthest west (can't remember the name). Numerous small bars and restaurants - Dom Pedro's is brilliant - the chef, Paulo, is a Yorkshire Italian!! The food is excellent and very good value. Most of the good, small restaurants look like someone's front room but are well worth the wait. Many restaurants offer a 'tourist menu' 3 courses, with wine, for about EUR15 - very reasonable.
All in all an excellent resort - don't be put off by the high rise apartments as you approach. Only downside to the hotel is there are no gardens, but as it is right on the beach - what more could you ask. Pool is quite small, but food in the hotel is very good.
No hesitation in recommending!
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Hotel Nautico - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: Seguro - July 2007
Opinion submitted in July 2007 by : The Clarks - Inverkip, (42,39,11)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
This is a very good Hotel in a fairly quiet resort.
First time with Seguro and it was all in all very good. Flew from Prestwick which was such a change from the Glasgow Airport cattle market. Relaxed atmosphere of a small airport.
There are a couple of downsides to the Hotel although not to get too hung up on them.
1) Sun Beds,
this is a nightmare, every morning there were complaints. There are just not enough. For a 4 star hotel it is dreadful. You need to be up at 8 to get your towels down I'm afraid. We went to the pool on our first morning to find not a bed to be had. I hate to get involved in bed hogging but there is absolutely no alternative at this hotel.
Towels everywhere although not all the beds were in use. We complained to the Manager who wasn't really that interested. Had a row with him, and we weren't the only ones. I was that pissed off I put it in writing. Anyway as the new arrivals continued, every morning you could see them heading off to Management to complain. They did evetually provide another 4 beds(yes 4).
2) Breakfast,
beware of toast rage. One toaster and it did lead to some incidents of toast rage. Portugese guests were very guilty of this. Don't mess with their toast.
For any Portugese readers, you are supposed to be on holiday, take a
chill pill.
9.00 is the busy time and it can be very busy. It's the normal holiday breakfast with absolutely no complaints.
The Hotel and resort seem to cater for Portugese holiday makers. I have no qualms about this, it's their country, but it was a bit obvious at times that they didn't really like foreign visitors.
That said weather was brilliant, hotel very good, resort pretty good and not too busy.
No worries if you are going here.
P.S. If you fancy Indian food, the restuarant(Bollywood)down in the town is superb.
The sweets at Busini's are the best, Strawberry pancakes are a must.
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Hotel Pestana Levante - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: (Cosmos Direct) Cosmos Elite - June 2006
Opinion submitted in August 2006 by : Karen Reed - Leicester (40,30)
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
This hotel is one of the best hotels we have ever stayed in. Everything from the grounds, pool, rooms (air conditioned) and communal areas was spotless!! The food at breakfast was superb, every possible taste was catered for. The setting of this hotel is exceptional - situated on the top of cliffs overlooking the sea. There was always plenty of parasols around the pool (salt water) which was set in beautifully kept grounds. The food around the pool area was of a very high standard and reasonably priced. The staff were all very friendly and could speak good English.
The hotel is situated at the end of a long road through Armacao de Pera. To walk down to the old town takes about 20 minutes but you can walk along the beautiful beach to get there. There are plenty of places to eat there (we particularly enjoyed Clippers on the waterfront - classy, more expensive and Gabby's Italian in the old town - cheap and great food).
The down side to this holiday for some people would be that the hotel wasn't really geared up for children (we left ours at home). Also the evening meal (if you chose to eat in the hotel) was very pricey - although good reviews were heard about the standard of the food. Finally the town could quite easily be walked around in one night and neighbouring towns were only really accessible by car or public transport.
However, if you are looking for a peaceful, relaxing holiday for just the two of you, you couldn't choose anywhere better in this area.
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Hotel Pestana Levante - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
-August 2005
Opinion submitted in Aug 2005 by : GB Lancashire 49,49, 16
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
We have just arrived back from two very good weeks in Armacao. The resort was fairly quiet until the first Saturday in Aug when all the Portugese families came for their summer vacations in one of the many high rise appartment blocks. These blocks are not for tourists and did not really impact on our holiday but they can look off-putting when first arriving in the resort-don't worry!. The resort has a several-miles long, clean sandy beach which is very busy in the centre of the resort but more spacious at its extremes. Long clim down to the beach usually via 80-100 steps but lovely sea whch varied from still on some days to rolling waves on others. Restaurants are many, very good and reasonably priced.Many are Portugese-some Italian, one Dutch, two English. Some are situated near ther appartment blocks; another group are in the old town; and yet another group are near the Fisherman's beach. Most tourists are Portugese-very friendly-very few Brits.Lively old-town in the old town from 8-mid-night.
Hotel Levante is situated at the western end of the Resort just as the cliffs begin. It has beautiful views ovee the beach, bay and Atlantic. Rooms are of a good size, clean, air-conditioned and with blacony or terrace. Swimming Pool is good but beware-salt water. Breakfast was very good-every possible choice. Quiet hotel. People just relax in bar at night. we went out to restaurants. Low key entertainment on 3 nights per week. More than enough sun-beds for all guets-no need to reserve-always some spare even into the afternoon.
Umbrellas could do with upgrading though.
All in all, an upmarket hotel with great staff. Don't go if you can't climb up a hill though or do not like walking for the hotel entrance is up a steep gradient at the opposite end of town from ALL the restaurants-be prepared for a 25 minute walk home along the "prom"-we enjoyed it.
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Rosamar Aparthotel - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: Style Holidays March 2004
Opinion submitted in June 2004 by : Mark Johnson Manchester UK
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Stayed at the Rosamar 1 Aparthotel in Armacao de Pera, Algarve, Portugal in March 2004.
The hotel/apartments were very clean and well laid out,although they look a little old fashioned,this just adds to the charm of the place. The staff were very helpful and friendly. We had a 1 bed apartment with 2 balcony's, one of which had a view of the sea...lovely.The indoor swimming pool in block 2 is nice and is heated.The hotel bar nice and cosy,had some great times in bar chatting to other guests. Try the Rosamar restaurant next door to block 1 called Don Pedros,they serve excellent meals(local specialities) at very reasonable prices.
The resort itself was good,the beach absolutely stunning and one of the longest in Algarve region,one part in particular is called fishermans beach and we sat and watched the portugese fisherman mending their nets etc...There are lots of little side streets with shops,bars and restaurants(food excellent,lots of local specialities).We found plenty to do in this resort although would probably not suit all night ravers as not many night clubs open out of season. Most bars open til early hours though!
The weather during our weeks stay was in high 70's and the sun very hot so wear good sun protection(both came back to UK well tanned.) Exploring the region is easy via the bus service. Meals were very cheap,a typical 3 course meal in restaurant was around 20 euros(?14.00) for both of us.
We really enjoyed our stay at the Rosamar Aparthotel in Portugal and did not want to come home,we would certainly book another (longer) holiday to Armacao and miss the place already.Obrigado...Adeus.
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Terrace Club Apartments (Quinta Das Palmeiras) - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: independant March 2007
Opinion submitted in April 2007 by : Alex and Liz, Colne (42,46)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
The apartments Terrace Club are set amidst a built up area of other appartments. It felt like being in the middle of an estate. Luckily our appartment overlooked some scrubland which hosted some spectacular bee eater birds. The appartment was clean and spacious with excellent cleaning 6 days per week. The maids were more friendly than the reception staff.The down side was that the appartment was on the 4th floor and there was no lift - not a problem for us but must be considered by people with walking difficulties.Also we found it suprising that there was no toaster, kettle or microwave especially as table linen was supplied.
We never used the pool or restaurant but did go to El Grelhoro restaurant near the Marrachino supermarket. The food was good wherever we ate. The beach cafe was useful for toilet facilities and coffee and cakes. Excellent bus service which runs on time with unvandalised vehicles!We used the bus to visit Lagos, Portimao and Albufeira. Lagos is well worth a day exploring, Portimao is ok for half a day and ALbufeira is a busy resort with lots of English tourists. Armacao de Pera and the area around the accommodation was predominantly Portuguese, Spanish and German.If you are going for more than a week we would recommend hiring a car but you will have to return early to get a parking space and selfish parking was prevalent!Plenty of shops in Armacao de Pera and a tourist information but it's a 2km walk from the appartments.Reception do have a free map of the area and bus timetables
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Terrace Club Apartments (Quinta Das Palmeiras) - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: (Hayes & Jarvis Direct) Hayes travel - aug 2006
Opinion submitted in September 2006 by : paul unwin - stockport(40,38,16,13)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
just returned from 2 glorious weeks in armacao de pera,where we stayed in the terrace club self catering appartments.
the pool and the appartments were spotlessly clean and the staff were very pleasant & helpful.the appartment consisted of 1 large seperate double bedroom,large lounge/kitchen/dining area with pull-out bed & bathroom.the maids came in 6 days a week to clean & twice a week to change bedding and towels. only downside was the lack of kettle, toaster, oven & air con. but as we ate out a lot we weren,t that bothered(you may have been able to hire these items from the 24 hour reception) but we didn,t bother to ask,also the safe deposit box in your room is an extra 15 euros per week.the area around the appts.is quite hilly (the walk to the beach is downhill) but after a day in the heat the walk back was not much fun, what made it worse was that we were on the 4th floor and there are no lifts in the complex which is a bit of a nightmare when you have to carry your suitcases up on arrival. nearest portugese bar is lords bar,(2 min)walk which serves lovely food and is reasonably priced(4 main meals,1 starter, 1 round of drinks 52 euros).nearest english bar is the blues bar which had entertainment on tues. & fri.(10 min) walk.
if you want more excitement(which you will)its a 25 min. walk to the main town or 4.70 euro taxi ride. the beaches and the area surrounding the appts. was very pretty and i recommend the boat trip round the caves (50/60 euros) for the hour and a half tour.good places to eat in the main town are gatsby,s and porters. avoid the chinese restuarant called chines and the indian called indiano. best places to eat are the back streets where all the portugese go(you,ll see them they,re the busy ones)
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Viking Hotel - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: Did it my self - 2005
Opinion submitted in Sept 2005 by : Alan Hughes Beds 56 45 14 70
Resort Rating: Average
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
The Viking Hotel is in a great location on top of 100 ft cliffs overlooking the ocean with lovely views.
Part of the large Pestana Hotel group, it is well run and has nice facilities with a massive pool. 12ft deep at one end.
We stayed in the adjoining apartments, some of which had been refurbished and were fantastic, some of which were waiting the refurb and were not so nice. We heard the hotel rooms were a bit ropey but the hotel closes in Oct 2005 for a complete refurb.
The hotel does not have a lot around it, no busy promanade or village centre nearby. There are apartments building around but it is quiet. There are a few restaurants in the area but they are mainly a decent walk.There is a big supermarket a 15 min walk away, up a long unforgiving hill!!
The beach below the hotel is a delight, with a narrow tunnel under the cliff connecting to the next deserted beach. A great place for walking.
After its refurb in winter 2005 I beleive this will be a great place to go. We are a well travelled family of Brits and would rate this place as good before the refurb, so it shouls be excellent after.
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Villa Gale Nautico - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: Thompson - June 2007
Opinion submitted in June 2007 by : Sarah Chan - leicester 42
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
Just came back from a lovely stay at the vila Gale Nautico hotel. We were bed and breakfast and the choice of breakfast was very good could have been a bit hotter.But apart from that it was exellent.The Hotel was very clean and the staff freindly.We had a room over looking the pool and it was exellent the maid came in every day and we had clean towels every day as well.The beach is just a short walk down the road and you do have to cross another road but there is a crossing and it was not very busy.The beach is lovely and clean.
I can recommend eating at Marianns Reataurant which is next to the bank it was very good food and well worth the money and it was hot.
The resort is nice and relaxing not much to do for teenagers but I throughly enjoyed a relaxing holiday.Would definatley go there again.
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Villa Gale Nautico - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: Travelrepublic June 07
Opinion submitted in June 2007 by : Mike Lisa 43,41
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
After leaving our last hotel (Isla Canela) we was so pleased to get a nice bright clean room with new aircon (remote controlled) mainly blue with pretend portholes etc.
About 35 percent British here nice hotel not far from beach good breakfast but you have to time it right - can get packed.
Enough for a weeks stay, good food at the Waterdog pub and the first chinese you get to.
Theres a great walk along the top of the cliffs (unless your scared of heights) and you can sneak in to Vila Vita and see how the other half live.
Best rooms overlook the pool,sea is just about visable but nothing like the next hotel (Tivoli Almansor) that we went to next on our 16 day tour.
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Villa Gale Nautico - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: (Thomson Holidays
Direct) Thomson Holidays
jan 2007
Opinion submitted in January 2007 by :
Resort Rating: Below Average
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Stayed at the hotel gale nautico last week lovely big hotel very very quiet, about 400 rooms but only about 20 in use when we stayed. Reception lovely upgraded due to hotel being quiet to a suite overlooking the pool so in the sun allday. Rooms very clean only prob no fridge which has been mentioned before seems strange in such a nice hotel, we also had heating if needed which we did late afternoon and evening as temps very cold, lovely in the day in the 60s most days so could sit by the pool usually only about 4 people too cold to swim, but indoor pool if needed.
Meals we booked half board because it was jan and glad we did no
shops or bars very nearby hotel not in the main area and quite a hike to
the fishing quarter, not much there really just a few bars and fishing
boots, a lovely beach though , this area is mostly high apartment blocks
which they are building more and more seem mostly to be empty so prob
for summer holidays. Evenings at the hotel usually a singer or a group,
we made the most of it and met up with two very nice couples and enjoyed
having a laugh, mostly germans at this hotel but they were all very
friendly. The only downside was Thomson Holidays
s treatment of us on the flight
home landed in newcastle upon tyne instead of man due to weather circled
in the air for an hour after captain telling us about to land, so quite
scary then landed and captain blamed lack of info on broken pa system
which worked before and after landing, when landed stewardess just said
welcome to the uk and didnt answer the question where are we.
We have travelled with Thomson Holidays
at least twice a year for many years
and will seriously think about travelling with them again, also put us
on coaches with very little info, and had a horrible journey back to
manchester the day of the storms saw many accidents on the motorways
surprised at Thomson Holidays
for sending extra coaches into the chaos on the
roads that day. There was not a rep from Thomson Holidays
at the airport waiting
to help and give information.
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Villa Gale Nautico - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: Appollo Holidays - 2005
Opinion submitted in Nov 2005 by : Martin - Southampton ( 42, 43, 12)
Resort Rating: Very Good
Accommodation Rating: Very Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Amacao is a very quiet resort although is developing with a number of new apartments being built ( not holiday apartments but for the locals)
We would have preferred a slightly busier location although maybe this was due to time of year.
The beach was wonderful with plenty of space available. Water was cold !
There were a handful of restaurants, we tried a couple both good. ( recommend the clipper on the sea front.)
People were very friendly. We didn't hire a car but maybe should have as buses to Albufeira were very infrequent. Taxi to Albufeira cost about 12 euros each way.
The hotel was great and good standard of cleanliness. Pool was large enough and never a problem in getting a sun lounger.
We stayed on B & B basis, breakfast was good but same every morning and was a bit boring by end of week. Ate buffet dinner in hotel twice, both occasions very good.
Only complaint we had was that the walls between rooms were paper thin and you could hear everything.
Other than that a very relaxing holiday and weather mostly sunny.
Would definitely return to Algarve again but maybe stay in different location.
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Villa Gale Nautico - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: (Panorama Discounts) Panorama - June 2004
Opinion submitted in June 2004 by : Sile & Don - Dublin (24, 23)
Resort Rating: Good
Accommodation Rating: Good
My/Our Holiday Review:
Vila Gale Nautico was a good, clean hotel with all the facilities described on their website and Panorama holiday brochure - so no nasty surprises. Although a 4* I would compare it to a good 3* in UK/Ireland. Unfortunately, there were no tea/coffee making or fridge facilities. The staff had very good English and were pleasant and courteous always.
Having read that Armacao de Pera is a developing resort with few choices for restaurants we decided to go half-board in the hotel itself. Breakfast was buffet based with fruit (mostly tinned unfortunately), yoghurts, juices, tea/coffee, breads, rashers, beans and sausages.
The menu for dinner was displayed in the restaurant after breakfast so we knew at the start of the day if there was something we'd eat there that night. Mostly the food was palatable with some form of fish, poultry or meat dish available. There was only 2 nights out of the week where we didn't fancy anything and ate out, considering that the half-board wasn't that much more expensive, we felt that we could certainly afford not to eat there every night for the week. There are plenty of quaint little restaurants if you look hard, we recommend the Clipper on the sea front and Pasteleria. There are certainly enough choices to keep you going for one week, however, you may have to repeat if holidaying for longer than that.
We wanted a peaceful, chillout holiday and we weren't disappointed. The beach is across the road from the hotel and seems to be popular with natives, which we took as a positive sign. Throughout the week we were only bothered by a couple of merchants selling their wares. The waves were good, the beach clean and the scenery beautiful.
If you're looking for an ordinary, peaceful holiday then I highly recommend both the resort and hotel, but if you're looking for a livelier holiday or something extra special then look elsewhere.
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Vills Vita Park - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: (MyTravel Direct) My PERFECT HOLIDAY JULY 06
Opinion submitted in October 2006 by : LISA HOLBROOK-YOUNG - ESSEX (32,33 and child age 6
Resort Rating: Excellent
Accommodation Rating: Excellent
My/Our Holiday Review:
We visited Villa Vita Park for 11 nights in July, we found the hotel to be superb, the food was fantastic in all of the restaurants, especially the Aladin Grill, we tried all the restaurants and found the food of the highest quality and they all but one catered for children, my only problem was lunch time when you only needed a sandwich this was hard to come by the only place serving this was the pool bar which was extremely busy, or Room Service.
We were mislead however from many websites featuring this hotel that is had a childrens pool, this is not true!!! there is a very small splash pool that could fit probably 3 children in it!! there are only 2 other pools both of which are quite small and very few sunbeds around them considering the size of the grounds the hotel is set in, however there are sunbeds in ubundence in the gardens but when you have a 6 year old who wants to be in the pool all day you need beds near them. The Swans have a bigger pool/lake they swim on.
Service was very good and always got booked in a restaurant considering it was the busy time of year, the shuttle service to the Nautical restaurant was very efficient, Kids Club brilliant, One night my six year old fell asleep in a restaurant and we never even had to ask for a golf buggy to run us back to our room it was done without asking. I cant really fault this hotel only that it needs a bigger pool!
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Vila Vita and Vista Parc - Armacao de Pera
Operator and Date: (Sovereign Direct) Sovereign July 2004
Opinion submitted in Jan 2005 by : The Stokes Family - Essex (37,36,5,2)
Resort Rating: Average
Accommodation Rating: Below Average
My/Our Holiday Review:
We put in alot of work to book this holiday and the old saying of you get what you pay for is certainly not true.
We had booked self catering as our 2 year old daughter has a dairy and lactose intolerance, so having informed the travel agent of our reasons for doing so and having got permission to take a large bag of food onto the airplane we expected the message to get through to the hotel. It didnt. On our arrival which was quite late at night we were taken to a self catering apartment which was lovely but not what we had booked, a seaview room, and was totally unsuitable for 2 smaller children. There were alot of stairs and marble around. We were then taken back to reception and left to sit on the golf buggy while the lady helping us performed other reception duties.
We were then taken out of the resort and across a main road to the Vista Parc apartments. Yes there was a seaview but only of you stood on your tip toes on the roof terrace. We then asked for a toaster to add to our kitchen and were told that they do not do toasters in Portugal! When we came to put the children to bed we realised that there was so much furniture in the room that the door would not shut! Our son even got caught up in the curtains while in bed as they hung over where he slept.
Our bed was small and uncomfortable. We complained the next day and were moved to a 1 bedroom suite. We were assured that the food we had put in the freezer for our daughter would be put in a freezer in the Whale restaurant and would be there for our use. But it was put in a fridge and soon ruined.We then had to walk to the local supermarket in 45 degrees of heat to replenish the stock and cram it into our mini bar.
Breakfast was delivered to our room every morning and the coffee and croissants were stale. Our daughter came down with chicken pox while we were ther so we were in isolation for a couple of days and this is when it became apparant that the TV set itself needed updating and the choice was definately not 5*. The restaurant service was poor with the fact that this was supposed to be a faily friendly hotel lost on the waiting staff. We often had to bolt our meal as the childrens came up quickly while ours took forever.
The evening entertainment was non exsistent. There was music when you ate but after that most parents would go and sit in the darkened playground drinking out of plastic cups. Very 5 *! We were served wine that was off by wine waiters, and not just once. The pools were not as clean as they could have been. We were assured on arrival that to get around such a large resort we would have the use of the golf buggies which would act as a taxi service. However this service was sporadic and occasionally non exsistent. There were occasions when noone would answer the phone to provide this service so we often found ourselves walking, carrying beach and pool gear and 2 children in blasting heat.
To get to one of the beaches you had to negogiate some very steep and dangerous steps down a cliff. The beach was lovely but we were advised by other hotel guests that it was not advisable to let our children play in that lovely waterfall that fell onto the beach as it was waste from another hotel!
It became obvious that the main problem with this hotel was the lack of staff. We saw the same faces morning, noon and night and that is not what you pay the premium for when staying in a 5* hotel. Its the finishing touches that matter, the attention to detail and the service. This place looked the part but came nowhere near 5*. We complained, they denied, not their fault, excuse after excuse. Easy we will NEVER book through Sovereign again.