Vila Gale Albacora - Tavira, Portugal     

I can't recommend this hotel highly enough. It's location deters noisy patrons. It is suitable for couples of any age and even families with small children. It doesn't advertise it's best asset which is the beautiful beach out the back! just walk through the gates at the back and turn left. Walk to the little car park at the top of the road, and t the pther side of it you will find the most gorgeous, unspoilt beach. Breakfast is buffet-style, and very satisfying. The pool is perfect, with no noisy people. The one critiscism I have is that it cost ?7.50 per day to use the indoor pool - outrageous! It is minutes away from Tavira, which is a beautiful place, with excellent restaurants, shops and bars, and street entertainment. I am already looking for another holiday there! Excellent, I'd go back tomorrow!

Vile Gale Albacora – Nice hotel with a beautiful pool, but every little thing costs extra. The room was nice, but the bed was as hard as a rock. It was so hard, that it made us cut our trip short. The shower had no water pressure. It took way too long to simply wash my hair. The mini-bar was ridiculously expensive, but there was one there. Another issue was that I had ants in my room. There was food in the room, but all the containers were well sealed. The ants started in the bathroom, but appeared by the refrigerator on day 2. If you would like to use the indoor pool or “health club,” it costs an additional ?7.50 / day. The fitness room and massage areas were extremely hot. It was basically too hot to workout in the rooms. It was better to just run outside in the morning. The restaurant food measured from ok to good. There was nothing excellent about any of the food. As anyone should expect, the food and drinks were very pricey. If you get the buffet for dinner, expect to pay ?20 for each person. It does not say this anywhere on the menu, so be warned. The hotel was nice although it was a little far out and in salt flats that caused a morning smell of strong sulfur. The nearest town was roughly 7 minutes by car, but there were plenty of restaurants in Tavira. Overall, I liked the hotel because it was away from a lot of the huge tourist areas and it was fairly clean. If you want to be isolated, don’t mind the things mentioned, and enjoy just sitting around a pool, then this is the place to be. One other word of caution, don’t bother paying for the River View. It is not worth the extra money. Price was ?112 / night