Hotel Baia Grande - Albufeira, Portugal     

My boyfriend and i have just returned from an amazing one week stay at the baia grande hotel albufeira. We went bed and breakfast and also ate lunch everyday at the poolside bar, however i have to admit we did eat out every night in albufeira old town that said the food we did have was lovely. Our room was bright and airy, and cleaned perfectly everyday. The whole appearance and cleanliness of the hotel and pool was truly wonderful. I highly recomend this hotel to anyone wishing for a good base to explore the algarve and have a relaxing stay. !!!

Just returned from a 5 night stay at the Baia Grande, which I had been looking forward to after reading previous reports. The hotel is modern looking, extremely clean and the rooms were spacious. Try to avoid room 117 overlooking the pool, as it is right next to the Restaurant and below the Bar, so all you hear are chairs being scrapped across the floor - pretty noisey! We booked half board, but wished we hadn't after the first night, so we decided to eat out a couple of times to break the monotony - once at the 'famous' O Marinheiro, which was fantastic! Excellent food, great service and a relaxed atmosphere. A visit is definitely recommended! On our 3rd night at the hotel, which up until this point had been mostly adults, two tour buses arrived with adults/children from USA onboard, and our peace was shattered. Guests left the pool areas as they took it over, and unfortunately it did marr the remaining time we had at the hotel. Baia Grande is a small hotel, which as stated previously is fairly remote. We walked into Albufeira and it took about 45 minutes. A taxi from Albufeira to Baia Grande is approx 6 Euros, although the hotel does provide a free shuttle bus service 4 times a day to and from the resort. The evening entertainment was different musician's/singer's, but most people went to bed early, so they played to a disinterested audience. The bartender in the Cocktail bar was great - most helpful and even gave us testers to try out. I got chatting to some older people this week who have stayed here regularly since it opened and thoroughly enjoy it, but they recomended to always hire a car, and don't eat at the hotel - I guess that says it all. If you want to use the hotel as a base, it's a good out of the way location. P.S. apparently Cliff Richard eats at nearby local restaurants when he's around, so if you're a fan, the Baia Grande is for you!