Pine Cliffs Ocean Suites, Algarve

We recently stayed at Pine Cliffs in the Algarve with our extended family. While we had a lovely holiday overall, the experience didn’t fully justify the premium price. There is much to like: the location is excellent, the grounds are beautiful and well maintained, the food was consistently very good, and the staff were generally friendly. It’s a great setting for a family holiday. However, several issues were disappointing. The rooms felt a bit small, dated, and tired, falling short of the resort’s luxury positioning and price. We had to move room after two nights as the rooms on the first floor are very noisy from 6am with people cleaning outside. Frustratingly the hotel saw this as an opportunity to make money rather than to help us so we had to pay an upgrade to move to a room on the 4th floor. Even more frustratingly this upgrade which was an extra 100 euros per night was into a small room which was a bit tired and had stains on the sofa etc. Another frustration was the automatic 10% service charge added to every bill. As we were on half board, most dinners involved only ordering drinks, yet the charge was still applied to everything quickly adding up to hundreds of euros for our group of 12. While tipping should be optional, this charge appeared compulsory and wasn’t clearly explained at the start. Repeatedly asking for it to be removed led to awkward conversations. We also had a distressing incident when housekeeping accidentally sent our daughter’s teddy bear to the laundry. Although it was eventually found after two days, the issue wasn’t initially treated with sufficient urgency and only gained attention after repeated complaints. Finally, we encountered poor practice regarding a room upgrade. My mother-in-law was moved to a higher-category room without being informed or given the option to accept the additional cost, and we were later asked to pay the higher rate. This should have been clearly communicated in advance. Overall, Pine Cliffs is a beautiful resort, but the service and customer experience fell short in key areas. They have monetised every part of the hotel and have mastered the art of making money from you as a guest; I guess that is to be expected from a large corporate hotel chain. Given the tired rooms, automatic service charges, and handling of issues, we don’t feel it delivered value for its premium pricing and we won’t go back and certainly would not recommend. Oh one last thing- don’t charge things back to your room as trying to figure out your bill at the end is really difficult. I guess they do this so that they can add extras in there without you noticing.

The location was great but could be closer to the beach. The atmosphere was great and I felt welcome. The rooms were big and clean It was expensive but worth it. It was not too noisy The service was great They had tennis and padel courts.

Maybe someone will see this from corporate and have an answer for me. I keep calling the front desk and get no where. Why was my room open when I got back from the beach? I mean open. Door open! Major security breach! I’ll write a real review later!

This resort could have been a true gem if it was ran properly. It has all the ingredients like an amazing beach, many activities, food and clean rooms. Unfortunately the level of service and attention to the customers experience is so poor that it is a far cry from what should be expected of a 5 star hotel. We had an OK stay but it is not a place you will remember for its great feeling and welcome. They dont wven pick up when you call guest servive and 3 out of 7 days housekeeping was late and poor. It is a shame so hope they will step it up.

We spend 9 days here in June and were very happy. The grounds are really clean and well maintained. Lots of pools and sun loungers. Access to beach is good given the hotel is elevated. We stayed in an apartment which was really nice. Good little kitchen, beds very comfortable and house keeping in every night. Food was excellent and the staff very friendly. My son is a coeliac and the staff were very attentive. Each morning at the buffet they would make him a separate breakfast which was really appreciated. Two negatives; the location of olhos de agua is a bit of a nothing village and the cost of half board which you are going to have to take if you have kids. The restaurants ouside dont look much. We didn't really drink in the bars on site as they were very expensive. We went to the Brothers Bar across the road which was more reasonable (and better atmosphere).