Viceroy at Ombria Algarve

The cleanliness and housekeeping standards at this hotel are far below what should be expected, especially for a five-star hotel. A wrapper my child left in the bathroom is still there four days later, which clearly shows the bathroom has not been properly cleaned. Salt that fell from a welcome gift pot onto the bedside table has remained there for seven days. There are cobwebs at the bottom of the cupboards, and sand left in the bathtub after my children had a bath following a trip to the beach is still there two days later. The pillows are also extremely uncomfortable, making it difficult to sleep well. The pools are advertised as heated, but they are freezing. Given the rainy weather during our stay, it would have been much nicer if the pools were actually warm so the kids could still enjoy swimming. The pictures on the website are also a little deceiving compared to the reality. The kids club is very average with not much for children to do, and the in-room dining menu is very small with limited options. While the staff are very friendly and polite, the lack of basic cleaning and the overall experience are well below the standard expected from a five-star hotel. Housekeeping and overall quality clearly need significant improvement

When you get there it is breathtaking. The views are incredible. The hotel design and the room design was amazing. There were three different places where we had a view. The portion sizes were huge at all the restaurants and good meat / fish portions given. The gym was amazing and very well equipped. All the restaurant and reception staff are working so hard and did everything they could to make our stay great. It was a great touch to have a chocolate bunny for easy Sunday it really made our stay special. The male staff member at cafe central was exceptional. Golf course looked spectacular even though we didn’t play. I think on looking closely things weren’t as clean as they could have been for five star hotel standard. I don’t think they used cleaning products like detergent every day it was more so towel replacement , bed making etc. There were ants in our bathroom which is expected in hotter climates but I didn’t feel the cleaning staff actually removed any of the ants when they came to do the clean. I also had to actually ask them to replace tissues and cotton pads that had ran out when this should. There was a use champagne cork under our hot tub when we arrived and it stayed there throughout the whole stay which made me wonder if the hot tub was ever serviced or cleaned before we arrived. It’s disappointing that the spa isn’t included for such an expensive hotel as well. Even though the restaurant staff were all working as hard as they could it was clear there wasn’t enough staff and at times we waited for 1.5 hours for food. Sometimes there was also an air of stress because of this. There weren’t enough sun beds as in previous reviews. People would ‘reserve’ a sun bed and then leave for hours and not return and then others couldn’t get a place. Then in you got a sun bed you felt forced to do the same thing. The hotel really need to address this either by enforcing rules or by adding more sun beds and more pools. It would be nice to have more restaurants and maybe even a fine dining one to make dinner extra special as the main restaurant is a bit casual

Kudos to the designers—the resort is exceptionally well thought out, with beautiful aesthetics and strong attention to detail throughout, from the rooms to the restaurants and spa. The accommodations were a highlight: spacious, well-appointed, and spotless, with excellent in-room features. Breakfast each morning at Ombria Kitchen was consistently very good—delicious food, friendly and attentive service, and a special thank you to the morning manager (apologies for not recalling the name) who was warm, welcoming, and remembered our preferences from the previous day. Café Central was equally impressive, with a beautiful setting, great pastries, and a very helpful morning team. That said, some service inconsistencies impacted the overall experience. At times service was excellent; at others, it fell short. Upon arrival in the rain, there was no one at valet, I had to walk to reception and as I entered, I saw that he was at our vehicle. When assistance did arrive, the gentleman was very courteous and helpful, bringing our luggage to the room. On another occasion, we called ahead for our car before a day trip, but despite allowing time to walk from our room to valet, the vehicle was not ready and the process took nearly 30 minutes, ultimately requiring a front desk agent to retrieve it. The front desk also seemed under-informed regarding hotel services—particularly the spa—and nearby activities or points of interest. The spa itself is truly beautiful; however, charging for access while the main pools were closed felt unreasonable. When we raised this at departure, we were told the golf course pool was available, yet it was covered with a hard metal lid and we were advised to request its removal. Additionally, the resort did not appear busy, and there were only a couple of other guests in the spa during our visit. At the spa closing time, rather than a courteous notification, staff walked through heavily and closed doors loudly, which felt passive aggressive. Overall, the resort has the potential to be truly exceptional. The food and beverage experience was strong, but improvements in front office operations and service consistency would make a significant difference.

What a gorgeous resort. Beautifully set up and a serene atmosphere. The spa was absolutely lovely. We had a package deal including massage and body scrub which was amazing. What a great way to spend an afternoon

Amazing place! Lovely setting in the countryside with views over the hills. The accommodation, staff, facilities were all exceptional. Couldn’t fault anything. We stayed in a suite which had everything you need. Comfortable, clean and relaxing.