Pine Cliffs Ocean Suites, Algarve

We've visited for the last 8 years on and off during Covid. The service level has sadly dropped, despite the price going up (which we expect). The last two visits have been in summer holidays, where the amount of people at the resort makes it impossible to feel relaxed. The resort is trying to be everything at all once. Positives - the films put on for kids with popcorn is a lovely touch. We visited O Grill and the staff were fantastic, really friendly and what we expect. The porters and staff around the pool were also fantastic and very helpful. The staff in the hotel shops are always lovely and delightful to talk to, especially the shop with floats and the traditional gift shop. Some things to point out: - Two of our family are gluten free, the selection at buffet breakfast is poor for gluten free, so we choose to eat at Zest, the buffet staff made a massive problem of us sitting together on one table whether it was in the courtyard or at Zest (but Zest staff were great about it). - Check in is quite slow, although we appreciate we were early and given a room early. - The spa was full of young teenage lads, some of which were on phones constantly and even took them in the large jacuzzi. Staff could maybe look in once in a while or limit numbers at times? - The Concierge at Ocean Suites could not book a table over 6, but made us go to another Concierge, or ring them, but would not offer to ring that concierge. - Around the rooms, pools, some bits of maintenance needed and things looking tired. - The restaurant on the beach was really missed, we loved that place, it's a shame the work could not be sorted before summer. Because of the issues with Faro airport we feel we'd rather try somewhere else next year than return.

With regard to Pine Cliff’s wifi. Sign up for the most expensive package, during your stay the wifi will undoubtedly fail or be incredibly slow, take screen shots of the wifi speed and on check out refuse to pay. We do this every year as the service doesn’t warrant the cost. Also please complain about the temperature of the only heated swimming pool (next to the golf club house) and meant for children. However, they (the management who never get into the pool) have decided it is warm enough, which they also admit is a financially driven decision; net result the water is freezing and the kids come out shivering, not an enjoyable experience but the hotel has saved some euros at the guests expense - totally shameful poor judgement management for a hotel that charges over the top for everything. MANAGEMENT READ AND DO YOUR JOB !!!

It’s been our second stay at this hotel. We love the place and the food. However during this stay we faced a very poor service at the reception during both check-in and check-out. Both times we were serviced by a staff member Miranda. He was extremely slow, trying to do many things at the same time: talking on the phone, talking to his colleagues and doing many other things non related to my matter. It was a bad disappointment for us.

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.