Florie Deva / 12 July 2025 / Categories: City, Hotels & Travel

Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort a bit isolated Felt Like More of A business hotel

We picked this hotel on a budget. At first glance it seemed to provide everything we were looking for, for a great deal, 5 stars, gym, pool, not all inclusive, didn’t want loads of kids, sounded really good. We made a mistake with the location, we read Vilamoura and expected it to be close to the Vilamoura Marina where there are shops, restaurants and activities like parasailing and jet skiing to enjoy.

It’s actually a good 10 minutes drive away from the closest beach and a bit further to the marina so except for one trip out in the evening we found ourselves confined to the hotel for the whole week and as we don’t play golf, it’s situated on a beautiful golf course there wasn’t very much for us to do except lounge by the pool, which was nice but not quite what we’d expected.

One thing we did miss was a hotel shop, there isn’t one if you need a forgotten deodorant or an extra bottle of sunscreen.

Let’s focus on the positives.

The food in all the restaurants was excellent. The breakfast restaurant was spacious light and airy and we enjoyed our table outside every day. We had everything we needed from gorgeous fresh fruit, buffet style hot cooked options, artisan breads, fresh juices and smoothies, even Prosecco if you wanted it. The breakfast included in our rate you really couldn’t fault and hearty if you were going out to play golf all day, the main pursuit of other guests.

It also seemed like there were quite a few business travellers there when we arrived.

The rooms are not massive but perfectly adequate, with nice touches like down pillows, dressing gowns and slippers and the room was well appointed with dark wood accents and windows into the en-suite bathroom and closets. An interesting design feature giving the illusion of more space. The room service food menu could have been better. We ordered dinner in the room once and it took so long to arrive decided to give this a miss, eating a large lunch in the restaurant instead where the food and choice was way better.

It’s a big place and we happened to be miles away from the reception and lifts so it did take a few days to get accustomed to finding our way around. The walking did get on our nerves by the end of the week, although we found a couple of short cuts to the pool where we enjoyed great service, the waiters were friendly and 5 star for definite happy to bring us anything and everything we needed, even providing first aid when a stubbed toe on a sunlounger needed a plaster to stop the bleeding.

The best thing for us was the poolside furniture. Rattan loungers with big comfy cushions and thick cosy towels immediately replaced when you plunged into the massive crystal clear (pretty cold) refreshing pool. The poolside service would be difficult to fault. Although it wasn’t busy during the day if you are looking for a social scene.

If you don’t want food by the pool there’s a proper restaurant adjacent where the food again was faultless and not super expensive, we enjoyed lovely salads and fresh fish all a la carte with a good wine list and again great service. It was just a shame there wasn’t much of an atmosphere as most other guests weren’t around for lunch.

It is one of those hotels if you wanted a base to play golf everyday it would be perfect and we did feel we got quite a lot for our money. They have a gym so you can work out but no classes or spa available which we did miss.

If you stay here you really need a car to get out and about and definitely to go to the beach. Without one you are a bit screwed as taxis are expensive.

It says it’s a 5 star property, probably more like four stars with great food and really nice service.

Probably wouldn’t stay here again unless it was for a weekend just because of the more remote location but a very quiet enjoyable relaxing break if you don’t want to be bothered by families with children and need somewhere a bit more affordable during the high season when places closer to the beach and amenities put their prices up.

It would be the perfect place to hold a business conference in the sun or for a golf weekend.

It’s not a vacation destination hotel and you need a car to get around or you are going to feel a bit stranded.