Cascade Wellness and Lifestyle Resort

The Cascade Wellness Resort is undoubtedly the premier location in Lagos. Set overlooking the truly magical Ponta De Piedade and Praia do Canavial, the resort offers outstanding accommodation (Villas and extensive Hotel rooms). The staff are all so well trained, polite, caring and friendly and cannot do enough to support your stay. The facilities are extensive - 6 pools, huge and well equipped Gym (never full). Tennis courts, table tennis, games room etc. The cliff top walks have been extensively developed with highly accessible boardwalks. Heading east or west from the hotel, the views are beautiful. And the access to wonderful cliffs, the ocean and wildlife make for a memorable experience. It is possible to walk to Praia Da Luz over the mountains which is a lovely, but demanding 90 min walk. The centre of the best town in the Algarve, Lagos, is a short taxi ride or c30 min walk (perhaps just a little longer if slow) but nevertheless pleasant and mostly flat. The main pool is huge and a great place to relax - Over many years of visiting, I have never know the main pool area not to have enough sun loungers. There are a few minor issues where some refurbishment is required but, and a personal view of course, it is easy to overlook these given the overall charm. This year we tried the Senses Restaurant and the Le Petit Chef immersive dining experience. It was fantastic ! The food, the service and the overall attention to detail. I would rate the Cascade as excellent value for money

Some things about the resort are just amazing - all of the food we had was superb, both breakfast and dinner, and all of the staff were very friendly. It's very clean. The location is great, as long as you accept it's a good 30 minute walk to the old town and getting to the nearby beach is a bit of a scramble. The beach is worth it though! HOWEVER, we felt that maintenance issues let the hotel down. We had an apartment with a dishwasher - the wheel on the rack had come off so it had to be lifted in and out, and a modern washing machine - but the drying rack on the balcony was broken and rusty. We reported that our shower was leaking all over the bathroom floor on the first day but nobody came to look at it. This meant that we needed a clean mat for the bathroom every day, which must have been more hassle for housekeeping than someone fixing the shower? It looked like the seal had been taken off and not replaced from the marks we could see. The apartment itself was lovely apart from the various issues, but they could do more with the outside - we had a private roof terrace that could be cleaned up and with some sunbeds could be great.

The resort still does some things well like two fantastic pool areas and a nice main reception with a decent restaurant at the gastropub (although service is slow). The breakfasts are of a high standard and cannot be faulted.

But the feeling overall is of a resort in need of a facelift and some TLC. Rooms and apartments around the kids beach-pool are not five star standard with peeling plaster and cracked wallls and faulty AC units. Maintenance takes a long a time to respond to calls and there is no turn down service before bed. This is not five star.

Antonio’s by the kids pool is nicely done and the food if acceptable but expensive. It’s odd that management here offers no kids menu or ice cream for a restaurant serving the main family pool - bizarre.

We have been three times to cascades and this will probably be our last until they upgrade the rooms and general service levels.