Crowne Plaza Vilamoura

We used stayed at the CP Villamoura as part of a week's holiday in the Algarve in early October. We arrived at the hotel and were checked in by Daniel who was excellent warm friendly and very professional. Our room 820 was a side sea room looking over to Villamoura harbour. The view was pretty special and we spend many hours sat on the two comfy patio chairs looking out to the sea beach and beyond. The room was large with great aircon and very clean so well done to the cleaning staff. We were on a half board basis and enjoyed a buffet style breakfast with plenty of choice and no queues at the omelette station. As tea drinkers nice to see plenty of separate hot water in a dedicated water boiler rather than having to use a coffee machine. For the evening meal the hotel when we went had moved to a ala carte arrangement with meals served to you by the waiting staff. These were excellent in both quality and variety and the dining area made it feel a five star experience. Well done to all the evening waiting staff for their service and friendly manner they were a credit to the hotel. The second day of my stay was my birthday and a lovely chocolate birthday cake and a glass of bubbly was sent to the room for my myself and wife. A lovely touch and one very much appreciated.
We never used the pool area as we were out walking most days but the times we walked past there seemed plenty of sun beds and there was a large pool area. To conclude I would say if you want a little bit of luxury with great food and views you won't go far wrong with this hotel.

Overall, we had a lovely holiday here at the Crowne Plaza. The breakfast buffet was excellent. The spa was beautiful and the staff here were very friendly and helpful. The bed was huge and one of the most comfortable hotel hotel beds we have ever had.

There were a few negatives unfortunately. Whilst buffet evening meals were good, the evening a la carte menu was repetitive and quite unexciting. There was a limited choice and the menu was the same every night. There were more a la carte evening meals than buffet. We had a concern at seeing flies on the buffet one evening. When we reported this to a staff member, it was met with a shrug of the shoulders and no action was taken.

There were a couple of issues that should have been fixed in the room before we came. The ceiling fan was broken and likewise the lock on the door was broken. The room, a junior suite, was on two levels and there was a step to divide the levels which could have caused a fall as it wasn't visible with the flooring being the same dark wood throughout. There was limited storage and there were only five clothes hangers in the wardrobe although the wardrobe itself was reasonably spacious. Room service cost 10 euros. This was standard, even for a bucket of ice. There was a 25 euro deposit per person for one beach towel per day. This was refunded on checkout but was closely monitored. The description said there was direct access to the beach from the hotel. This was true but disappointingly this was public beach and a charge of 15 euro each per day for a sunbed. Whilst this was no fault of the hotel, it was unexpected as fast as we were concerned. We felt there was a slight element of mistrust at the hotel as each time you charged something to the room, the transaction appeared as pending on your credit card.