The Domes Lake Resort

Firstly. The website for this hotel is very economical with the truth. Here's what you need to know before booking.

1. Of the four gourmet restaurants advertised, two are only open three days a week, and one of those (the off-site beach restaurant) serves dinner only on Fridays and Saturdays. The Sora food truck didn't open at all until our fourth day and, even then, only served cold food.

If you're staying for a week, you'll need to plan ahead and make reservations accordingly. I suspect most guests are on half-board and end up eating breakfast and dinner in the buffet restaurant.

For lunch, if you want a hot meal, the only option is the Estrella Bar. It's pleasant enough, but if you're there for a week you'll probably find the menu choices become repetitive quite quickly. A few additional lunch options would be a welcome improvement.

2. 'Hotel access to a beach'. This is a gate that takes you onto the street where the beach is a 5-10 minute walk and there is no hotel facilities on the beach. This is a public beach you would need to pay for sun loungers etc.

3. Of the four pools located at the resort all are mostly very shallow. IE:- for kids. and lots of them. I wouldn't recommend sitting near the hotel if you are a couple as its very noisy and very busy. The hotel has whats called 'a residence'. This seems the norm in the Algarve and what this is is basically a mixture of tourists and also self-catering holiday homes for the Portugese. This makes the resort busy with a lot of large (and loud) local families.

4. The adults area needs some work. It was however a real oasis for us and a few others. As previously stated there was no food here for half the week and was also off-limits for a bit at the start due to a large wedding taking over various areas of the hotel and making a ton of noise. It really needs a larger pool/area like the adults only pool at Domes of Elounda but it was nice and peaceful.

5. The relaxation/spa area is brutalist bordering on miserable and really needs some TLC. It felt like you were in another resort. Various masonry falling apart a bit and some parts and areas not working.

6. Villamoura harbour.. Don't even think about it. Unless Irish bars and football tops are your thing. Which if they are lets face it.. You're probably at the wrong hotel.

Now for some positives. The hotel is beautiful and very well designed. I really loved the design and decor and especially the artwork. All the staff are lovely and helpful bar one miserable guy at reception. Out of all the staff the unhappiest/most unhelpful seemed to be at reception which is a bit weird. Luckily we didn't have much to do with them.

The food is really really good. One of the best buffets dinner i've visited. (Porchetta on Italian night for example). Went to Acosta for dinner on our last night and had an absolutely delicious Lobster rice dish. It was just such a shame that the bass drum from a nearby bar/club was all you could hear for the duration. Pretty weird at 8:30pm!

The rooms are really lovely and peaceful. Great blackout curtains and really well sound proofed. Nice 60" tele as well. Bar area is a bit small but was really nice and never totally full to capacity even during England games. A few small problems were ironed out immediately by the really helpful Monica and it was nice to meet Nadia who I know will be reading this (Hi Nadia. Sorry I didn't get a chance to ask you whether you have visited Elounda. I hope so!)

One last thing thats worth checking when you check out... £300 was taken from our account as a deposit when we checked in. This was actually taken out of our account (rather than a pending payment) and NOT taken off our final bill. So we had to flag it and slightly argue about it before getting the money back. Overall very happy once finding the adults area open and able to enjoy it. Came back really relaxed after an initial few days of sussing it all out/wedding etc. Check out the massive Koi Carp in the lake and enjoy and explore!

This hotel is lovely, and within walking distance of Vilamoura marina where there are bars/shops/boat trips etc.

Room - good size, large comfortable bed, plenty of storage, good shower and very clean.

Food - we ate at 2 of the restaurants and both were very good. Breakfast was nice, with a good selection. The outside tables are nicer as it’s quite dark and noisy if you end up on a table inside next to the food service area.

Pools - nice temperature, although more suited to gently floating around rather than gentle swimming. Loungers are very comfortable, and shade is available. Never had an issue getting a lounger despite the hotel being busy.

A couple of very small things, but things which should be fixed - I noticed a couple of cracked floor tiles in the outside area, the side table next to our lounger was very wobbly/broken and a teapot had a crack in one morning.

All in all, a lovely stay and I’d happily return.

We had an absolutely delightful stay at this resort. It had everything you could want—from beautiful beaches and stunning pools to lush natural surroundings, delicious restaurants, complimentary yoga, and so much more. The breakfast buffet was outstanding and the perfect way to start each day. The dinners were delicious - we had probably the best sushi we've ever eaten at the onsite Blend restaurant, where the scenery was perfect and the service was top notch. We also enjoyed an outdoor dinner at Antonino's, where we were serenaded with live music and wonderful service.

We treated ourselves to the spa, and the services were excellent. The entire property felt luxurious, serene, and beautifully maintained, making it the perfect backdrop for a truly relaxing vacation.