Mertola Holidays

The property itself is nicely situated and adequate. In the United States it would be considered 3 stars. The problem is parking. They advertise on site self parking but they don't have enough and we regularly had to find a spot on the street on top of that there is nothing in your reservation that indicates how you get in the gate to check in. After check in you can use your key? Totally the wrong approach. The beach is great, pool and lounges are great. Breakfast included has a lot of options and is decent. Didn't have dinner there. The grounds are nice. No coffee maker in the room.

Very clean hotel in all areas including the pool, the room itself, the restaurant and outside eating areas. All the staff were lovely. Check in was smooth and speedy & front desk team so helpful when booking the waterpark (and got us a discount), taxi to the airport (which was cheaper than Uber) and generally great. Breakfast excellent. Great choice from cooked to fresh bakery items and the best freshly squeezed orange juice! The bar and restaurant team were all so helpful especially with my daughter who has an allergy. Hotel is in perfect location for walking to the beach but also the town with all the restaurants / cafes. The room was much bigger than it looked on the website and big balcony overlooking the pool. Was stocked with everything you need if planning on preparing meals. Swimming pool was a great size and so good to have the indoor pool plus jacuzzi. Had no problems getting loungers around the outdoor pool, towels were put out early but still always loungers available. Overall we loved this hotel and the staff. Would highly recommend!

The staff was very good, particularly Sebastian at reception. He was very kind and helpful. The property was…weird. The hotel and property was run-down, though relatively clean, minus the ants in our room. The hotel decor was bizarre, leaning toward very tacky. The breakfast buffet was always ridiculously busy and the food quality was poor. After the first day, we opted not to bother going. The one adult swimming pool served hundreds of guests so was always overcrowded with all of the loungers taken by early morning. It felt like we were at a bargain basement all-inclusive resort (that wasn’t all inclusive) and was not cheap. That said, the beach was nice and easily accessible. I get the appeal for some but this is not the hotel or city to visit in the Algarve if you are looking for a quiet and relaxing vacation. We’ll know better for next time.