Pine Cliffs Residence, a Luxury Collection Resort, Algarve

This review is in no means a diatribe against Pine Cliffs, but after an 8 night stay with 3 kids, staying in a 2 bed residence apartment, I honestly feel the bad outweighed the good! With a good reputation for a family resort, I was pretty disappointed on a few levels with the place! The price gouging was next level. My advice is to book half board to avoid excessively expensive restaurants. We were grateful to be half board and ate in O'Grill every night which suited us with young kids. I was pretty shocked by some of the staff. They were outright rude and condescending (especially Carolina in Residence reception! Probably one of the worst check-in experiences I've had in years!) There is no concierge in Residence, just an empty desk and a phone that rings out and unanswered emails. What hotel reception closes for the day at 6pm in June?!!! Well residence does...so you need to make your way to the main hotel reception to check out. The staff are also very unknowledgeable about the resort. It's like it's everyone’s first day! Cons - Price gouging: 1. Excessively expensive restaurants with average food. ( examples - €85 for 1 kids pizza, 1 chicken dippers and chips and 1 bland caesar wrap..no drinks! this was lounger service on the Pine Cliffs lawn...€5 for a kids apple juice in Mare...crazy prices) 2. €47 euro for x2 to play tennis for an hour. I've never had to pay for tennis in a 5 star before. It's always included. The cheapest price to play paddle is €60 for an hour. 3. €27 for 2 buckets and spades for beach (we forgot to get them in the shops outside the resort at our own cost!) 4. €130 for 2 people to do the tree-top adventure circuit. we decided to give that a miss! I’m glad I’d checked out the prices before bringing my son there. 5. Football academy (3rd party) was €70 for 2 hours which I felt was over-priced. - Every invoice for the buffet had a "suggested tip" This was off putting to be honest! - There is a lot of walking in the resort, which is fine to get the steps in after a buffet but with kids it’s a lot. In the heat waiting around for shuttles and having to collapse buggies isn't ideal... - The kids club was EMPTY every day! we had thought to use the service for our toddler but there was no way I'd have left her there with no other kids to play with. Very disappointed with Porto Pirata. Also an extra charge here. Alot of hotels would include this in the price. I saw several English kids with Scott Dunn backpacks but unless you book your package with them you can’t use that kids club. - The note on the room safe ' saying it was free" was laughable! What 5 star hotel would charge for a safe? - Better upkeep of rooms needed. When we checked in out room safe was broken and so was a lock on the patio doors. In fairness these were fixed immediately when I called guest services. - The luggage stand was broken and no batteries in the weighing scales which is handy for weighing bags for airport, broken toilet roll holder, Dryer kept switching off so I had to pack wet clothes going home (I had emptied the water tray so could not figure it out.!) - For the first half off the holiday we got complimentary bottled water which was ideal with kids under 5. Then, for no apparent reason, this got replaced with a standalone water filter. I called guest service to request we continue to get the bottled water again because using the filter wasn’t really an option for us with young kids. I explained that kids are more vulnerable to gastrointestinal illnesses if drinking filtered water. I was met with silence over the phone. I asked if they understood and was told “ yes, I understand perfectly but the water filter will remain in the room!” I was eventually told after persisting that they would also bring bottled water again…instead a paper notice was delivered to our room and placed on the water filter detailing the environmental advantages of the filter. We didn’t get bottled water again for the rest of our stay. I felt this was a pretty ignorant move on their behalf. I’m fully way it has less of an environmental impact, but I also don’t want to risk sick toddlers on our family holiday. - The coffee pods also stopped being delivered so that was another call to guest services. In fairness…this was well stocked thereafter. - a real lack of live entertainment for adults and kids. O’grill only had music every 2nd night and it was the same singer each time! Pros - Lovely spacious apartment with a great wrap around veranda and lovely patio furniture. - Nice resort views over golf course - Guest services were very helpful setting us up with multiple cots and highchairs and sorting out some broken items in the room promptly - We really liked O’Grill for breakfast and dinner on our half board rate. Good food choice (but fairly repetitive) - The residence pool is the best pool in the resort with decent toddler pool and ample seating. The hotel pool is ok but I thought it was small for such a large resort. - Driving Range good value - Kids minigolf didn’t have an extra charge - The kids playground and bouncing castle were great! - Footballs, basket balls etc at no cost with a sign in/out system - Absolutely stunning beach – Praia da Falesia does not disappoint. One of the holiday highlights was sea swimming with my 10 year old. Overall we enjoyed our 8 days on the Algarve with decent weather and a lovely apartment, but I can’t see myself booking Pine Cliffs again, even though we plan to return next year.

Beautiful golf course, great food and restaurants , nice beach front a bit difficult to get to, nicely appointed 2 bedroom townhouse.

Most fabulous place that I have ever stayed at. This hotel is pure luxury. The facilities, the gardens, the food, the location but most of all the staff are spectacular.

There wasn’t a thing that I didn’t like.

Facilities are superb. It’s very clean. Gardens are stunning

Food is really overpriced- in some cases shockingly so. It’s not that great either. We ate primarily at local restaurants as a result, that were much nicer and a fraction of the cost

Clean and big

We stayed in a three bedroom residence. It was spacious, traditionally decorated and well appointed with a full kitchen and washing machine & tumble dryer. The grounds are beautifully looked after with lots of grass for kids to play on. There are plenty of beds and umbrellas around the pools with pool towels stations in multiple areas. The beach restaurant has a fantastic view. All food is excellent but as expected expensive. Drinks are also expensive. There is a little mini market at the Residences but instead of using this i recommend you walk to the supermarket opposite the entrance which is well stocked. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Pine Cliffs and will be back again.

Better communication as to events on property and location of unit and how things work in unit. Things should be in English to help with directions