PortoBay Falesia

We have just returned from a very relaxing week at the PortoBay Falésia, our first to this hotel, and can thoroughly recommend it. The hotel is a 30-minute taxi ride from Faro airport and is located directly above the Falésia Beach, which can be accessed by wooden steps located to the side of the hotel. The extensive beach has golden sand, plenty of sunbeds, and there are two restaurants on the beach itself. It is also only a 10-minute walk to the quaint oceanfront village of Olhos de Agua, where there is a small beach and a very good selection of bars and restaurants. The hotel itself is very well maintained both inside and out and in our view is a very good 4-star hotel. The hotel is spotlessly clean with good covid-19 arrangements in place, and we felt very safe there during our stay whilst at the same time enjoying a good holiday atmosphere! There are two restaurants in the hotel, giving a choice of buffet meals in the Madeira Restaurant, or à la carte meals in the Falésia Restaurant. Breakfast was served in the Madeira restaurant and there was a good choice of cold meats, cheeses, fruit, salads and bread as well as a range of hot food with a choice of eggs cooked to order. As we had booked bed and breakfast only, this gave us a choice of evening dining options, and we personally preferred the à la carte restaurant where the standard of the food and service was excellent. We also ate in a couple of restaurants in Olhos de Agua, which were also excellent and which I will separately review. The grounds of the hotel are really beautiful, with plenty of sun-beds and seating areas, many overlooking the cliffs and beach. There is a good-sized swimming pool, and the Falésia Bar served a very good selection of daytime food and drinks. What helps to make this hotel so good are the staff, all of whom are friendly, welcoming and attentive. They really made us feel valued as guests. Our room, a Junior Suite on the 4th floor, had wonderful pool and sea views, and was very well equipped with a separate living room, and a well-equipped bathroom with walk-in shower. Because we have stayed in other PortoBay hotels in Madeira and Lisbon on a number of occasions, as Gold Prestige Club Members we enjoy good discounts at PortoBay hotels, and PortoBay really do reward client loyalty. We had such a thoroughly enjoyable holiday and for that reason we will certainly be visiting the PortoBay Falésia again in the not too distant future.

I stayed here for a week with my Mum and we had a fantastic time. Hotel and Room - they took our temperature every time we entered the main entrance of the hotel, hand sanitiser everywhere and face masks were required for all public areas (unless outside). The staff were always cleaning areas of the hotel including lobby, sun loungers, tables etc. The room was clean and had everything we needed. We had a land view and overlooked the entrance way to the hotel. It isn't a busy area as a barrier is place to limit vehicles and we had no issues with this. Location - the hotel is located in a small town, it is a nice size, there is a street of restaurants and bars by the beach but also other bars and restaurants scattered throughout the streets. There are supermarkets in the town which are easy to walk too. Overall, a nice holiday location. We were about a 40minute drive from Faro Airport and it is about 15minutes to Albufeira. We did not want to be in Albufeira but wanted to remain on the coast. Food - this was possibly the most pleasant surprise for us. We had seen a couple of not great reviews for the food but it was really really great. The buffets at breakfast and dinner had so much choice, the only difference due to COVID was there was a staff member serving at the buffet but you could still have as much as you wanted. You had to wear your mask when going up to the buffet and the staff did send you back to your table to get it, if you had forgotten. I hate going to buffets and everything is beige or fried but here this was not the case here. Breakfast - at breakfast there was a great hot food selection, cold meats and cheese, fruit station, cereal, yoghurts etc everything you could want as well as pastries, cakes and biscuits. Dinner - there was a huge salad bar which had both normal individual salad options but also other salads which had been carefully put together such as prawns, mango and avocado as an example. The hot food always had a theme, although this was often quite tenuous a link, there was always a couple of seafood options, meat dished, delicious vegetable dishes and always one choice of fried potato. Poolside restaurant - we ate lunch here a couple of time and had plenty of drinks here throughout the holiday. The lunches were so delicious (which was a bit of a surprise) but there is a great mix of sandwiches, salads and full main dishes. Great drinks and cocktail menu and in the evening hosted various music ensembles such as live jazz, live singers etc. Drinks - great options and selection and really reasonably priced. They have a happy hour everyday which makes the drinks a bargain. The only issue is that the bar which does happy hour only has a very small terrace outside where people can smoke, otherwise you have to sit inside. Facilities - The pool is great and although I imagine it would be busier in peak travel season, it wasn't too busy and had a nice atmosphere. The surrounding areas in the garden and trees are stunning with amazing views over the beach and sea. The small decks with sofas and chairs on the edge of the cliffs are so lovely and picturesque and great places to eat and drink. Access to the beach is by a gate and down quite a few steps but it is worth it as the beach is clean and beautiful with great waves. The beach goes on for miles and is great for a walk. We hired sun loungers for a beach day and it was really easy and straight forward and they are kept when you go for lunch. You can take towels etc down and there are allocated areas for this. I used the gym every day, it wasn't great as it was mainly cardio equipment with an upper body multi machine and some dumbbells but still managed to work out well and there was only ever a maximum of two others there at the same time. We knew the hotel would be ok but actually, it exceeded our expectations entirely. The food and the beach especially. I would definitely recommend this hotel!