Tivoli Marina Vilamoura

The experience was nice overall however there limited food options for lunch and dinner. The Pepper steak restaurant is frankly speaking a bit expensive with limited options.. breakfast is great and location is nice.. rooms are good as well

A lovely four night stay in Vilamoura but Tivoli Marina is definitely not 5 stars!! Possibly 3.5 to 4. We travelled as a couple and stayed for four nights from 11 to 14 October 2019; a package with Jet2 without the coach transfer. We arrived at the Tivoli Marina hotel at 12.30 to be told that a room would not be available until 15.00 check in. Fair enough we had noted the check in time on-line, however our mobile numbers were not taken to advise if a room became available sooner. Upon returning to reception at 14.30 a room had been allocated to us. We were in 501 overlooking the Marina, amazing view. Note there was no sun on this side of the hotel during the period that we stayed. The rooms overlooking the pool appeared to be sunny. The pool area was a sun trap, with nicely maintained lawns and gardens. There were some quite lively guests with parties of all males / females. The reception area of the hotel was very busy with lots of golfing guests. It was a great place to people watch. The rooms were of a good size. The beds were comfy and cleaned daily. There was a turn down service in the evening when clean towels and toiletries were topped up, bins emptied, plus a chocolate left on your pillow. There was free wi-fi, safe, coffee maker and fridge. During our short stay we encountered many problems: The lock on the patio door was broken. The decking on the patio was broken. The patio table was stained. Paint was peeling off the wall on the balcony. The flusher on the toilet did not work – the toilet was constantly re-filling, which had clearly been on-going for sometime as evidenced by the brown stain in the toilet. A bit of bleach and a brush would have removed this and the work of a handiman to fix the flusher. The water did not flow from the bath in a timely manner. The water started backing up in the sink. There was a leak by the sink. The toilet seat broke twice. The long mirror in the bedroom was dusty. There were grease marks on the wall. There was an iron mark scolded into the carpet. The carpet was stained in places. The pool towels were stained. The gate to the beach did not lock. You do not require your swipe card to re-enter the hotel from the pool so anyone could have entered the hotel. The shower by the gate needs refurbishing. On our last night we did not receive clean towels and toiletry top ups as in the previous nights. We asked for a kettle which was duly provided, however all electrical sockets were low level so the kettle had to be plugged in at floor level. For two mornings the breakfast was cold and bland. For two mornings the breakfast was hot and bland. The Tivoli Marina is in an excellent location with lots of restaurants and shops within walking distance. The restaurants on the front were more expensive and focused on a quick turnaround rather than tasty good. If you walk a couple of streets back, there are some restaurants serving traditional freshly cooked food. We dined at Rui’s (don’t bother!), A Bora (excellent - warm bread whilst waiting for mains – about 2 euros, steak on a hot stone, 5 minted lamb chops), Café Con Leche (Venuzulian restaurant serving grilled meats, skewers), Casa de Pescador served lamb and chicken kebabs. Luna Rosso on the front presented dull pasta – served too quickly to be freshly made, with little effort in making the bruschetta. We enjoy several holidays a year and are happy to pay for good quality, homemade food but perhaps because of the location of the restaurants on the front they know they are going to be busy so they are not looking to attract repeat business. Go back a couple of streets for better priced supermarkets. Back to the hotel: Whilst appearing clean, areas of the hotel need attention. The entrance overlooking the Marina is hosed in the morning but the dirt remains on the bottom step. There are weeds in the cobbles. From a distance, the hotel appears 5 stars but there are many areas of neglect. We contacted reception regarding problems; a maintenance man did attend but things were sometimes lost in translation. The staff we encountered were friendly. We notified the Jet2 representative of the issues experienced. If only she had been so keen and passionate as the cabin crew member on the tannoy pushing duty free sales on our return flight! Please stop the overly loud sales. We had a lovely four day break despite the concerns with the hotel. We walked around the harbour to Falaisa – miles of golden sand. We also turned left onto the beach from the back of the hotel where again you can walk for miles. Very beautiful area although a little dated in places. Would we go back? Yes to Portugal but been there and done that in Vilamoura.