Vale d'El Rei Hotel & Villas

We arrived here lunch time on July 3 for 5 nights. We did not expect our room to be ready and were directed to the pool bar where we could buy a drink. That was fine but if we wanted to upgrade to a suite, we could have a room immediately but at 35 euros per night. Once we declined this the guy on reception was no longer interested in us. A sign of things to come. The jug of Sangria was very good and at 15€ was probably the best value drink on the bar menu. Certainly better than the Gin and Tonic at 10€ and the ‘Alvor’ wine in the restaurant was advertised at 14.5% in the menu and only 13.5% on the bottle. A large beer was 3.5€ and a small can of diet coke was 3 or 3.5 € depending on the day and who served you. Water was 3€ for a litre bottle whether it was to take to your room to make a cup of tea or coffee or to drink with your meal in the restaurant. There was one complimentary bottle of water in the room and more in the mini bar if you wanted to pay for it. There was a Dolce Gusto coffee machine in the room and the pods were 1.5€ each and they seemed to have been counted each day. There was an outdoor Gym with quite a few machines but NO water fountain. I would have expected there to be one in a 5* establishment. Even bread with your soup from the very limited menu was charged for at 2.5 € per person. Check that you get the correct bill at lunchtime. THE ROOM was a decent size with a balcony big enough to have a small table and two chairs, a wonderful view of the countryside but sadly, no privacy from the next balcony provided by the wall that was about 3 foot high. A small rail would be useful on the balcony to dry swimwear. The bird dirt on the balcony rail remained there throughout our stay. The bed, however, was extra large and very comfortable with plenty of decent pillows. There were plenty of eco friendly hangers in the wardrobe and a good number of shelves. The in room safe was free to use. Towels were white and fluffy and changed as often as you wanted so long as you put them in the bath. Pool towels were also in the room ready for you but if you wanted clean ones it was 3€ each to change them. Lack of electrical outlets is an issue. You can unplug a table lamp to charge your phone etc. but there are no sockets within reach of a mirror for straighteners or tongs to do your hair. The hairdryer in the bathroom is quite good for an hotel along with the illuminated mirror. The bathroom is a decent size and the shower is very powerful, however, it is badly let down by the nylon shower curtain and grubby grouting. The bathroom bears no resemblance to the pictures on the Jet2 website who we booked through. Nylon shower curtains are not 5* THE POOL BAR AND BREAKFAST AREA A buffet breakfast is served at the pool bar and it provided a choice of both hot and cold food with machines for coffee and tea and jugs of juices. The food was reasonable quality and regularly refilled. I love to sit outside for breakfast on holiday but don’t expect to have to move to another table because I am being splashed from the pressure washer being used to clean the area in front of me or have to suffer the noise of it whilst I am eating at 8.30 in the morning. I addressed this with reception who assured me it would not happen again. It did two days later. It is a shame they had not used the pressure washer to wash the bird dirt from the chairs on the pool bar/breakfast patio. Lunch was also available here with salad or burger costing about 10 to15 euros but the service was very slow; about 25 to 30 minutes wait for a salad. When it did arrive it was tasty especially the house burger which was homemade. THE RESTAURANT FOR DINNER We were booked for half board and were under the impression that this was either buffet or from set menu. It was always from a set menu which was quite limited. A choice of two starters, one of which was soup, as I have already said bread was charged extra. There were three main courses to choose from, meat, fish or vegetarian and a choice of two deserts. The portions are small but quite rich so were adequate for us but if you have a larger appetite you might be hungry. I believe they were some other choices if you are willing to pay for them as extras. There was a large and varied wine list with a range of prices, however, we were brought white when we ordered red and then when the red came it was not as stated on the menu which we did not realised until we had started to drink it but there was no offer to replace it. The food was tasty and the staff were pleasant. THE POOL The pool is not large but it was OK for the number of guests and we were always able to get a sunbed. Much of it is quite shallow so many of the children who were there played in the larger pool rather than the children’s pool which was on the lower terrace. There is another pool on the complex but we were advised by another guest that it was too deep for her 8 year old and very cold. The main pool appeared to be clean and the temperature of it was displayed each day on a board along with air temperature. There are toilets and a shower near the pool. The hotel has a Spa and we were under the impression that the sauna and jacuzzi were free to use by guests but they were only available freely to guests who paid for a massage, the cheapest of which was 60€. We went to look at the Spa a couple of times but found it closed. The gardens are large and well kept. THE BAR AND PUBLIC AREAS These areas were well kept but sadly underused. This might well be because the majority of guests appear to leave the hotel in the evenings or go back to their rooms. The bar prices might have a lot to do with this. We saw that entertainment was provided on three of the five nights we were there. A man playing the piano and singing to an empty room, a lady singing to an empty room and a guy playing a clarinet or something similar, again to an empty room. To be honest if we had had a car we too would have gone out for the evening. The hotel is quite remote and I think a car is an essential or be prepared to spend quite a lot on taxis. OVERALL We went there for 5 days rest and that is what we got. The great weather helped but had the weather been poor it would have been a nightmare, We paid for a 5* rated hotel (by Jet2) and we did not get that. There are too many little things that are sub-standard that added together mean it was only OK but not great, especially for the price we paid. Would I go here again – No and in all honesty I could not recommend it to family or friends. The photos on the Jet2 website are not what we experienced either in the room we had, in the restaurant or in the pool bar, I think they might be old ones. The hotel may be part of the Details group but it the lack of attention to detail that means it is not 5*

sold by jet 2 as luxury holiday, but disappointed to find rusty bathroom and shower rooms in superior town houses, interestingly photos on website that were there of the upgraded bathrooms removed. Breakfast was fine, hotel clean enough, but pool areas could have been cleaner. We tried to keep our son quiet as this is clearly used as a wellbeing retreat but towards end of the week a party of around 40 stsyed, taking over pool, own speakers blaring music, drinking in the pool, so realised we shouldn't have been so considerate. Be best to hire a car if you stay here.

We had a very small room. It was very difficult to walk around the bed. We were also charged 1.10 for a little amount of milk for a cup of tea in the evening. We had 2 small pillows and very uncomfortable at night.