3HB Guarana

This is the 3rd time coming and we do love it here and food is amazing!! I think food and drink quality has improved!! Queue yes but they go down quick and staff are friendly! There is plenty of loungers no 6am start to have to get one which is nice! Love the day entertainment. We used Ubers to get around and there was no issue! It is a family hotel and you would know this when you go. But all inclusive is amazing and you won’t be disappointed! Rooms are lovely and very clean. The hotel itself is really clean and kept well. If you have mobility issues and want to access the beach to be fair this may not be the place for you as it isn’t easily accessible for non mobile.

The hotel is noisy. Parents don’t seem to tell kids to be quiet down the corridors and there is a lot of screaming and shouting which if you want a bit of peace would be highly annoying. The other thing there is smoking areas but people vape on the loungers, which as a non smoker/vaper is pretty annoying I don’t want a waff of your vape when I am trying to relax! They also stink! Maybe management can crack down on this or have a vape area so it caters for those who do wish to vape.

Booked this holiday with fiancé as we were just newly engaged and were able to travel child free as a one off. Hotel clean and food good variety but absolutely nothing around there and also the hotel was massively geared towards kids. We’ve been away with our son many times and enjoyed the entertainment round the pool but this was next level. Music so loud you could not even read your book. There were many pools also which is why we booked this hotel. Various splash areas for kids and baby paddling pools which I thought meant was enough room for everyone but the older kids were allowed to literally take over the larger pool too with a pool party on top of the fact they had games on all day for them in the pool and aerobics. Pool party was next level noise, loads of splashing and massive balls flying around for them to pass. It was literally a no go zone so we hot footed it to the beach most days. Even the swim up pool bar was taken over by kids. I thought that this would have meant a more elevated experience but they were serving non alcoholic slushies there most of which went in the pool as the kids swam with their cups in their mouths. Paid a lot of money for 1 week here for two people and this was not advertised as a family favourite as was the other 3HB round the corner. I wondered what the difference was… we are not anti kids by far but this took the Michael.

We arrived home yesterday after a lovely week in this hotel. It's beautifully clean and everything is lovely quality.

We cancelled private Jet 2 transfers (£196 return) and used Bolt via the app and it cost us €85 return for an XL (4 adults, 4 cases plus hand luggage). We also used Bolt for a trip to Albuferia and it was €5 each way and a fab service.

Its a 10 minute walk to the small beach and its really nice down there with a few shops and bars.

2 of the 4 of us did a Dolphin spotting cave tour boat trip booked through the hotel rep. Could probably have done it cheaper direct but worked well for us.

We tried each of the restaurants in the hotel and loved the addition of the Oriental and Mediterranean restaurants, and we used the latter twice. The snack bar was an absolute saviour for one of out kids who is a very plain eater. There was so much choice and food was lovely.

Drinks were really lovely, branded spirits (very large measures) and we loved a vodka slush at the pool bar.

Entertainment was actually fine. We had read that people were disappointed but we thought the live music was great especiallythe 80's night. Karaoke lacked audience participation but this was no fault of the hotel. We didn't access younger kids entertainment as our kids are older. We didn't tend to do activities through the day but we spent many hours reading by the pool and WiFi was really good throughout the places we went. There was always multiple daytime activities and lots to do.

A really big positive for us was the indoor pool, spa area and gym. Our older kids visited every day and really enjoy this part of the hotel.

The sports bar particularly on a weekend was a good option although commentary was in Portugese as was the room TV as you would expect.

We had interconnecting rooms which were a game changer for us...2 rooms side by side with an adjoining middle door. Perfect for families with older kids. Staff work incredibly hard to keep the hotel clean and the toilets were always so clean.

Our view was the front of the hotel and this didn't bother us however, it was shaded do didn't dry swimwear and towels.

Faro airport was the downside for me. Really disappointing and the passenger assistance was nothing short of disgusting. I highlighted this with Jet 2 mid stay and was given a return plan. Sadly they managed to make it even worse but....the airport queues were ok. we arrived 3 hours early and check in was already open. The longest we had to wait in any queue was around 10 minutes. The food areas were ok and we had plenty of time to eat and drink before boarding.

For anyone wanting Duty Free Jet 2 had a fantastic deal on spirits and you can see this via the app.

Really lovely hotel, would definitely recommend a visit and for us it was higher than the 4 stars that it is rated. I only have one small criticism of the facilities and that is the pool/billiard room. Improvement is desperately needed to upgrade the pool tables and equipment. There was no chalk for the cues which us something that costs very little and would have made them at least playable. This could be a lovely area with a small upgrade.

Thank you for a lovely holiday xx