Alvor Baia Resort Hotel

The hotel is large, spacious and clean, with plenty of friendly staff. The outdoor facilities for toddlers and small children are good, with an outdoor park and a small play area within the children’s pool. The main pool is very large, although I can imagine it gets very busy during peak times.

The sunbeds are not great. Many are broken and they are not the quality you would expect from a 4-star hotel. However, there are plenty available, so you don’t need to get up early to reserve one. The pool area is clean, probably helped by the fact that there is no snack bar where people can eat.

We were really looking forward to our toddler being able to enjoy the mini disco, as she has at other hotels. Unfortunately, this was hugely disappointing. It isn’t held every night and, although it was advertised for our last night, one member of staff initially told us it wasn’t happening. We raised this with the manager just before she left the hotel, and she said she would sort it as it was supposed to be happening. The mini disco then lasted just 14 minutes, with the previous one lasting only 11 minutes, and both started at 8.30pm.

There is also a serious health and safety concern on the stage, where a fuse box is openly accessible. Young toddlers were able to remove the cover and press the buttons on the side. We raised this with reception, but unfortunately our concerns were dismissed, which was particularly disappointing given that this is an area specifically used by young children.

There is a bar within the hotel where you have to pay for drinks, and this was also the only place you could watch the football. We expected the spa to have an additional charge, but were surprised that use of the gym also came at an extra cost.

The only snacks available throughout the day were some late-morning leftover breakfast items and, from 4pm, a burger and a few other options, but no fries, along with ice cream. This is the only time snacks are available, which is disappointing for an all-inclusive hotel, particularly when travelling with young children.

The bedroom area is spacious and the rooms are cleaned well. However, the towels barely fit around a small lady, and the bed sheets don’t always fully cover you, depending on which size is put on the bed each day. After cleaning, the floors are left extremely wet and can be very slippery until they dry.

The fridge in the room is good, and you receive a bottle of water on arrival, which is a nice touch.

We also had an issue with our door not locking. It took the manager to resolve this, as our concerns were continually dismissed by reception. The receptionist we dealt with had a poor attitude, although we didn’t experience this with any of the other staff, so perhaps it was simply a bad day for him.

The food was better for us on some days than others, with some really good-quality chicken and beef available most nights, although the breakfast pastry choices were quite limited. The BBQ night was good, and there is a separate children’s section to choose from. There is also a separate dining room for guests travelling without children, if you prefer to dine in an adults-only area. Disappointingly, there are no plates, cups or cutlery specifically suitable for toddlers.

The regular free bus service to the beach is a good addition.

Overall, it’s a nice enough hotel, but it feels like it is missing quite a few opportunities to be on a par with other 4-star all-inclusive hotels. For us, some of the facilities and services were disappointing, particularly when travelling with a toddler.

Location is just ok.. you're directly opposite a hospital so the inland view doesn't offer much. Alvor itself is maybe a 10+ minute walk away.. with a free bus to the beach and the little touristy road train thingy also calls at the hotel door.

Our room was a family suite composing of a double bed, bathroom, separate living area with single bed and kitchenette. Basic but very clean. Cleaning staff brilliant and friendly. The hotel always smells amazing everything was very fresh and clean inside and outside our room.

Pool area is fantastic.. the pool is clean and huge! There was loads of space for us and never felt like anyone was in your space at all.. some activities at the pool like water polo , darts and the roll a mat onto the water to try and run across etc. there is loads of events and games during the day archery/ padel / bingo/ quiz / aqua aerobics etc never took part in anything personally due to my yound child but looked good!

Pool is almost too big for its own good tho, it lacks a little atmosphere or at least it did when I was there. The PA system they use for announcements for events doesn't really serve the pool area well so you couldn't hear exactly what was going on. Same for music they were playing, if you were near the kids pool you wouldn't really hear any music.

Entertainment I can't comment on as with our child it was mostly an early night and the entertainment didn't start to 9.30 which compared to some other places I've started was a little late imo. However I did experience the mini disco with my child to which I would say that it was one of the worst kids discos I've experienced both as an adult and as as child myself.

11 minutes it lasted on one of the nights with around 4 songs played. A guest did complain about this and subsequently the following disco the next night was a lot better running for 25 mins. They do seem to substitute the mini disco the odd night with a Mini Movie. Personally I didn't bring my child on holiday to sit and watch a projector so for me this was a let down.

Food was ok, we stayed half board with breakfast and dinner. Breakfast I couldn't fault it however the dinner felt a little repetitive.

They have a Portuguese night, Algarvian night, chefs buffet, tropical night, barbecue night and can't remember any others. I always got enough on my plate but I was slightly disappointed by it and in to be honest, probably (unfairly) because my last hotel in tenerife the food was outstanding 10/10 I had the bar set so high I sort of wanted the same. Food was totally acceptable though by no means bad food, staff were fantastic in the 'Green' restaurant and again the place was always spotless.

Overall a decent hotel, fantastic great staff, very clean, great pool decent food, location and atmosphere in the area to be desired wouldn't be somewhere id suggest if you're looking for a party.