Without a doubt, it is one of the best hotel
resorts in Europe if not the world, the Sheraton
Pine Cliffs is a wonderful resort in the south
of Portugal. This hotel really deserves all the
accolades that have been heaped upon it,
including the most recent, it was awarded by
the “World Travel Awards” as The best resort of
Portugal for 2005.
We (that’s my wife and I and our 2 young
children) regularly visit this resort mid Sept /
early October when the hotel is relatively
quiet, but is still catching the good weather
Portugal is famed for, having over 300 days of
sun per year we think it’s one of the best
holiday destinations in Europe.
The hotel is absolutely amazing, in its design,
facilities for both children & adults, service
standards, wonderful grounds and the spectacular
views as you descend the lift to the white sands
of the unspoiled Falésia beach, the only one in
the Algarve classified with the EU Golden Flag.
Each time we visit we stay in a 2 bed golf suite
with a large balcony overlooking the wonderful
but challenging 9 hole course. The apartments
are beautifully laid out with full
kitchen/laundry facilities, TV’s, dvd/cd player
etc etc, all you would expect from a 5* resort,
I have just read that each suite has been
refurbished, not that they needed it.
Two of the main reasons we visit Pine Cliffs is
the fantastic sports/leisure facilities which
include Indoor/outdoor pools, 5 tennis courts,
gym, sauna, massage and jacuzzi all these areas
are also of a very high standard, offering
everything you would require for a nice
afternoon away from the beach, if you love the
beach the resort has enough to keep you occupied
for days – Pedaloe’s, Body boards, Windsurfing
hire/lessons, Catamaran lessons, Waterskiing
etc, not that we have tried all these, pedaloes
being a family favourite.
If you love golf you cannot visit a better place
not only does Pine Cliffs have a 9 hole course
it has some of the most famous courses in the
world on its doorstep. Although its own course
is not long, it is very challenging and has the
World famous “devils parlour”, a challenging
PAR3 hole, crossing the cliffs, this offers
breathtaking views over the Atlantic Ocean,
visit
http://www.pinecliffs.com/en/sports_leisure/golf/
course/ for more info.
The practice area includes a driving range, a
chipping & pitching area and a large putting
green.
The 2nd and more important reason is to visit
Porto Pirata, our children’s favourite place “in
the whole wide world” … so far anyhow.
It is a fully enclosed children’s play area of
7000 sqm, our 2 children cannot wait to get
there with its two purpose-built wooden ships, a
swimming pool, a second separate pool for remote
control boats (supplied), a playground, a bouncy
castle, a bike track etc etc…we lose them for
hours. The staff are always very friendly and as
far as we can tell have not changed in the
several years we have visited. Porto Pirata has
been voted the most complete facility for
children in Portugal and has recently been
enlarged with an 18-holes Mini-Golf facility, so
now no doubt I will be thrashed at golf too.
There are several wonderful restaurants and bars
with our favourites being O’Pescador, (seafood)
and Aldar (Moroccan), both of which offered an
amazing selection of fantastic food in wonderful
surroundings, there’s also Mirador Bar where you
can sit at sunset and sip your G&T or as I do
try one of the local beers and admire one of the
most spectacular views in the Algarve…although
having said all of that the children much prefer
Porto Alegrte, great Italian icecream, pizza,
milk shakes, need I say more.
The staff throughout the resort are courteous
and friendly at all times, nothing is too much
trouble. I could go on forever about this hotel.
Cannot wait until October 2006 when we will be
there again
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