Pine Cliffs Residence, a Luxury Collection Resort, Algarve

We found black mold in our bathroom and the manager didn’t think it was a big deal. I had to explain how toxic black mold is / it was quite shocking. Offered us same room type to move into and didn’t offer anything for the inconvenience of unpacking just to repack again and move to new room. We had to ask for an upgrade to a larger room for the inconvenience and we had to send her a photo as she didn’t believe us initially (?!!!). The grounds were nice but very limited beach chairs, the food was overpriced, 60% of our phone calls were answered (including calls to request shuttles so we had to drive our own car a bunch because we couldn’t get shuttle service). Also, everything was an extra charge / felt nickel and dimed everywhere we went. This isn’t how a true five star resort should operate.

We stayed in the Garden Residences and it was exceptional! The accommodation was massive. The staff are amazing. I’m not sure if it changes in high season (August onwards) but in July the shuttle (golf buggy’s or big card) can be called at any time to collect you to transport you to one side of the resort to the other. We often got them to collect us as we were near the kids football pitch (boys loved this ) which is right at the back of the resort. The washing machine and dryer were very fast (within an hour) so that was great. I washed every day (little things). My only gripe is that there was no rack to hang clothes. That is majorly needed as I don’t put all my clothes in the dryer (it did have a lot of settings for delicates etc though). So I ended up using the chairs on the balcony which was fine but not as ascetically pleasing. You don’t want to put damp swimwear or towels in the dryer either after a swim. The only other thing I would say is the cost of food on site is very very expensive but there are lots of places locally that do take away. We had breakfast in the apartment and at the golf club a couple of times and once at Zest as they were reasonable. We did do the buffet breakfast once but very expensive for 5 people at 35 euros . O’Grill in the evenings has a different themed food night each night (Mediterranean, seafood, bbq etc) and that was amazing. It’s approx 55-65 euros depending on the night but you have all the courses and it’s not your average buffet. Each night someone comes to your room to check if you need anything which is a nice touch. The beach has a few activities and my kids did the donut ring which was pulled by a boat. They enjoyed the zip lines which was good value at an hour for 30 or 35 euros. They also did the football camp which was 2 hours a day. They really enjoyed that. The Pools are great. The one near O’Grill was their regular haunt which was good for us as we could sit and have a coffee. Food and drinks can be served to the sun loungers too which is good. Luxury place and beautifully maintained. Would go back.