Pine Cliffs Ocean Suites, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Algarve

The property boasts comfortable, spacious suites with complete amenities and beautiful ocean views. Guests praise the friendly staff, superb breakfast buffet, and convenient location near the beach. Daily cleaning is appreciated.

4pm check-in: the latest I've ever come across in decades of travelling. Puts a considerable dent in a weekend break. Another weird thing is the restaurant booking... couldn't get the concierge to pick up house phone, so called Switchboard and despite staying in the hotel (where they have my card) they send an email link to confirm booking...20 mins later... to tale a credit card... never before have so many hoops been jumped through to get a table.... Nice enough place, but pricey and 5 stars is a reach. The villas are nice, but we moved over from Four Seasons in Quinta and those are better and cheaper.

We’ve just come back from a 4-day break at Pine Cliffs. I was expecting 5-star luxury, but it was 3–4 at best. The positives: • Breakfast had many, many options and was delicious. • The housekeeping and customer service teams were very quick when responding to any room requests. • The spa was included for resort guests. A lot of Marriotts we’ve stayed in charge extra for it. The negatives: • No outdoor heated pool, except for a tiny one right next to the car park and kids’ club. No one wants to go into an ice-cold pool, regardless of how hot it is. • The spa itself was lovely, but the staff need to be more visible to ensure people are following the rules. On three separate occasions, I saw three different men strutting around naked—in the open experience shower (twice), and once in the sauna—with everything on show. Not what I want to see when trying to relax, and it made me feel very uncomfortable. • Some staff members were quite rude and seemed only interested in trying to get extra money. First of all, as a Titanium member, you expect to be given one of the nicer rooms in a quiet area when available—especially when using our well-earned Elite Reward Nights. The original room we were given was next to a restaurant, with a lovely noisy view of the car park and kids’ club. When we mentioned we had used our Elite Nights and selected a few different room categories, we were told that they were full and the only other option was an upgrade to a 2-bedroom suite at an additional cost. (We had already selected the 2-bed as one of the upgrade options with the Elite Nights, so we didn’t feel it should carry an extra fee.) After demanding to speak to the general manager, they managed to move us to a quieter room in the same category we were originally given. Why couldn’t they have done this in the first place? Additionally, the night before check-out, we confirmed a late check-out of 6 p.m. due to our late flight. We spent the day exploring and enjoying ourselves, but when we returned, I noticed a missed call. This was at 4 p.m.—they wanted to know why we hadn’t checked out. When I explained we had agreed on a late check-out, they told me there would be an extra cost and only backed off when I showed proof. This made me and my husband feel ambushed, and again, like they were only after more money. • Lastly, I feel there could be a bit more to do around the hotel—activities, music, anything. It just felt more like a serviced apartment than a luxury five-star hotel.