Pestana Blue Alvor Beach - All Inclusive Hotel

I will start this review by saying I am completely annoyed with myself for letting other people reviews upset me so much before our departure date to think I was asking TUI to change my holiday because my anxiety was so high wondering if we had done the right thing booking this holiday. I can honestly say as a family we enjoyed every minute! From the second we arrived to leaving was great! Don't get me wrong there is some room for improvements but isn't there in every hotel you go to? We decided to get a private transfer from the airport and was greeted by a member of staff as soon as we opened the car door. He took our 3 cases from us and took them to reception and gave us a glass of bubbly. Once we checked in he even took our bags to our room and showed us where we needed to go. We only managed to book into one of the restaurant at the beginning of the week which was Surf and turf and the only time available was 9.15pm which was quite late with kids but we made it work and went a few days later. My only complaint was that they ran out of the rotisserie chicken, which is was the kids wanted but they did end up with steak so wasn't all to bad! After a few days we did managed to book into Italian later in the week and it was lovely and managed to get a suitable time which made all the difference. We spent most of our time around the pool and the kids loved the kids pool and kids club. The snack bar was open every single day and they have burgers and hot dogs. The drinks are branded and the staff was very friendly even remembered what you liked before you said ( Not sure if this is a good thing or not! ;-) ) The food in the main restaurant is ok we all managed to find something we could have, there is something for everyone and I respect that not every night you are going to like what is on but you can make it work. There is also a snack bar open during the day with meat, cheeses, biscuits, ice pops, fruit salad and some sandwiches and crisp. The beach is just 5 minute walk from the hotel and it is beautiful. Our room was on the 7th floor and we had a sea room, the rooms are very modern and lovely and clean. Our bed was made every day and our towels was also changed every day. The beds and pillows was super comfy. You also get a bottle of water and some fruit juices in a mini fridge and a free safe. Staff are lovely and very helpful which makes a huge difference, we had an issue with the mini fridge in our room and my husband spoke to reception in the morning, when we went up after a day around the pool it was all fixed and working again. All I can say is please please don't let other people option's put you off because it a beautiful hotel and beautiful place and we can't wait to go back!

The hotel is lovely if you want a relaxing quiet holiday stay at this hotel. a couple of minutes walk to the most beautiful beach one end is all sand the other is stunning rocks as in pictures. The rooms are new and cleaned daily the restaurant is very good the food is very tasty I'm a fussy eater but there was always something to fill my plate. The staff are brilliant always happy and helpful the drinks are very good. Some people doing reviews are never happy. If you come to the hotel you Will have a great holiday

This is a lovely hotel but is just let down by the food. The hotel itself was great, super clean bedrooms, pool area was good especially with the addition of the adult area. The rooms were cleaned daily. The drinks provided were definitely a 10/10, so much choice! We also really enjoyed the paddle tennis and football pitch. The staff were also all extremely welcoming which made our stay enjoyable. However, the standard of food in both the buffets and restaurants is not good enough. Especially in Luigi’s which you would expect better food as it is the on site restaurant. Food is often very bland and cold with a lack of choice and labelling. Breakfast was nice but we did struggle on an evening with the choices. Definitely personal opinion as we did not travel with children but the entertainment team are too full on for our likings. Especially when around the pool, the team would come over to guests on the sun beds. Some may like this but we found this over bearing especially when we were trying to relax. Overall it is a good hotel, just majorly let down with the food. Other than that, our stay was great.

Stayed UK May bank holiday week in a superior family room with balcony. The balcony glass was dangerous but otherwise pleasant area with pool & sea view with a nice mat and new furniture. The room beds were comfortable but one of the single beds didn’t have a bedside table or shelf so had to put things on the floor.  Was happy with sun bed availability, there were plenty, some new and some old but could move spare ones around so could sit together as a family. Great guy doing some pool entertainment, the kids enjoyed this. Floor surface around the main pool is a very odd choice, it’s some kind of resin but not smooth and is very rough, and sharp. My son cut his toe whilst walking on it, I saw other children fall and cut themselves quite badly. It isn’t an ideal surface for a poolside. Good easy access to the beach, we did not think the path was steep at all but we are a fit & healthy family. Lovely beach and has plenty of lifeguards. Also has free toilets along the beach. Food truck was not open all week, despite being advertised as open daily 12:30-6pm. Asked the Tui rep over messages in the app but she did not respond specifically to my question (probably didn’t want to put it in writing). Buffet restaurant: food wasn’t very good unfortunately, hot food often cold, food not replenished on a timely basis, drinks machines closed/broken. Tables not cleaned and reset once used. No spare cutlery. Mugs/glasses ran out (plenty of plates), not enough staff. Front of house desk with staff member there but didn’t really appear to manage staff or really do anything. Suggest waiting staff have specific duties:- -Drinks machines maintenance -Clearing/cleaning/resetting tables -Crockery, cutlery & glassware -Replenishing food trays On arrival I reported a drinks machine wasn’t working and got the response “I’ve only worked here for 2 days sorry so can’t help”. Didn’t report anything after that as realised machines were constantly not working. Over the week hotel inspectors were walking around the buffet taking notes but nothing appeared to change service wise other than they limited the number of people allowed in at once so this caused a massive queue - another queue! If they aren’t going to bother opening the poolside snack food truck then they need to extend the main buffet to 12-3 for the amount of guests they need to feed. Braved one night at Luigi pizza restaurant which turned out to be an extension of the buffet, the pizza was awful and was like a cheap frozen pizza, not even freshly baked. We make better pizzas at home on our Ooni. Didn’t bother with the other Surf & Turf restaurant as assumed was just as pathetic. Didn’t eat in buffet restaurant in the evenings, plenty of restaurants around the harbour, can easily get an UBER, about €4, otherwise a taxi is about €8 cash and €10 by card. The beach restaurants were lovely too and no taxi needed! Mini bar consisted of 1 bottle of water and 2 x small cartons of pineapple juice. On a positive

Pastana Blue visually is stunning very clean and beautiful decor. Unfortunately the running of the hotel lacks a little. Quite unorganised, staff speak little English. Our room didn't have water replaced or rubbish removed. Beach is amazing

Take no notice of bad reviews. We have been here a week and enjoyed every day. The food is lovely and the drinks are good quality. All the staff work very hard. A well run hotel in a good location with lovely grounds and plenty of outside space. Our pleasant and spacious room was on the 7th floor with a lovely view from the side of the hotel, we could see for miles. The reason I only gave 4 stars is because the evening entertainment in the Bubbles bar could have been better. There was only one whisky on the all inclusive and we were disappointed that we never got the chance to dine in the Fuego (surf n turf) restaurant as it was only open for two days per week and so it was fully booked from the day we arrived . Never mind.

From the moment we arrived at check in to sadly having to leave after a superb week we loved every minute,really clean excellent staff from cleaners to management all superb special mention for the barstaff doing a great job on their own sometimes but always happy to serve you and dealt with the ques superbly, rooms great upgraded and put in 1521 see view out of this world ,food great and varied always topped up and hot,loads of sunbeds never could we not find one lovely pools but a tad cold don't listen to the negative reviews I think maybe too early in the season and new management brought in and staff being trained but all good now.go find out for yourself you won't be disappointed, we would 100% go back. Thanks pestana blue avor beach you did a great job!

just arrived at this hotel no room ready shocking tui staff food looks bland do not come to this hotel I can comment on room have not seen one Iam trying to move hotel hoilday wasted siting in reception still no room first time to Portugal and last time

I have just spent a week here with my partner. A really good Hotel, well run with friendly and efficient staff. The location is excellent with easy access to the fabulous Alvor beach and small fishing village of Alvor. Our room was large and airy, with a larger than usual balcony, which was a lovely sun trap in the afternoon and evening, Food and drink was excellent and available pretty much all the day. Especially noteworthy were the two feature restaurant which offered a fine dining experience. The layout offered separate bathing areas for adults, children and mixed. There were always sunbeds available, with or without shade as needed. I would happily recommend this Hotel for a relaxing holiday in the Algarve,