Agua Viva by Umbral

I have such mixed feelings about this hotel....Based on previous reviews i'm not sure whether most of the negative points are due to me going in April but as a seasoned traveller this is my honest opinion: First i'll get to the Good points: * Cristina is lovely & couldn't be more helpful. I was arriving late on a Sunday & she left clear instructions for where the lock box was containing the keys. * Sunbed cushions - these helped massively especially with the cracks in them. * Short walk to the nearest beach * Decent sized balcony - Room 305 * Balcony got the sun all day * Good air con * Free bottle of water in room on arrival * 1 beach towel is given per guest which saves on the room in the luggage & was a big plus. * Bottle opener in room. * Room got cleaned every 2 days, friendly cleaner & good towels. Now the Bad points: * On *********** it states it has a private beach area that's not true. The beach is a 8-10 min walk down some steps. * You have to exit the front of the hotel to reach the pool area - meaning that anyone can walk in off the street & use it. * The bed and pillows in the room were very hard & i found it difficult sleeping. I know this is preference but i came for a relaxing time & it's hard to relax when you don't get a good nights sleep... * The pool & surrounding pool area wasn't clean. There was sand on the steps & all kind of things floating in it. The pool guy arrived on Wednesday afternoon but although the sand was gone, it was still not 100% clean. * Every sunlounger was broken....i managed to find one that only had a slight crack in it & i used this fine every day but still that's pretty shocking when you consider there were around 10+ loungers there. * The restaurant attached to the hotel (a seperate business) was not open (despite what google said) the whole time i was there. This was very inconvienent when wanting food or an ice cream as you had to walk all the way to the shop - which when the pool area isn't monitored means you either had to take everything with you or leave it at the pool & hope for the best...It also meant there was no poolside toilet...my room was on the 3rd floor and again having to walk outside the hotel & up 3 flights of stairs just to go to the toilet is not ideal. I asked Cristina if i could use the small staff toilet in reception & she said yes but i am not sure that curtosy would be extended to all guests as it was also where they did the hotels laundry. * The hotel states there is a kitchenette in each room which isn't true - from what i can gather some rooms have one some don't. You are provided with a Microwave & toaster & plates and cuttlery but again the Kitchen is on the 4th floor so no one wants to lug everything up and down stairs all the time. It's a confusing layout. Plus the electric hot pan was either crazy fast or crazy slow so i gave up bothering. Some people chose Self catering so they can make their own food and keep costs down so people should definitely be aware of

Stayed here for a week with my partner. The room was cleaned every two days with a change of towels. The staff were friendly especially the host Christina. Probably the friendliest Hotel staff I have ever met. Lovely pool area and close to the new town/strip by foot. It is a 5 min Uber to the old town and ubers are less than 5 euro per trip to the old town. If I ever come back to Albufeira I would stay here again!

This was our first time in Portugal, but it won't be our last! The hotel was a real home from home, in a perfect location, just a 5 minute walk to a small quiet beach. The hotel was hosted by Christina who went way above and beyond to make our stay perfect. The best description I can offer is 'an establishment with the facilities of a great hotel but with the feel and friendliness of a top class guest house'. We would highly recommend this hotel to anyone.