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

Exceptional in every way. Pine Cliffs in Albufeira comes with our highest recommendation. Rarely, do the 3 of us - me 45F and my mum and dad - find a place to holiday that meets all of our needs. The search is over and we will be returning for many years to come. The location was perfect, only 20 minutes from Faro airport and nestled amongst beautifully landscaped picturesque gardens. Every detail was glorious from the mosaic stone paths winding their way through well thought out white stucco villas topped with beautiful terracotta roofs that changed colour with the rising and setting sun. The golf courses and tennis courts were immaculate however we chose to spend our 12 day visit mostly by the crystal blue pool (1 of 6 in the resort) barely 100 steps from our private terrace. We stayed at Casa Pine Cliffs - in the Residences. Our 2 bedroom and 2 bathroom suite was pure luxury, spotlessly clean and well maintained. Breakfast was at The O’Grill, a whole 50 more steps beyond the pool. It was self-service, with endless dishes of the most mouthwatering, fresh, local produce with every taste catered for. Fresh brewed coffee, Mimosas, Bloody Mary’s - whatever you wanted and in whatever quantity- nothing was too much trouble for the hardworking staff at O’Grill. There was a mini market within our ‘village’ of villas with a plentiful supply of food, drink and toiletries. We dined within Pinecliffs on a couple of occasions but preferred to adjourn to our suite to make use of the self catering facilities while enjoying an al-fresco dinner with a bottle of wine. Everything was simply effortless and the staff are some of the most lovely we’ve ever come across. The housekeeping team were so thoughtful, checking we had everything we needed during the evening and bring us chocolates and bid us a good night. Joao, Ali, Chef Paoula- and many, many more - got to know us well and by day 3 were bringing us to our usual table - bringing over our usual drink orders etc. On my birthday (the last day) I was brought complimentary drinks and wished a genuine happy birthday by the staff. This attention to detail is what sets Pine Cliffs apart from many other similar resorts of this calibre. I am hard pressed to find anything negative to say, but the only thing that could have made the experience more enjoyable is an adults only pool and relaxation area. We purposely chose the last week of September as we wanted a quiet and relaxing experience. For all of the days apart from the last two, this was the case. Unfortunately two large groups with several children arrived on Oct 1st & 2nd. Without a thought for the majority of people who were there, they took over the area. Screaming at an ear splitting volume, shouting and repeatedly splashing us - mum got hit with a ball - it was a frustrating end to an otherwise brilliant experience. I’ve never been able to understand why when occupying a public space, the enjoyment of some comes at the expense of others. I ho

Our family had an unbelievable 4 day summer stay at Pine Cliffs Ocean Suites in Portugal. It's our preferred destination when we visit the Algarve. The staff at reception were warm and friendly. We were surprisingly greeted with a presidential suite upgrade during our stay which is like the size of 4 to 5 standard suites at Pine Cliffs. It offered us incredible 180 degree views of the entire resort with a huge balcony. The bed mattress was comfortable and made it easy to get a good night sleep. However, the kitchen is smaller and doesn't offer a washing machine like the other rooms on the property. Also note there's a small market right across the resort which is a huge plus to buy groceries and make meals from the kitchen. As a Marriott Platinum Member, we enjoyed complimentary daily breakfast which offered a large buffet assortment of cold and hot options including ready to order omelets, fruit smoothies, and a large assortment of pastries like Pastel de Nata. If you have young children, daily breakfast is €15-20 per kid per day. Pine Cliffs resort offers a large variety of restaurants to enjoy lunch and dinner and we enjoyed their salads and burgers. Access to the beach is approximately 10-15 minutes by foot from the resort and was a nice way to relax each and every day at the beach. Although we did enjoy the on-site swimming pools. If you have kids, there's a playground on the property. In the end, we had a fantastic stay at Pine Cliffs Ocean Suites and we will definitely visit again.

We stayed for one week, as a family of three, in a spacious two bed Ocean Suite, which was modern, clean, spacious and bright. It also benefitted from a washing machine and a relatively comprehensive kitchenette, which was handy. Pine Cliffs is a great resort for families. It is in a beautiful setting and benefits from an excellent range of facilities and amenities, including a fantastic nine-hole golf course and with access to a fantastic beach. We ate in several of the restaurants during our stay. In my opinion, even though the food in the restaurants was good, the price for the food was high, though again not unexpected in this type of resort. All the staff we met in the reception, restaurants, golf club and concierge made you feel very welcome and were helpful and had a friendly attitude. I would highlight that this is a very busy resort, as you would expect in July. Minor gripes include being required to book some of the restaurants, in some cases days in advance. On the resort website, the Italian appeared to be fully booked all week, though we did manage to get in one evening by just turning up. I had e-mailed the concierge team around four days in advance of arriving, to book several restaurants but had not received a response. The reason given was that they had thousands of e-mails and the team didn't have the resources to be able to read and respond to them all in time. As a result, our restaurant reservations had not been made. It also felt petty to be charging €6 per person to play mini golf given the room rates. Overall, we had a positive stay at Pine Cliffs. It is a beautiful resort with lots to keep you entertained but it feels like it falls slightly short in terms of the luxury that is reflected in the pricing.

This was my second time staying at the Pine Cliffs resort. I liked it so much I decided to come back and brought my family along too. We stayed for 5 nights in August in a 2 bed Ocean view Suite. The room had everything we needed and was extremely spacious. The food at the on site restaurants was good but overpriced in my opinion. They know they have a captive market and the pricing reflects that. Service staff were all lovely and very attentive and accommodating, could not fault them. It’s a lovely resort and we had a great holiday however the front desk team and their interaction with guests needs to improve. We arrived at the resort at 12pm and check in time is 4pm. The reception staff said they would call us when our room was ready however they did not offer us a temporary room or anything complimentary whilst we waited. We finally got our room at 5, the reception kept delaying the expected time it would take and later revealed that the previous occupants trashed the room. I wish they told me at the start that it would take a long time to get the room ready as I kept going back to them for updates. Normally this wouldn’t annoy me so much but the dismissive tone of the reception staff and lack of any customer service really annoyed me considering how expensive this resort is. A quick note on having a 4pm check in. It’s quite late but becoming more common. Other hotels will make their guests feel welcome no matter when they arrive as they understand guests come a long way and are usually tired after a long journey. Not this place though, they will make you feel like you ruined their day by asking when the room will be ready. The second thing that spoilt what was a great holiday was the front desk asking for payment on room charges. This hotel will call you every day to clear room charges that have built up with drinks and meals etc they will randomly stop your ability to charge things to your room and have you go to reception to pay. This is not like every other hotel I have stayed at around the world where you settle the bill at the end. It’s like an accountant is in charge of the guest experience and not hospitality professionals. Shocking for such a hugely expensive resort.

The resort itself is truly stunning: beautiful grounds, well-kept gardens, and a very nice, modern room. Unfortunately, that’s where the praise ends – overall, our stay was a huge disappointment, especially considering the price and what you’d expect from a so-called 5-star hotel. The problems start early in the morning at the beach: there are far too few sunbeds, and guests reserve them for hours without ever using them – while the hotel staff simply looks the other way. If you come a bit later, you’ll end up lying on your towel in the sand. Totally unacceptable for a resort of this category. Breakfast is another disaster. Long lines just to get a table, and once you finally sit down, you often have to find extra chairs yourself or even set the table to make room for the whole family. There is no relaxed start to the day and absolutely no 5-star atmosphere – pure mass catering and this for over € 100 for the whole family per day! The Kids Club can only be booked 24 hours in advance and comes with an extra charge – quite disappointing for a hotel that advertises itself as family-friendly. The only heated pool can only be used if you wear a swimming cap. If you don’t have one, you’re forced to buy one at a ridiculous price. In general, almost everything costs extra here – hardly anything is included in the room rate. To top it all off, guests are expected to carry their own luggage to and from the car during check-in and check-out – so much for service. And at the end of your stay, you’re “rewarded” with a so-called resort fee of €20 per day. Thank you so much! Bottom line: Beautiful location, beautiful hotel – but when it comes to service, organization, and value for money, this place completely fails. We will definitely never return!