Pedras d'El Rei

COCKROACHES STAY AWAY!!! WORST APARTMENT I HAVE EVER STAYED AWAY!! Firstly the reception where you check in and the apartment are 10+ mins walk which feels forever in the heat and luggage…Then there is no wifi, the host in not reachable… so your in for a scam… Moving on the whole apartment is dusty and dirty… mattess smelt like damp terrible if you have respiratory conditions like myself . no toilet roll. Shower all clogged up. It says sleep for 3 but its actually a small room and the cupboard im that room is used as a cleaner cupboard… The corridor cupboard is for the other 2 sleepers.. which is near to decent. my black suitcase bag got dirty when placed on the table… the locks are broken.. then you have lots of surprises like mosquitoes and cockroaches to join you sleep.. We were meant to stay 5 nights we ended up staying 1.. cockroaches was the last straw… we paid more money to move to another hotel as host was not responsive… Lets hope lastminute.com take our complaint seriously and shut this host from hosting

A lovely location let down by terrible standards. The accommodation was grim and very dated. It was badly equipped without things like kettles, corkscrews, hairdryer, scissors etc. We saw rats circling the properties which was probably due to the overfilled rubbish bins which were not emptied regularly. The food in the main eating area was awful. The chips, which come with most meals, were easily the worst chips I have ever seen, they had no potato in them, they were like poor quality crisps. This place is ultimately let down by its leadership and management, there is a lack of staff in some busy areas like the bar (only one bar attender) and the restaurant. We loved our holiday in Portugal and met so many friendly Portuguese until we arrived here.

After a day or so staying here, you pickup a theme that this place just needs a big chunk of investment. The villas are rather run down and not matching the decor on the TUI site. Lots of little bodge repairs with exposed mains, lights fittings hanging on by 1 of the 4 screws, missing cupboard doors etc. some of the pictures are also of an unrelated restaurant business down by the beach. The beds themselves are terribly soft and uncomfortable and the “sofa” is just a single bed with two pillows. Unlike other guests, we were lucky enough to get aircon but only on one floor. Would have been unbearably hot for anyone without this! While the cooker was obviously a recent replacement, the kitchen utensils aren’t complete. No bowls, no coffee jug, no kettle, no tumblers or wine glasses, corkscrew not the right size to extract a cork etc. the list goes on. If you’re looking to have breakfast or an evening meal in the villa, you’ll struggle. The pool itself is a lovely temperature but very cloudy and remained so all week. Looks like the filter isn’t up to the job at hand and needs upgrading. While there’s a lovely area for lounging round the pool, there’s a chronic shortage of seats and parasols. You really need to be at the pool before 9:30 to reserve a parasol or you won’t get one all day. There’s easily enough space to triple the number of loungers and parasols and each day you see a steady stream of disappointed faces looking for shade. Some other reviewers have mentioned paying for loungers. This is no longer the case but you need someone to be poolside when they setup and unlock the loungers. The Nora eating area serves basic food but be prepared for a really long wait for service. The staff don’t seem to scan the room so you’re best off walking up to the bar to order and pay. Overall, I think we were lucky with the room and looking at other reviews and pics, I can understand guests frustration and it could have been worse. As a family, we enjoyed the week and learned how to work around the issues but it’s not somewhere I’d recommend and won’t be coming back. We’ve been to similarly priced accommodation in the Algarve on previous years so it’s definitely possible to get better value for your money