VidaMar Resort Hotel Algarve

Arrived in morning & understood room would not be ready, until 4pm. Reception staff are not friendly and welcoming. At 3:30pm I asked if room would be ready now. After a lot of computer clicks and silence we was handed keys.. rooms are spacious. Old metal uncomfortable chairs on balcony, need replacing. Hardly relaxing comfort. The bed, must be a water proof sheets on bed as make so much noise when one moves.. large help self dining area. Outside area, but metal chairs covered in birds muck so was best to sit inside. Large swimming pool which was the appeal. Walk down the steps and the pool lining is lifting from floor. There was 2 unused areas vacant in the area looked rundown. What looked like a swim up bar was closed. Late afternoon was pool music for children at the loudest could be. If gangman style tune is your thing, head shoulder knees toes, never seen the pool area clear of people! Again, metal uncomfortable subbed. Totally need updating, most uncomfortable. Was an adults area to rent Balinese beds and comfortable sun lounges for 50 euro which in turn can be spent at the bar. The gentleman running this was the most friendly welcoming member of staff. Overall the place seemed run down particularly outside , you wondered whether it should be open. Such a shame on lack of comfort hospitality service

The VidaMar resort is a lovely place to bring a young family. The rooms are large and well laid out and cots/baths are provided for babies. They were cleaned to a high standard every day which was great. There are lots of highchairs available at meal times and children's food is provided (although we weren't aware of this until half way through!). The buffet food was nice but a bit repetitive. The variety at breakfast was excellent. The children's pools are not heated and very cold which means babies can't spend that long in there, which is a shame, but the outdoor area in general is lovely with grassy areas and wooden boards making it easy for little ones to play around the pool area safely. The 'baby corner' playroom was a bit disappointing - it was very warm in there with no air con and it only had a few old toys - I feel this could be much improved a simple soft-play area, or ball pit could make a lot of difference. We didn't use the kids club but it looked good. Security is very good with key cards required at all entrances and to the kids/baby rooms. Staff were mostly very friendly however on departure we were disappointed with the lack of interest and refusal to put our baby's milk in the fridge for the afternoon - it was as if once we had checked out they didn't care. We understand that food can't be stored but milk for babies is important, especially if it were breastmilk or formula. This was the only real disappointment. The resort has a great location right on the sandy beach and next to a lovely nature reserve with a lovely boardwalk which made it easy to explore with the pushchair. A couple of good supermarkets are in walking distance which was really handy. Overall we loved our week at VidaMar.

It is with much regret that I have to write this review.We had a 10 night stay at the Vidamar Hotel in Salgados, Algarve. The Star rating of 5* is a real let down, the hotel may appear to be 5*, but everything else falls very short of this rating.In comparison to another hotel we stayed at in the Algarve, also rated 5*, the Vidamar is way behind in every aspect. The service, price of food and drink, the qualiy of food and drink, the standard of room, the attentiveness of staff, the facilities on offer, selection of restaurants, the attention to detail in every aspect, lack of interaction of staff with guests, standards of guest dress when in the hotel reception area (men with no tops on), no complimentary water at the pool, no menus on show or available to review for the restaurants, sun loungers around the pool tired and in need of replacing, uneven surface around the pool (one elderly guest tripped and fell and no member of staff took any notice never mind help them) which a guest covered with a small table, the adult only area was not open (this was September, still quite hot for the time of year). It seemed to be that the resort decided to stick to thier seasonal timetable even although the weather was extraordinarily hot for the time of year. Surely as a hotel you would consider the guests and the exceptional weather and keep things open for the benifit of all.Within the hospitality industry it is important to make every guest feel special and welcome in your establishment, not an inconvenience and an extra obsticale in the day to day running of the hotel. Surely as a "5* resort" they would want to provide the best service and offer the maximum facilities that they can, regardless that it should be an area that is closed because of the time of year. With certain areas being closed the management missed out on the full package available to their guests. Surely gauge each day according to the weather and not a timetable, not a good management model at all.As dissapointed guests at an over rated and over priced resort we will not be returning as it is in it's current state. The resort did not feel 5* and everything else wasn't 5*, more like a fancy package holiday hotel.

Stayed here for the second time overall the holiday was very pleasant. Hotel is very clean, food very nice. Kids club fantastic as it is all included in the holiday and the entertainment also for the kids is excellent! Entertainment for the adults they have singers in the lobby and we got lucky with a fantastic dj and trumpet player by the pool on a Friday. Bar in the kids pool so if you fancy a drink you can watch your kids in the pool and play. The only thing we are not keen on is eating our evening meal in the restaurant as it can be really busy but I am sure that is just in high season so we opted to wait and eat outside which was very nice.

We've just come back from a weeks holiday and we can't wait to go back. The resort was amazing and my 2 girls age 6 & 3 loved it. The rooms, hotel, restaurants, pools etc were so clean and nice. The staff were amazing and always happy to help. The kids club was fantastic and the evening shows for the kids were excellent. The staff at the kids club put in so much effort with the kids. The food was really good and there was lots of choice. The beach is only a short walk away and its very clean and nice. The spa on the ground floor is amazing. My wife and I both had treatments and the staff there was fantastic.