Name: Pine Cliffs Ocean Suites
Address: Praia de Falesia P.O Box 644, ALBUFEIRA, ALBUFEIRA, 8200-909, Portugal
Telephone: 00351289500102
Price range: from €1,126.50pp (7 nights includes flights and transfers)

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4pm check-in: the latest I've ever come across in decades of travelling. Puts a considerable dent in a weekend break. Another weird thing is the restaurant booking... couldn't get the concierge to pick up house phone, so called Switchboard and despite staying in the hotel (where they have my card) they send an email link to confirm booking...20 mins later... to tale a credit card... never before have so many hoops been jumped through to get a table....  Nice enough place, but pricey and 5 stars is a reach. The villas are nice, but we moved over from Four Seasons in Quinta and those are better and cheaper.

4pm check-in + convoluted restaurant booking process

The only reason we stayed at this resort was to attend an event held at this location.  We selected the "ocean suites," because we thought it would be a step up from regular hotel accommodations.  However, we do not consider these items to be luxury:
1. Scratchy, overused bath towels (although they were oversized);
2. A shower that backed-up twice and flooded the room;
3. Very limited offerings of daily bottled water and cream for coffee;
4. A hairdryer that did not last the entire stay and had to be replaced;
5. Intermittent TV reception (blinking off/on);
6. A clock with the wrong time (finally fixed after the 2nd request);
7. Non response staff when calling for ice (waited 3 days in a row); 
8. A phone that did not work (staff said they called the room but the phone never rang nor was a message left.  While this resulted in not getting 2 wake-up calls, staff did at least knock on the door); 
9. Very poor lighting in the bathroom for make-up;
10. The mini fridge was barely cold; and
11. Most of the staff were not bilingual which was very surprising for a supposed 5* Marriott luxury resort.

The room itself was inefficient and very unsafe for seniors or anyone with mobility issues.  The shower floor was highly polished and slippery; there were no grab bars in it either. The bathroom vanity had very limited counter space, being unnecessarily taken up by 2 large sink bowls (not to mention the large and unused tub). You had to almost lay on the floor to use the shelf "under the bathroom sink," to access your personal items.  (Also had to request an extension cord to use the hairdryer in the bathroom.) The overall living space in the room was just as inefficient: there was not enough counter space or drawer accessibility.

The best parts of this room were the pillows, quiet and responsive AC unit, and room darkening curtains (particularly after a long flight).  But, even with that, the handle to adjust the curtains came apart, and these few positives hardly qualify for 5*.

As far as experience with the resort overall:
1.  Most surfaces were far too highly polished and slippery for older adults.  Also, there are many areas with steps not clearly marked that make it more challenging for seniors.  Room corridors were exceptionally long and industrial looking; the resort itself from Ocean Suites to the Hotel was extensive and confusing.
2. If you are not a golfer, there is not much to do here.
3. The complimentary breakfast was relatively good and varied, although the potatoes were always cold and the sausages cool and rubber-like. The 3 restaurants we tried for dinner were overpriced and just good --- nothing exceptional or 5* quality.
Many of the local taxi drivers told us there were better places than this and that were truly luxury.

Lastly, and what really made an impression upon us, was that critical documents were missing from our room while we were out for a few hours on our 2nd night's stay.  When we reported it to management that night and asked for an inquiry ASAP to determine if they were mistakenly discarded (so we could retrieve them from the trash), they stated they understood our grave concern and would let us know ASAP. However, after not receiving any response for 2 days, and then asking for upper management, we were told they could not reveal the details of their "investigation."  (We could not understand the unnecessary delayed response since they had records of the times our room was entered with our passkey, and could simply question the turn down staff.) Of course, by the time they did respond, it was far too late for any possible retrieval and their only suggestion was for us to fill out a police report.  

Needless to say, that our supposed to be relaxing vacation was already hampered by the missing documents and management's lack of timely response. Trying to complete a police report when we don't speak Portugese, would only waste more of our time and would not produce our documents (all sensitive financial and critical travel information).

All in all, we would not return to this establishment.  We would take the advice of various locals and other tourists and book elsewhere for better service, accommodations, and price.

Their Definition of "Luxury" May be Quite Different than Your Own

We’ve just come back from a 4-day break at Pine Cliffs. I was expecting 5-star luxury, but it was 3–4 at best.

The positives:
	•	Breakfast had many, many options and was delicious.
	•	The housekeeping and customer service teams were very quick when responding to any room requests.
	•	The spa was included for resort guests. A lot of Marriotts we’ve stayed in charge extra for it.

The negatives:
	•	No outdoor heated pool, except for a tiny one right next to the car park and kids’ club. No one wants to go into an ice-cold pool, regardless of how hot it is.
	•	The spa itself was lovely, but the staff need to be more visible to ensure people are following the rules. On three separate occasions, I saw three different men strutting around naked—in the open experience shower (twice), and once in the sauna—with everything on show. Not what I want to see when trying to relax, and it made me feel very uncomfortable.
	•	Some staff members were quite rude and seemed only interested in trying to get extra money.
First of all, as a Titanium member, you expect to be given one of the nicer rooms in a quiet area when available—especially when using our well-earned Elite Reward Nights. The original room we were given was next to a restaurant, with a lovely noisy view of the car park and kids’ club. When we mentioned we had used our Elite Nights and selected a few different room categories, we were told that they were full and the only other option was an upgrade to a 2-bedroom suite at an additional cost. (We had already selected the 2-bed as one of the upgrade options with the Elite Nights, so we didn’t feel it should carry an extra fee.)
After demanding to speak to the general manager, they managed to move us to a quieter room in the same category we were originally given. Why couldn’t they have done this in the first place?
Additionally, the night before check-out, we confirmed a late check-out of 6 p.m. due to our late flight. We spent the day exploring and enjoying ourselves, but when we returned, I noticed a missed call. This was at 4 p.m.—they wanted to know why we hadn’t checked out. When I explained we had agreed on a late check-out, they told me there would be an extra cost and only backed off when I showed proof. This made me and my husband feel ambushed, and again, like they were only after more money.
	•	Lastly, I feel there could be a bit more to do around the hotel—activities, music, anything. It just felt more like a serviced apartment than a luxury five-star hotel.

Has potential but lacking luxury

Fantastic property & great room! We stayed in a suite which had a fully stocked kitchen and lots of space. 

We were golfing in the area and the local course is in nice shape. It’s not much of a “deal” for staying on the property, 10€ off.  They charge for balls in the range.  It’s one of the reasons we decided to stay.  I would not stay again for the golf but I would for the hotel service & beach.

February visit

We liked the Pine Cliffs Ocean Suites so much we moved over to their Pine Cliffs Residence to plan for future long-term winter stays. See the attached photos which tell the story better than words: location, the cliffs, Falesia beach, and so much more!

Thanks to Marcelo, Riccardo, the two Paolos, and Carlos.

Unfortunately, photos are limited to 50.

Excellent experience...

This lovely hotel is located in Albufeira. The premises count with 76 welcoming guests rooms. 

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