Agua Hotels Vale da Lapa

We had a fantastic week at Vale da Lapa. We were a little unsure about staying because we couldn’t find much information about the resort online. It was so good, we didn’t need to worry.

The villa was enormous. We had a 2 bed villa and the living space was huge. Really comfortable beds, a full kitchen with dishwasher and washing machine. Fabulous bathrooms and it was all spotless. The housekeepers came daily to change towels and clean.

The pool was much bigger than in the pictures, the indoor pool is semi indoor as the roof slides open. We didn’t have a problem finding a sunbed. Even at busy times of day there were always sunbeds available. Only a few people put towels to reserve but it wasn’t necessary at all.

The pool bar has a good selection of drinks and food which is brought to your sunbed. It’s the same menu as the restaurant bar.

The villas are set in beautiful gardens and actually feel private. We slept really well it was so quiet and the metal shutters on all the windows totally block all light.

The restaurant food is an amazing, so fresh and tasty. There is a set à la carte menu for each weekday. At the weekends it’s a buffet, but very high quality. Breakfast is a buffet and plenty of hot and cold food, drinks. It is held in the reception area which is a little odd, but you get used to it. You eat in the restaurant which is just through the door.

Reception staff were so helpful, always on the end of a phone. They use WhatsApp to communicate and it works so well. We always had a quick response.

A very restful week, amazing staff. Special thanks to Peres and Rui in the restaurant and Victoria in the spa.

A quiet and peaceful resort that felt safe and proper. The villa was large and spacious, and the garden and pool area felt very private. Nice bathrooms and air conditioning in every room, which was easy to operate. The housekeeping was impeccable. Almost all the staff members we met were pleasant and helpful.

There seemed to be plenty of space around the communal pools, and the atmosphere was great.The beds are firm, which is common in this part of Europe. The only thing we wished was different with the layout of the house was the master bedroom, which was on an open loft and lacked privacy.

The spa was nothing to write home about. We received an okay treatment, but it did not feel professional and didn’t tempt us to go back.

We bought groceries at a larger supermarket for self-catering, but we also ordered food delivered directly to our door via Uber, which was very easy and convenient.

Our airport transfer picked us up right by the villa. Since we had an early morning departure, the reception arranged for the driver to bring us lunch boxes with food and drinks. A very nice touch!

We go away once a year for 10 days as a family, and we save all year to afford it, so I wanted to write an honest review that addresses some of the shortfalls this resort’s mostly-positive reviews don’t mention. The good The accommodation itself is excellent. Housekeeping does a brilliant job, the kitchen is fully equipped for self-catering, there are two lovely outdoor seating areas, comfortable beds, TVs in every room, and good Wi-Fi. Uber in the area is cheap and reliable, making it easy and affordable to explore. The not-so-good Beyond the accommodation, the resort feels more like a three-star property. The grounds are pleasant but scruffy in places, and the pool area is dated. The pool flooring and steps are genuinely dangerous — I came away with cut feet. The resort is also too small for the number of guests, so the pool area fills up almost immediately unless you reserve a sun lounger at dawn, which shouldn’t be necessary at a resort of this standard. Check-in was a low point. After 12 hours of travel from the UK, we were told our room wasn’t ready and were pointed toward the pool area — but with all our luggage, there was nowhere for us to sit. The restaurant was closed for cleaning and we weren’t allowed in there either. For a self-described five-star resort, this needs far better thought given that guests arrive at all hours of the day. Breakfast was another disappointment — style over substance. We were given small side plates instead of proper dinner plates, so food kept falling off as we tried to eat. When I raised this with the guest relations manager, I was simply told it was “the hotel’s decision” and part of their style. The buffet setup didn’t help either: nowhere to rest your plate while serving hot food, and flimsy wooden tongs that made it hard to pick anything up. The coffee was undrinkable. Staff were clearly overrun, and at check-in we were required to lock in a fixed daily breakfast timeslot for the entire holiday — not exactly relaxing when you’d occasionally like a lie-in. That said, the food and beverage team were clearly working hard under pressure, and we felt for them. We ate dinner at the resort once — an Italian buffet with odd choices and food that wasn’t very good. More concerningly, the hot food was being held below 63°C, a temperature at which bacteria can grow. I photographed it and raised it with guest relations, who said they’d pass it on to the kitchen, but nothing changed. The biggest issue was the kids’ club. We’d booked through Jet2 based on their advertising that children aged 4–12 could use the club unsupervised. On arrival we were told any child under 6 needed a parent present — which defeated the point of the club, since as parents we look forward to that hour or two of peace each day. It took four and a half days of arguing, texts, and phone calls before we finally got a meeting with the general manager, who admitted the resort had submitted incorrect information to Jet2 and agreed to honour unsupervised access for the rest of our stay. Those first four and a half days spent fighting to get this resolved genuinely ruined a chunk of our holiday. Overall Without the kids’ club issue, I’d have rated this a 3 — average, which is where I think this resort sits overall. I’m writing such a candid review because we all rely on TripAdvisor for reassurance before booking. If you’re heading to the Algarve and want a well-located base with plenty to do nearby, this could work — but I wouldn’t rely on the hotel’s facilities. Next time, we’d go self-catering only. We are currently seeking compensation from Jet2