Vila Petra Aparthotel

“Can't really fault it!”

This was 2nd time staying here, and I just really like it. Apartments are clean and spacious. Hotel grounds are beautiful and well maintained. Pool area has nice chilled vibe. Good location. Staff friendly. No complaints at all! 👌

“A week in Late March”

We stayed at the Vila Petra for a week in late March. The hotel, rooms and grounds are all spotless. We ate in the bar once, the food and service were both very good. The drinks in the bar are reasonably priced especially during happy hour! As some others have commented, noise does travel between r… more

We stayed at the Vila Petra for a week in late March. The hotel, rooms and grounds are all spotless. We ate in the bar once, the food and service were both very good. The drinks in the bar are reasonably priced especially during happy hour! As some others have commented, noise does travel between rooms. This didn’t affect our sleep or enjoyment. I would definitely use this hotel again.

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“Beautiful hotel, with room to improve”

Beautiful hotel, spotlessly clean. Our 2-bed room was very spacious, comfortable and quiet. The breakfast was delicious but the hot food was only lukewarm. The outdoor pool is large and clean, and the indoor pool and jacuzzi are very handy for colder days. The kids club offers activities for kids… more

Beautiful hotel, spotlessly clean. Our 2-bed room was very spacious, comfortable and quiet. The breakfast was delicious but the hot food was only lukewarm. The outdoor pool is large and clean, and the indoor pool and jacuzzi are very handy for colder days. The kids club offers activities for kids such as French bowls, pickleball etc. And there is family entertainment in the bar in the evening. The hotel was about half full when we were there, and there were no noise issues. There were, sadly, a couple of issues which affected our experience. Firstly, my 9yr old son went to reception to report that a game in the games room had swallowed his money without letting him play the game. The receptionist, an older woman with grey hair and glasses, frowned at him, waved her finger at him and told him "don't do it again", right in front of me. As you might imagine, I wasn't happy with her. She did give him his money back, after I defended him. Secondly, the indoor pool has rules including, no playing with a ball, including an inflatable ball. These rules are monitored very strictly by the woman in charge of the gym. This not a criticism, but simply to make people aware that this was a problem for our two boys. One criticism I do have however is, sadly, to do with staffing again. We hired rackets for the squash court. When we returned them, the woman in charge if the gym, an older woman with brown curly hair, accused my son of damaging one of them. Again, I was astonished that i had to defend my son, especially when she threatened to call the manager and charge me for a new racket. These incidents, involving senior members of staff, were unnecessary and could have been avoided with the application of some courtesy and proper customer service.

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“Honest review covering everything”

I’m fairly well travelled on the holiday scene and I enjoy nice hotels with quality food. I’ve started to write a lot of reviews to hopefully help others as my research is always done on Tripadvisor. We are a couple from Belfast and initially we were supposed to be going to Dubai, but after it wa… more

I’m fairly well travelled on the holiday scene and I enjoy nice hotels with quality food. I’ve started to write a lot of reviews to hopefully help others as my research is always done on Tripadvisor. We are a couple from Belfast and initially we were supposed to be going to Dubai, but after it was cancelled we ended up booking Vila Petra in Portugal as other family members were heading to the same hotel. Upon arrival to the hotel, the reception was pleasant and clean. You have to pay a tourist tax and then you get the room keys. There’s no concierge service, you’re basically given a key and pointed in the right direction which is grand. We got the one bedroom apartment. The room itself was the highlight of the holiday. It was very spacious and plenty of storage space. The kitchen had everything you needed. The living room was a great area which we used some evenings to relax and watch our shows. If you have kids with you, the 2 sofas turn into single beds. The bedroom is comfortable too. The bathroom was also good. The only criticism was that you could hear a lot of noise in apartments above and either side of you, and also in the corridor outside the bedroom window. As the hotel is mostly for families the noise died down after 11pm and started again around 7.30am. Although there was a few times we heard children up during the night, which did waken us. We went for bed and breakfast. To be honest the breakfast is very basic, and in our experience cold. We had it 3 mornings but then just ended up making our own. It wasn’t great and felt like a 2/3 star breakfast. We ate in the restaurant one night, it was very average. Nice enough but you could have made a nicer meal yourself. There are plenty of amazing restaurants nearby too. There’s also a big Aldi if you want to get some groceries and cook yourself, it’s a massive store and has everything you’d need. The indoor bar closed at 12pm, it was decent enough but quite small. Nice selection of drinks. The pool bar was open at 12 noon, but one day the weather wasn’t amazing and it didn’t open at all, even when the sun came out. The pool area was great. Although the pool was very cold and not many people went in. The loungers were also quite uncomfortable. In saying that, the area itself was spacious and well maintained in fairness. Toilets were spotless. There’s also a nice play area and football court for the kids. The overall gardens and pathways were lovely and well kept too. The service from the staff in the bars, restaurants and reception was a bit odd. Yes they done the job but genuinely I don’t think any of them broke a smile. They didn’t seem to be overly happy and I think this is an area for improvement. My wife was carrying 4 coffees down one morning and slipped on the path, the coffees went everywhere. I went back to the bar with her to explain what happened, the staff member made us new ones, however we were charged again. We didn’t mention it but given the situation, I thought it was a bit poor. The local area (New Town/Strip) was quite rundown, however the hotel is far enough out of the way that it didn’t bother us. Most nights we got a €4 Uber into the Old Town, which was absolutely stunning. We both loved it. A lot more upmarket with excellent choices for restaurants and bars. Loved it. Overall a good trip with a lovely spacious apartment. My top tip would be to use the hotel as a base and cook in or eat out. For me the hotel is a 3*+. It was well priced in comparison to others and in that regard, it represented good value. As long as you know what you’re getting I would recommend it as a value option. I would return to the hotel.

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