We are just back from the Vila Gale Ampalius.Overall we thouroughly enjoyed our stay. The hotel was impressive with modern d?cor,v.friendly staff, a nice big pool,good food, and GORGEOUS cocktails and toasted sandwiches.Also, the shops to the left of the reception area has british papers and magazines which was nice.We did see a cockroach however, and alerted staff and they stood on it!! The beach is in a good location, it is right on the beach and a short walking distance to the town. Some restaurants i would reccomend: Dom Miguels, have EXCELLENT staff(this is across from McDonalds), Pizza Hut, The Mayflower, and the ledgendary haagen Daz ice cream parlour! Some shops i would recommend:Sooner or later, Rafthi, Atlantic Sud, and the jewellery shops at the far side of the marina. I would recommend asking the hotel to order a taxi for people, as the company they use are very punctual, and travel in mercedes! The only bad things i found on the holiday were: the price of a sunbed on the beach for half a day(this is the minimum amount of time) of 12?, the reservation of the sunbeds at around 7 in the morning at the pool, which were covered with towels and in some cases the people didn't turn up until at least 3 o clock that day!And finally the RACKET that came from the Nikki beach. It is an all night club, which blasts out music all night.Our room was facing it, so we really had the brunt of it. But if you put on the air con, and close the balcony it does help a bit. I would most definitely return however, and recommend it to anyone.

We normally visit the hotel in February and October,but this year we decided to visit in May.The hotel attracts lots of residents who are golfers.In the past this has not been a problem at all.However ,we were very disappointed in the loutish behavoiur of some golfers during our last holiday.We were woken up most mornings between 3.00-6.00 am when drunken,loutish golfers were returning from their nights out.They showed no consideration for fellow guests.Breakfast time was not a pleasant and relaxed affair ,spoilt by golfers who were loudly bragging about their exploits on and off the golf courses.Each evening we went to eat out around the Marina and the yobbish golfers spoilt the ambiance by their shouting and drunken behaviour.Football supporters get a bad press for their behaviour but I am sorry to say that Vilamoura was spoilt for us by golfing yobs.Could it be that the gentlemen of golf avoid the summer months?

We stayed there for 4 nights. The hotel was very nice, the food was fantastic and the room was clean. The location couldn’t be better for both beach and Vilamoura. Unfortunately our stay was ruined by the noise from Nikki Beach, an outdoor nightclub that has recently opened literally opposite the hotel in the grounds of the adjacent Tivoli Marinotel pumping out loud dance music until past 2am every night and until about 5am on Friday night. Admittedly our room was facing Nikki Beach, but most of the rooms are, and all the rooms with a view to the beach will be affected by the noise. We did complain to the manager at Nikki beach, but they informed us they do have a license until 2am (which they seem to ignore). Basically, the hotel is great, but if you’re hoping to go to sleep before 3am don’t stay at this hotel. The noise was incredibly intrusive and relentless.

This was our third consecutive year at the hotel and once again we had a lovely time. We had a super room with spectacular views. There was everything you could wish for on the breakfast buffet - we also pre-booked three evening meals and felt these were value for the price we paid. We found all the staff extremely pleasant and helpful. The hotel is immaculately clean. Our very small complaints are the number of towels already on the sunbeds early morning and the temperature of the water in the pool - mostly very cold! The location of the hotel is perfect, the only change this year to spoil the peace is the new Nikki Beach Club straight opposite which plays loud music every evening (we could usually just hear the base beat throbbing) despite there being hardly anyone in there for the majority of the time.