Pestana Delfim Hotel

2 readers found this review helpful

a great place! Have gone there for the past 20 years with my family. sad od the possibility of it closing

This was our 3rd visit to the Delfim and we would certainly return although for a 4* hotel we feel that the decor of our room requires updating. Such as :-bathroom grouting discoloured, Bathroom door damaged, Bedside table damaged - all minor points but not expected from a 4* hotel. The standard of cleanliness was excellent, our maid was very friendly, helpful and polite. The pool area was continually being cleaned and monitored by the staff and the facility of providing clean towels for use at the excellent beach(short walk through grounds) or pool area is a great idea. The hotel bar is a rip off with a small bottle of lemonade costing 2.50 Euros so we only had 1 drink there after a night out in the town. Again we had excellent meals at the Aldente (Sole Fillets), Phoenix for great English food at a reasonable price and the Mexican for their chicken Fajitas. Also there are numerous restaurants at the harbour providing great BBQ fish dishes. We are a fit couple and found the walk to and from Alvor center comfortable but I think most couples would find it too far, approx 20mins, taxi fare is 6 euros one way and a final comment would be tansfer time - Approx 2 hours as Alvor seems to be the final point on multiple pick ups.

3 readers found this review helpful

I love this hotel ...i lived here for 6 months while i was a Thomas Cook rep and could not speak highly enough of it reception staff are so kind and any troubles you have they are always willing to help, entertainment team are great and so full of energy! the food is lovley with a wide varitey of food and the room was cleaned every other day, i love this place and everyone there, i will be going back to see all my old reps and to see the hotelstaff. great hotel. x

2 readers found this review helpful

Overall we enjoyed our stay at the hotel, the rooms were clean and we had a lovely view from the balcony. Just a few concerns you may like to know; don't try and use the lifts from 8.30 to around 9.30 as everyone is trying to go down for breakfast at that time, and if you're on one of the top floors, it's a long walk down! Also we found the fresh water pool dirty in August, hence my youngest son contracted the Giardia parasite we think from the pool and unfortunately still has it 3 months later (Nov 07)!
The hotel is on the top of the hill so it's fine for able bodied people to walk to the town and back, unfortunately, my eldest son has walking problems so it became expensive having to catch taxi's in and out of the town all the time. So if you have walking problems this hotel is probably not for you unless you're loaded! The food in the hotel to buy was not cheap either, but I suppose that's to be expected.
The plus side, you're right on the beach which was lovely and Alvor town is really pretty.

3 readers found this review helpful

My boyfriend and I stayed at the Pestana Delfim Hotel in Alvor for one week from the 26th July – 2nd August 2007 on a half-board basis.
Our room was fantastic. The room and the bathroom were very clean; both were very well designed and decorated. We each had our own sinks in the bathroom, and the bathtub/shower area even had its own fancy lighting.
Before our holiday, we contacted the hotel to request a room with a double bed as opposed to a room with twin beds, and thankfully the hotel did arrange this for us. The staff were very helpful. We did not arrange a room with a sea view but luckily we were on the 10th floor and we could still see the sea from our balcony.
We both enjoyed our breakfasts and dinners in the hotel. The menus are pretty similar day to day but the hotel provides a wide range of different foods each time. Unfortunately though, our half-board basis did not cover our drinks at dinner time.
The hotel has four lifts. However, two of the lifts are only accessible from the basement and the ground floor. So, the two other lifts were pretty crowded at breakfast time.
It was very hot during our stay in the Algarve, so we arranged to have a fridge put in our room at a fixed cost of just 15€.
The hotel provides a path that leads straight to the beach. However, sections of the path nearer to the beach are not paved down, and the path is quite steep. But the beach there is so beautiful. The beach stretched out so far, there is enough space for everyone.
The majority of the guests in the hotel were families and older couples, so nights were peaceful in the hotel. However, one night during our stay there, my boyfriend was kept up by the slamming of doors, but luckily I slept through it all.
The hotel also provides a courtesy bus to Portimao. The bus arrives at the hotel at 9:45am, and there are two times the bus brings guests back to the hotel.
Portimao is a place where the locals do their shopping. There is a mixture of shops selling souvenirs, clothes, shoes, food, and household utensils. There is also a selection of different restaurants to choose from. There is also a local church, and a walk-through fountain, which many walked through to cool themselves down.
The Alvor Village is about 15-20 minutes walk from the hotel. The route to the village is simple with just one road leading straight to the village. However, part of the road has no pavement, and with no shade, it was hard walking up the road at such hot temperatures. Also, the road does not have any street lighting, so walking to the village in the evening is difficult.
The Alvor Village has a wide selection of shops and restaurants. The majority of the shops are souvenir shops and the restaurants serve a mixture of Portuguese and English Foods. There is even one Indian Restaurant in the village.
There is also a good availability of taxis outside the hotel. So if you miss the bus to Portimao or don’t want to walk to the Alvor Village, taxis are always available to take you there.
During our stay in the Algarve, we went on two excursions arranged by Thomson.
We first went to Zoomarine in Albufeira, where we saw sharks in an aquarium; and dolphins, seals, seal-lions, and birds performing in shows. There is also a swimming pool to cool out in. It was an enjoyable day-out and great for families.
We also went on a 4x4 day trip to the mountains of Monchique. We experienced off-the-road driving and learnt about cork trees and the making of honey and firewater, and even got to sample the honey and firewater. For lunch we were taken to a restaurant to have the traditional “Piri-Piri Chicken”. It was also a great day out.
Our flight back to London was late at night. The hotel provides a late checkout service, but charge 100€ for it. Luckily, the hotel also has a storage area behind the reception desk where suitcases can be stored.
We enjoyed our holiday and our stay in the hotel very much and would definitely stay in the hotel again. We recommend this hotel to families and couples.

1 reader found this review helpful

My boyfriend and I stayed at the Pestana Delfim Hotel in Alvor for one week from the 26th July – 2nd August 2007 on a half-board basis.
Our room was fantastic. The room and the bathroom were very clean; both were very well designed and decorated. We each had our own sinks in the bathroom, and the bathtub/shower area even had its own fancy lighting.
Before our holiday, we contacted the hotel to request a room with a double bed as opposed to a room with twin beds, and thankfully the hotel did arrange this for us. The staff were very helpful. We did not arrange a room with a sea view but luckily we were on the 10th floor and we could still see the sea from our balcony.
We both enjoyed our breakfasts and dinners in the hotel. The menus are pretty similar day to day but the hotel provides a wide range of different foods each time. Unfortunately though, our half-board basis did not cover our drinks at dinner time.
The hotel has four lifts. However, two of the lifts are only accessible from the basement and the ground floor. So, the two other lifts were pretty crowded at breakfast time.
It was very hot during our stay in the Algarve, so we arranged to have a fridge put in our room at a fixed cost of just 15€.
The hotel provides a path that leads straight to the beach. However, sections of the path nearer to the beach are not paved down, and the path is quite steep. But the beach there is so beautiful. The beach stretched out so far so there is enough space for everyone.
The majority of the guests in the hotel were families and older couples, so nights were peaceful in the hotel. However, one night during our stay there, my boyfriend was kept up by the slamming of doors, but luckily I slept through it all. :)
The hotel also provides a courtesy bus to Portimao. The bus arrives at the hotel at 9:45am, and there are two times the bus brings guests back to the hotel. Portimao is a place where the locals do their shopping. There is a mixture of shops selling souvenirs, clothes, shoes, food, and household utensils. There is also a selection of different restaurants to choose from. There is also a local church, and a walk-through fountain, which many walked through to cool themselves down.
The Alvor Village is about 15-20 minutes walk from the hotel. The route to the village is simple with just one road leading straight to the village. However, part of the road has no pavement, and with no shade, it was hard walking up the road at such hot temperatures. Also, the road does not have any street lighting, so walking to the village in the evening is difficult. The Alvor Village has a wide selection of shops and restaurants. The majority of the shops are souvenir shops and the restaurants serve a mixture of Portuguese and English Foods. There is even one Indian Restaurant in the village.
There is also a good availability of taxis outside the hotel. So if you miss the bus to Portimao or don’t want to walk to the Alvor Village, taxis are always available to take you there.
During our stay in the Algarve, we went on two excursions arranged by Thomson. We first went to Zoomarine in Albufeira, where we saw sharks in an aquarium; and dolphins, seals, seal-lions, and birds performing in shows. There is also a swimming pool to cool out in. It was an enjoyable day-out and great for families. We also went on a 4x4 day trip to the mountains of Monchique. We experienced off-the-road driving and learnt about cork trees and the making of honey and firewater, and even got to sample the honey and firewater. For lunch we were taken to a restaurant to have the traditional “Piri-Piri Chicken”. It was also a great day out.
Our flight back to London was late at night. The hotel provides a late checkout service, but charge 100€ for it. Luckily, the hotel also has a storage area behind the reception desk where suitcases can be stored.
We enjoyed our holiday and our stay in the hotel very much and would definitely stay in the hotel again. We recommend this hotel to families and couples.

This was the third time we have stayed at this hotel and yet again we thoroughly enjoyed it. The seaview rooms are lovely and spacious, the cleanliness excellent and they also have lovely bathrooms with mood lighting. The views from the balcony are great (especially from the 16th floor).
There have been 2 new lifts installed since last year and all four lifts were working.
The staff are helpful and friendly. The grounds of the hotel are spotless clean and the gardens very attractive.
The food is very good. There is always plenty of choice and if you don't like the menu you can always ask at reception for a voucher to eat in the Dom Joao Hotel (sister hotel), about a 5-10 minute walk away.
The hotel offers a courtesy bus to Portimao and reception has details of the times.
Alvor itself is still a typical fishing village with a lot of character and if you see any stray dogs they are usually extremely friendly (the friendliest dogs I have ever met, particularly a small cream dog called Sandy, who has been in Alvor for years).
For anyone who likes walking this area is great. Beach walks, cliff walks and walks up the river. We never use to return to the same resort, as there are so many places in the World to visit, however the Delfim Hotel and Alvor tick all our boxes and hopefully we will be back again soon.

Myself and my 2 yr old daughter went in December for a relaxing week to spend quality time together.
The Hotel catered for our every need. The bar staff would heat up her bottles every night without asking for payment. The staff are great with children.
Room was lovely and view was amazing. I would love to return in the summer and enjoy the pool area more as it was too cold to enjoy in December.
They had a playground and lovely green area for children to run about in also tennis courts and indoor play area.
After all this luxury I was expecting an indoor swimming pool but it was quiet small but all the same we enjoyed splashing about.
Can’t wait to return.
The food was lovely and the staff catered for my daughter, who ate weetabix with hot milk every morning. By the middle of the week the staff had it ready for us when we arrived down to the breakfast table!!

My wife and I stayed at this hotel for one week in July 06. Our first impressions of this hotel were very good and although we enjoyed our holiday there were a few minor problems we encountered.
As soon as we arrived at our room (reception staff and porter were very efficient) we heard the sound of the lift next door to our room. This was sometimes annoying especially in the middle of the night. As stated before only two of the 4 lifts were operational and by the sound of these soon no lifts will be working! With 16 floors obviously these were in great demand and often took a while to arrive.
We arrived near to the end of the dinner serving on our first night so didn't get the best choice of food but to be honest the overall standard/choice of food can only be described as average throughout our stay.
One tip we will give is don't drink in the Hotel bars! We wondered why they seemed so quiet and after going into Alvor one night we realised why. Hotel price - Large Beer & Vodka and Coke 9 euros 40! In Alvor the same drinks were between 5 & 7 euros!
Get a Taxi into Alvor (reasonably cheap) or walk. Plenty of bars in town and would recommend the main street up from life boat station and Michael's bar (near Taxi rank).
The general up keep of the hotel is good but we did get the "sewage smell" once or twice. The view was very nice from the room and the pool, gardens and beach were very nice although a concession on the sun loungers on the beach would have been nice (2 x sun loungers and sun shade 10 euros per day) The staff were all very helpful and all spoke good English.
Overall though we did enjoy our week of relaxation in the sun and would probably return to Alvor in the future.

Whilst we had a lovely holiday in Alvor, and especially enjoyed eating at the Galeria restaurant in the town (5 stars!!!), the hotel accommodation we found was somewhat lacking. The food can only be described as mediocre, the buffet breakfast was very nondescript. The hotel had only one lift working the whole week we were there, which caused much inconvenience, considering there are 15 floors!!
There was a dreadful smell of sewage outside the hotel, by the pool, and on the way down to the beach, this was also smelled in the hotel on occasion, not very pleasant at all.
The staff were helpful, the pool was nice, but the hotel does not live up to a 4 star reputation.