Vila Gale Ampalius Hotel

If you are not on the coach with a tour company - the taxi costs 28 Euros for a normal car and 30 Euros for a BMW or Mercedes from the airport.
Our taxi driver asked 36 euros - fortunately was able to point to the board on which the fares are printed - so look at this before you jump in. We paid E28 for the most hair-raising drive that we have ever been on.... one handed mobile talking at 110K. Scary.
Just glad to be alive at the end of it. You can order a taxi in advance over the net for E28 or via the hotel for E30 and hopefully this would ensure that you don't get a cowboy.
The Vila Gala Ampalius is the usual European 4-star, which basically means a British 3.5 star.
It's very clean but the hotel lets people keep on their rooms for an extra half day or so - so you can't have access to your room until around 2.30pm /3 o'clock.. We saw one rude German would-be guest still complaining at 5pm. So be warned. And be extra nice to the poor reception staff who have to keep everyone at bay. It's not their fault -and if you are reasonable, you will get a decent room at around 3pm. I think that a few people had lost their tempers... as there seemed to be a lot of moving between rooms and always someone at the desk in a deep discussion about their room - or lack of it.
Hotels which actually put the child's bed in the bedroom before you arrive are in the minority - so expect the usual tussle about the missing bed at the Ampalius. Do not expect an extra glass for you child - as the maid said: 'No' - but you will get an extra towel. In fact the Ampalius is quite good for towels as they are provided via reception (get a card on arrival) for the pool. So if you are only staying for a week - just take 1 beach towel each. Towels in the room changed every day. Points for fluffiness of towels? 3/5.
You will also need a hair drier as it has the usual weak bathroom hair drier but you do get lots of soaps, shampoos and bath foams. The cleaning was very good but the sea view room which we had was very small with no storage, as there were only 3 drawers and a 10 hanger wardrobe, we didn't bother unpacking from cases. Apparently the side-sea view rooms are bigger but as I didn't see one- can't really be certain. Bathroom Ok. Bathroom mould count? Only a minor grey mould - not the black one, so not too bad.
Weak point is the dinner. Breakfasts are bearable - the usual skinny bacon with off-cold fried eggs but there is tons of fruit and cereals - and even porridge.
Dinners: The chef must have a cookbook called '101 Things to do with Pork' and the rest of the food is definitely 'Mum's gone to Iceland' standard - especially the gateaux. However, the Ampalius didn't have the angel Delight-type pink stuff that so many European Hotels seems to whizz up for their guests.
You can just about find something to eat most nights in the half-empty Ampalius but if I were staying at the hotel again, I would opt for B&B as there are plenty of restaurants at the Harbour, which is 5-10 minutes away.
Asked a waiter for a salt cellar that would pour and he proceeded to pick the salt out of ours with his nail after spitting on his finger in front of us! But the older waiters are all really good. Tip - swap you salt cellar with someone else's rather than ask for help.
And don't ask for a clean glass - a very keen waiter went and washed one in very hot water for me. Disconcerting as I was drinking cold iced water at the time.
The pool was well looked after, checked everyday, but it apparently takes 4 teenagers to hand out the towels (in the hut by the pool) and don't expect any help with the beds, which are always stacked overnight. They are quite heavy to move, as are the umbrella stands. You could try demanding help from the teenagers if not strong, but I wouldn't count on it.
However, the pool was a well-mannered one so we didn't have to dodge violent ball games. There is a small kids' pool and a larger adults' one.
The beach by the hotel is OK (a bit windy, which suited us) but all the sunshades nearest to the beach all appear to be booked. If you have children you won't be able to watch from your sunshade, as the beach shelves down - so you will have to sit on the edge of the shelf to watch them, which was annoying as there was no shade.
The sea wasn't that warm - even in August - and I wouldn't suggest it for small children, without an accompanying adult, as it wasn't calm. We could only see about 5/6 people swimming at any one time.
We only went on one trip. To the place where they have a dolphin show. (Zoomarine I think) You can buy tickets from the hotel, but they are slightly cheaper in the shop at the Harbour. The bus goes from a 2-minute walk from the hotel. It's much cheaper than taking a taxi and the bus fare is included in the ticket price.
Zoomarine was well worth the price of admission. It is very clean and the animals well cared for by the look of them. The Dolphins and 4-D cinema are a must. Amazing - although there was a half-hour queue at the cinema. We chose a Monday to go - it wasn't too crowded and didn't have to wait long on the other rides - not more than 5mins.
As for Vilamoura - think Mike Baldwin. Golf course everywhere. Lots of villas with high security windows and burglar alarms but very few people walking about. In fact very few people to be seen lounging around in their villa gardens. You can see round Vilamoura by taking a 4-euro ride on the little train (opp side of road from hotel). Don't expect a ticket - you get one when your get off. This is because you can get off and re-join the train later if you want to stop anywhere.
If you change money at reception - don't expect a receipt, they don't give them but they take E5 from every E100.
Was it worth it? Booked it quite cheaply, so yes, but disappointed with the evening food.