Porto Nova Hotel

My husband and I stayed here for a week on a B&B basis on a special deal. We found the hotel modern, very clean and comfortable if a little lacking in character. Breakfast was a typical international style with English and Continental, plenty to chose from. The juices were fresh which was a pleasant change from many a Mediterranean hotel we've stayed in. The hotel is on the top of a hill so easy to find, rather ugly to look at from the town centre but the roof top bar views were stunning. Sadly the bad doesn't seem to be open during the day. The Friday night BBQ disco was very noisy but otherwise the hotel was very quiet. We hired a car, there was a reasonably sized car park but we did have to park on the road outside a couple of times. Not a problem as there was plenty of parking. The centre of Tavira was a short stroll, downhill there is a series of steps but we found the best way was to go behind the church and down past the police station. There are lots of restaurants to chose from, we particularly liked the Chinese and the Tosca Abstracto. Be careful if sitting outside at night, I returned with 16 mosquito bites on my legs. Pool was little used but looked clean and inviting.

My husband and I stayed at Hotel Porta Nova from 13th to 21st September 2006. We took a bus from the airport Euro 1.45 to train station in Faro, then took the train to Tavira. Pleasant journey taking 1hr along the coast viewing the amazing birdlife, flamingoes, storks, herons. From Tavira station we took a taxi to the hotel, as we didn't know exactly where the hotel was located. However, we could have walked both from train and bus station to the hotel. Hotel Porta Nova is a lovely hotel, we were surprised, given how much we had paid for B/B, of the very high standard. The staff were friendly and helpful, our large double room overlooking the super swimming pools, was clean, bright and serviced daily.The breakfasts were plentiful with lots of choice, but we were pleased we hadn't booked All-Inclusive as there are so many good restaurants within easy walking distance of the hotel. The swimming pool has lots of comfortable sunbeds and plenty of shade, during our stay we only used the pool 3 times as we love the beach, but even so it was not crowded. The snack bar serves tasty food and the drinks are amazingly cheap. The panoramic bar on the top floor opens at 1900hrs and gives you wonderful views over Tavira and is a great location to watch the sun setting. Contrary to other reviews, we did not suffer any noise disturbance at any time. The hotel was occupied by Portugese families with pre-school children, some Spanish, a smattering of French and Swedish. The hotel offers a complimentary bus service to the ferry to take you to Isla de Tavira. However this finished on 15th September, we used it once, and then walked to the municipal ferry (10 mins away) and took that to the beaches Euro1.80 return - worth going just for the sights. The beaches are the best we have ever encountered - Caribbean, East Africa, Goa, Australia - eat your heart out - completely unspoiled. The only way to get to the beaches is by ferry, no cars allowed, and the only buildings are simple restaurants serving delicious food, a small campsite, a renovated tuna-fishing village housing more restaurants - these locations are 2 hours walk from each other. The weather was perfect, hot but tempered by a lovely breeze from the Atlantic. The rollers from the Atlantic were fantastic and great to swim, dive into. Beware, the beach does not offer any shade unless you hire a cabana/beach lounger - take your own umbrella - the beach is deserted at that time of year - ideal for naturists. Once the municipal ferry finished on 19th September (season over!) - we asked the Hotel Vila Galia if we could use their ferry - that too was Euro 1.80. The alternative is to get to 4 Aquas where the ferry runs all the year round, but as we didn't have a car it's a long way to walk - and the bus stops going there Sept 15. It's strange, the season was coming to an end whilst we were there, even though there were plenty of tourists, the weather was hot, hot 30degrees plus, so it's a shame that the ferry has to stop. It's only a 15 minute ride, but the ferry passes more bird santuaries, the salt flats (these are harvested in September) so there were piles of white mounds dotted around the waterways. Overall a great place to stay - Hotel Porta Nova is in a great location - three different roads (lanes) to take you into town (not steep) which is only a short walk away. We shall definitely return.

This hotel was lovely, and we stayed there for two weeks into July 2006. It is located half way between the town of Tavira town centre and the residential part. Although the poolside seemed quite empty at times, it was well looked after and was always clean. We spent most nights walking into the centre where they held outdoor concerts and plays, although the start time was around 10.30, I felt maybe it was a bit late for us, not participating in the siesta, which we should have ! The food in the hotel is quite varied and plenty of fresh fruit and lovely selection of desserts. The main meal was always hot and quite varied. We did eat out one night in the Castle area, where they serve beautiful set meals, and sat on the balcony, appreciating the lovely view over the main town. Travelling is quite cheap and easy, especially on the train. It is far better to book transport in the UK for transfer from airport to hotel, as taxi costs around $60 but booked before hand would be around $20. We booked our return journey through the hotel and travelling in a lovely minibus for $20 total. I would definately return to this hotel and to Tavira. I can understand the younger generation not being happy with the surroundings as there are no drinking bars as such, and no clubs. Younger ones would be better off going to Albuferia, which is only 30 mins away. Hope this will be of help to some of you thinking of going to Tavira ,, if you are late 40's to 50's and older, it is the place for you.

Just arrived back from a week at the Porta Nova. I was very reluctant to book it having read some poor reviews on this site, but the deal we got through expedia was so good I couldn't pass it up! (We went for the breakfast only option, though.) The hotel is about a 36 Euro taxi ride from Faro airport, and on first impressions seems very nice. The reception staff were exceptionally friendly with excellent English. Everything was explained clearly at check-in - 50 Euro deposit (via credit card imprint) for the TV remote which is returnable at check out (and which you don't need as you can change channels without it), 15 Euro deposit and 3 Euro per day charge for the room safe, charges for beach towels (bring your own) and the need for a key to the mini-bar. All standard European hotel stuff. We had rooms on the second floor directly above the bar and overlooking the pool. The room was immaculately clean and bright with a spacious balcony. The bathroom was also pristine and large. The floors are tiled throughout the rooms so be careful!! This obviously made for some noise from overhead neighbours shifting furniture, but nothing wothy of note. The corridors were carpeted and therefore no noise there except for a few merry folk returning to their rooms. I had neighbours on both sides of my room and didn't hear anything at all. On one occassion we heard music from the bar which kept us awake for only one hour (10pm to 11pm) so again not worthy of serious complaint. The keycards to the rooms are really sensitive - do not store in a handbag that contains a camera or phone or they won't work as I found out several times. The pool area was lovely and the pools at all times appeared clear and clean (but really cool!!). The sunbeds were really comfy with loads of parasols and tables. The pool bar was also good, serving the expected sunbathing food of sandwiches, chips and omlettes,etc. W.C. facilities at the pool also included showers - handy if you have to check out hours before your flight. The breakfast selection was impressive - fruits, cereals, breads, toast, croissants, eggs/bacon/beans, etc. This is where I take the point about the food temperature. The hot food was luke warm - a point obviously raised to the hotel as they have a sign informing guests that their food temperature complies with hot plate guidelines and that if you would like the food hotter speak to the staff. This didn't bother us too much at breakfast, but I wouldn't like to think the lunches and dinners would have the same problem - we didn't chance finding out. The hotel had a children's entertainer with an activity programme and an evening entertainment programme also. As we were there in september this was ending but presumably is up and running throughout the summer. The children there seemed overjoyed every day to see the children's entertainer, and she seemed to love them too -giving them lots of hugs which was lovely to watch. All the staff at the hotel seemed to love children, and had seemed to get to know many well with obvious fondness. Tavira is a quiet unspolit Portugese town - no Irish pubs or Brit bars. This is what we wanted, to stroll into town each evening (10min walk from hotel down that hill!) and end the night with an excellent meal and wine. The restaurants here are wonderful (one in particular - Aquasul - on a street parallel to the roman bridge on the hotel side - ask a local for directions) and very cheap. A taxi driver was telling us that Tavira prices are 40% less than in the large resorts of e.g. Albufeira. There is a little tourist train for 4 Euro which takes you around the sights of the town departing from the roman bridge. Apparently the hotel provides transport to the ferry terminal to take you to the beach at the height of the season but had stopped from September 15th. If you want a lively night Tavira is not for you!! The train station is on the opposite side of Tavira from the hotel (reception will give you directions) - 20min walk - and from here Faro is only 30min away and a 5 Euro return trip. The train station was easy to handle - a worry when you have no grasp of the Portugese language! A trip to the saturday markets in Loule can be arranged by the reception staff, and for 15 Euro is decent value. Seville is a 2 hour trip away (by taxi or tour), but we couldn't drag ourselves away from the pool. At no time did I hear anyone complain about the hotel - either at reception or in the course of conversation with other guests. We met guests with young families who return year after year to the porta nova. The hotel seems to be used by various tours - there were many Spanish guests during our stay and also many single people. Except for the obvious issue with the temperature of the food, we really found it impossible to complain about any aspect of our B&B stay at the porta nova.

We have just returned from a 7 night B&B stay at the Hotel Porta Nova. I still have mixed feelings about this hotel as there were things i liked and things i really didnt. The hotel itself is clean and positioned perfectly overlooking Tavira, within a short walk away. We had no problem with the small hill and i wouldnt say it was steep. The Panaroma Bar is wonderful and a must in the evening, you can see all over the city, the barman is very friendly and efficient. The pool is also a good size and the lounge chairs are very comfortable. On arriving at the hotel the reception staff was friendly and advised that we would have to pay 50 euro deposit if we wanted the remote for the TV (you can change the channels on the tv itself), also bring beach towels as you have to pay to use the hotel towels around the pool. You will also need to pay per day if you wish to use the safe in your room. Our bedroom was large and very clean, the shower is powerful and the air conditioning kept it nice and cool. I think the problem i had was the time of year we were at the hotel, it was full of families and to be honest when you are travelling as a couple and in need of R&R its not really the best place to be staying. The walls in the bedroom were quite thin and we were awoken most mornings to kids screaming in the hallway. The kids seemed to run riot around the pool and with no supervision from staff it became a bit annoying! The breakfast s were fine, however the hot food was cold. The breakfast staff are properly the least friendly out of all the staff at the hotel. I agree with a previous review that if you do intend to stay here, the B&B option is the best as there are so many lovely tavernas to experience and Tavira at night is really very magical.

Just returned from a week in the Hotel Porta Nova. The hotel is situated at the top of quite a steep hill which was not a difficulty for myself or my husband but I can imagine it would not be good for people with walking difficulties. It is about a 10 – 15 minute stroll into Tavira. The hotel itself is very nice and very clean. The rooms are clean and spacious. After reading other reviews I imagined that I would find the beds very uncomfortable but in fact I found them just the opposite and got a really good nights sleep. Tavira itself is a most beautiful place with plenty of eating places and bars and lots of charm and atmosphere. This is one of the reasons why I would not recommend anyone staying at the hotel Porta Nova on an all inclusive basis as we did. Firstly, the food for the first 3 days of our holiday was absolutely abysmal and normally I will eat anything. It did improve for the rest of the holiday but everything we ate was clap cold, and when I say clap cold I mean clap cold. They only ever had one choice of meat, which was nearly always pork, and 1 choice of fish. The desserts though throughout our stay were delicious; they also had the most fantastic choice. One night they did a barbecue and tables were set out around the pool and the food this night was very good with plenty of choice. The salads were also good throughout our stay. I do not think the hotel has quite grasped the concept of all inclusive. The all inclusive does not start until 11.00am which I found a little too late if you eat breakfast at 8.00am and then have to wait another 3 hours before you can get a drink, it would not be so bad if there were shops around the hotel that you could purchase from but the nearest is a good walk down the steep hill. You could only use the snack bar between the hours of 11.30am and 12.00pm and then again between 4.00pm and 6.00pm in the evening. We did manage to try the snack bar on one occasion because we went into the restaurant for lunch and just ate soup to fill up on until 4.00pm. The snack bar food was very nice although we were told that as we were all inclusive we were only allowed to order 2 things from the menu which were either plain or toasted sandwiches served with chips. There was only one bar open during our stay other than the pool bar and that was the Panoramic bar on the 5th floor. The views from the veranda are lovely but sadly it was a little too chilly to sit outside whilst we were there even though it was the beginning of July. Inside the bar was equally as chilly because they had the air conditioning on full pelt. You thought they would have realised that everyone was sitting with their coats on and 1 night we asked for it to be turned down and think it may have been slightly. The bar I thought lacked atmosphere and soul. We went out most nights for a few drinks in the town of Tavira which does have a lovely atmosphere and charm. The staff at the hotel were either very, very nice or pig ignorant. Also, a lot of Spanish and Portuguese arrived at the hotel on fourth day of our stay (coinciding strangely enough with the improvement of the food) and although they were also all inclusive like ourselves they did receive priority when it came to being served at the bar and with drinks served to the table in the restaurant, when on most occasions we had finished our meal completely before we were asked what we wanted to drink. Other English quests also complained about this. We really wished we had booked to stay at this hotel on a bed and breakfast basis only. All in all we really enjoyed this holiday and would recommend the hotel on a bed and breakfast basis and the city of Tavira is a definite.

Having stayed at the Porta Nova last month I can understand the very different comments by 2 recent contributors.We were intending to stay longer but left after 2 days because although the hotel was of a reasonable standard, it was let down by lots of little things that were often down to the buiding design.You couldnt make a noisier building if you set out to - all the room doors slammed as they closed and the corridors echoed making it worse.Many of the rooms look down on the hilly street outside which means the passing traffic is usually revving. We thought the pool area was very nice though.Breakfast so-so.

We returned today from a weeks stay at the Hotel Porta Nova, Tavira. having read all the previous reviews prior to going we were expecting an enjoyable stay in a hotel warranting its 4 Star status. I must say, in common with many other guests staying there at the same time, we were most disppointed. Our poor impression started on arrival when the Reception staff couldn´t find a record of our booking and just shrugged their shoulders. Eventually, they found our names on their copy of the booking sheet and we were directed to our fourth floor room after having a TV remote control and mini bar key thrown at us. The room was clean, altyhough the paintwork was badly marked, but very small with the narrowest Twin Beds we have ever seen. It was fairly well equipped with hairdryer, fridge/mini bar (ample room to store your own drinks) and small TV with 2 English channels (Sky News and Travel Channel). Unfortunately our room was directly over the hotels central AirCon unit that churned away all day and night - it was bad enough for us on the 4th floor so Heaven knows how people on lower floors coped. The bathroom was nicely tiled but the bath was VERY narrow and the hot tap came off everytime we - and the cleaner! - used it; despite the cleaner having problems with it each day + we reported it no repair was carried out throughout our stay. Cleaners wer surly but obviously overworked - the hotel was less than half full so they were on skeleton staff and doing double corridor duty, hence our upper roomsd were not cleaned until after 3.30 p.m. each day. the ehole of Tavir had a water cut off for 10 hours last week but there was no notice of this in reception - the first inclination you had on returning to the hotel that afternoon was when you either tried to turn a tap on or flush the toilet! Luckily we were on All Inclusive basis so could obtain drinking water from the bar but none was provided free for paying guests - 10 hours on a hot day is a long time for people not to have water available. To the rear of the hotel are 2 pools - one adult and one childrens. There is NO lifeguard in attendance to protect children nor is there any childrens entertainment programme; all the kids there this past week have been bored to death. The adlut pool was very cloudy the first couple of days of our stay but much cleaner since. Downstairs there is a so called Health Centre with small indoor Spa Pool - again unattended - and, supposedly, a gym but this was closed thrioughout our stay. Food was not of 4 Star standard. Lunch and Evening Meal were quite adequate - only one choice of meat or fish but with an extensive Salad bar and excellent Dessert selection. However, this was spoiled by the main course dishes being cold - even when bought fresh from the kitchens. Breakfast was awful - 3 types of soggy cereal, 2 types of powdered fruit juice, the previous nights left over fruit, 1 type each of plastic tasting sliced cheese and ham, and the most revoltingly undercooked Bacon with Baked Beans each day and either Scrambled/Powdered Egg or hard Boiled Eggs on alternate days. Bread rolls were hard and the Toaster just didn´t toast! Breakfast Coffee was from a machine and not pleasant tasting. There was no regular Restaurant Manager to control plate collection etc. and drinks service was painfully slow - although the selection of All Inclusive drinks with lunch and dinner was better than at many similar hotels. There are 3 bars with only one being open at any one time - pool bar until 7p.m., then either the ground floor bar or attractive 5th floor Panoramic Bar that has lovely views over the town but a woefully inadequate supply of tables and chairs; this bar is closed whenever the hotel has a function on. Drinks are quite well priced by hotel standards and all mixers with AI drinls are branded e.g. bottles of Schweppes Tonic + Pepsi Cola rather than pump dispensed unknown brands that tends to be the norm in AI hotels. Unfortunately AI guests have to wear the inevitable bright green wristbands - we were lucky and they had run out the day we arrived so we got away with showing our room card - and, when the bar area was busy, AI guests tended to only be served after paying guests had received their drinks. There was supposed to be entertainment 2 evenings during our stay but, as this still hadn´t started gone 11p.m., we gave it a miss. If you stay at this hotel don´t think of using their Currency Exchange facilities - they were only giving 1.25 Euro to the Pound and charging 5% commission on Travellers or Euro Cheques. There is one computer terminal that charges Euro 1 for 10 minutes - as the connection is painfuilly slow you don´t get much for your money. One good thing about the hotel is that car parking is free for guests throughout your stay. Also, generally decor is good. if you decide to book a stay at the Porta Nova be sure to negotiate a good price rather than paying the astronomical rack rate - apart from 2 nights in the week when tour parties stayed, the hotel is less than half full so good deals should be available. We were not alone in being more than unhappy with our stay at the Porta Nova. When we were checking out this morning one of the large tour parties was just leaving and the poor lad on Reception was being inundated by complaints. We ALMOST felt sorry for him but all complaints being offered were more than valid. We completed the hotel end of stay questionnaire but this was just dropped behind the desk along with all the others being handed in so whether they will be read and comments noted is uncertain. We had a laugh at several of the questions asked - e.g. what did we think of the daily sports/activities programme - anwser, what sports/activity programme! All in all, in our opinion the Porta Nova is at best average and certainly not worthy of any more than a 3 star rating.

March 27th -April 3rd. The Hotel Porta Nova, Tavira, The Algarve, Portugal. We have just returned from our second stay at this wonderful 4 star hotel. The hotel is very clean and the chose of food is very good. But what really makes your stay there, one that you will not forget, is the wonderful staff. They are all so happy and helpful; nothing is too much trouble for them. David, the headwaiter is a real credit to the hotel and they are very lucky to have him work there. Freddy the head barman is also very good along with everyone else working there. Tavira is well worth a visit and The Hotel Porta Nova with their cosmopolitan clientele is the place to stay. We will be going back again and again.

Me, my boyfriend and his mum and dad stayed at the Porta Nova in September and we were a bit worried as we had read previous reviews (after booking holiday)and wernt sure what we were letting ourselves in for! When we got there we were very surprised the hotel is lovely and clean with polite staff, the food is not so good it was ok for a couple of nights but it isn't the best buffet i've ever seen. The outside pool was lovely although service for food in the day is very slow about half an hour to 45 minutes!!! The entertainment is not great and the upstairs rooftop bar is freezing, they go a bit overboard with the air conditioning!! Tavira is a lovely place but very quite and there is not a lot to do i have been to portugal before and felt that this is more a place for much older people. Oh and just one thing don't use the phone in the hotel as it costs an absolute fortune but apart from that it's a lovely place.