Tropical Sol Apartments

Was at this lovely hotel back in the first week of February......and simply we could not fault this place at all. On a much smaller scale than some of the bigger chain hotels, but that was so good about this place.
Lovely big rooms, very clean and probably the best we’ve ever stayed in. The rooms also had TV with bbc1 and 2 and itv, I know you go on holiday to get away from it all, but the nights we had to stay in with our wee boy playing up...it was great to have!
All the rooms overlook the pool area and get the sun, which was good for the time of year, bar one day of rain ! Walk to the old town was 20 min or so....to the strip only 5 min or so !.....if you get a chance to go here.........DO IT !! WE CERTAINLY WILL RETURN IN 2008 SHUGGIE

Hi, we stayed at the Tropical Sol for a week at the beginning of September and the apartments were fabululous, probably the best i've stayed in so far. Its only a ten minute walk to the strip where there are some lovely restaurants, try the Portuguese style steak and you won't be disapointed.
The pool was a good size and we found it easy to get sun lounges (although it was quite quiet the week we went).
Visited Zoomarine which is a must if you have children, my 8yr old loved the dolphin show.
If you go to the beach best bet is to get a Taxi to the nearest one (only costs 3/4 euros) but the waves are some times quite scary.
Overall an excellent place to stay and would recommend it to anyone.

Went to Algarve for a 2 week holiday in august...found the Algarve a lovely place and the apartments could not be faulted...staff friendly..
Entertainment great and situated about ten mins from strip where shops were lovely and nightlife was great! Was sorry to leave. The apartments themselves were lovely and spacious. They were cleaned on a regular basis by the maids. Only fault i found was towels were placed on sun loungers very early in morning.
One night we went to "kiss" eclub which is open until 7am... When we returned at 6.00am people were out putting their towels on sun loungers....which was a little ridiculous! Met lots of great friends and still keep in contact....would definitely go back!

The Tropical Sol Apartments in Soao Jao are spacious, clean and well equipped. We stayed in Room 306, which was a two bedroom, two bathroom air-conditioned apartment located three floors directly above the reception, hotel bar area. There was a maid service six days of the week. The kitchen was well equipped with hob, microwave and sink/drainer but lacked an oven. We have stayed in far worse both at home and abroad.
There was large pool with a diving board, which ran from a depth of 0.5m to nearly 4m deep. The pool and surrounding area were cleaned daily. Bagging sunbeds was rife, towels would be placed on beds hours before the sunbeds would be used. The vast majority of Holidaymakers at the Tropical Sol were British with a few Spanish towards the end of our stay. There is a full-size Tennis Court available to hire at €8 per hour including equipment.
There are at least six supermarkets within a ten minute walk and a bakery within 100 yards.
We found the Staff friendly and efficient. The entertainment available was not to our taste consisting of a singer/guitarist, a Parrot show and two nights of Karaoke which went on until after 1am.The noise from the Karaoke and holidaymakers taking up to an hour to settle down afterwards meant sleep before 2:15am was difficult on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Directly opposite our apartment was the Oura Hotel, which had a Female Strip Club, attached. The Club was open until 3am for six nights out of seven. During the day it caused no problems but at 3am when it closed, the drunken yobbish behaviour of its visitors meant you would be woken up. With men shouting and screaming, taxis arriving/departing with horns tooting and wheels screeching, you were guaranteed a broken nights sleep.
The apartments are located within five minutes walk of the Strip, which consists of lots of shops and restaurants. Though the meals were reasonably priced, there was no quality. Some bargains were to be had in the shops especially leather goods. We visited Albufiera old town and found it expensive, crowded and not worth the visit.
The roads around Soao Jao were busy with poor driving and speeding common amongst Portuguese and British alike, especially at night.

Overall, we found the Algarve a pleasant place to holiday and the Tropical Sol was a good base. The weather was superb with a steady breeze 24/7.It rained on our last day for approx. 2 hours but soon dried.