Hotel Mirachoro Praia

This was our first trip to the Algarve and we had booked the holiday on the basis of our friends, who accompanied us, having stayed at the same hotel 2/3 years ago. However we were very concerned regarding the comments made on some of the late 2006 reviews for the Mirachor Praia hotel and seriously considered attempting to switch hotels. In truth we are very glad we went ahead with our holiday. The hotel was very good indeed. Mention of the garish painting of the interior of the hotel, particulkarly in receptionand the bar area was vastly overstated in the early reviews and as regards noise and complaints re the bottle bank, then our view is that some people must be very hard to please. There was no disturbance to mean anything and certainly had no effect on our holiday enjoyment. The 2nd floor bedroom was very good and had an excellent bathroom plus a 5 foot double bed - wish we had one at home!!!! There is a fridge, hair dryer and tv in each room. A good balcony allowed us to enjoy a panoramic view across the town and sea. The room was cleaned daily and the towels changed everyday. The staff were extremely hard working and that included the cleaners, reception, bar staff and the waiters. During our 14 day stay the head waiter was on duty every evening and ensured a smooth running of the dining area. We were on half board terms with other residents on bed and breakfast only. This meant breakfast was a busier time but we never had to wait to get a table and on an evening we were pleasantly surprised to have a 4 seater table reserved for us and we only ordered water!!!! The meals were plentiful with a good breakfast choice of fruit, cerals, cold meat, cheese and traditional egg, bacon, beans and sausage with plentby bread and rolls. Possibly an extra tea, coffee, hot water machine would be of benefit to reduce the only queue which occurred in the dining area. The evning meal was a set 7 day rotational menu with soup, a salad bar and then a hot bar with a fish choice every evening and then meat, which was aminly pork, turkey and beef/veal. Two/three lots of veg and chips. Possibly boiled potatoes more often would have been a nice change form chips every day and whilst this variation did occur it was only available for three nights in the fortnight. Outside the hotel is a sizeable car park which eliminated any problem with regard to overnight parking of the hire car we had for 7 days. There is an inside heated swimming pool and jacuzzi but the sauna was "out of order" during our stay. A good outside pool at a maximum 1.3 meteres depth was also clean and allowed people to have a good swim. There was a functional pool bar as well with plenty of sun beds and brollies, with extra brought out by the hotel staff as the hotel numbers increased. We found Carvoeiro a compact, rather hilly resort with sufficient in the way of bars and restaurants for those who wanted such extra facilities. We would have no qualms about recommending the hotel and like others we spoke to would willingly go back in the future. Our first holiday in Portugal and the Algarve in particular was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Friendly people who spoke English plus the all important very good weather.

We had visited the Hotel previously and were concerned about returning after reading some comments on Trip Adviser. The comments proved to be unfounded and we found the Hotel to be excellent value for money and virtually unchanged from our previous visit 2 years ago. The decoration are bright but are in keeping with a holiday hotel and you soon get used to them. The bedrooms are are excellent with most having good views over the bay. Service was excellent with tables cleared. friendly staff an an excellent room service. Food was warm and quickly replenished but we do find that the choice of food in a Portugal 4* hotel is not as good as its Spanish equivalent. The only comment about the dining facilities is that an extra coffee machine is required together with an improved toaster. An excellent holiday and we will return. This hotel offers excellent value for money