Plaza Real Apartments

Generally my family and I enjoyed our holiday at the Plaza Real. The staff were always friendly and polite. The accomodation was spacious, clean and more than adequate for a family of 4, especially the kitchen which was well equipped. It was only a 10/15 minute walk to either the beach or the large hypermarket.
My only reservation was regarding the entertainment. If you like karaoke, then you will love the Plaza Real. It ran 2/3 times a week from 10-1 in the morning. Our room was close to the bar and it was quite loud, even with the shutters down and the air-con switched on. My children rise sometime around 6am so on some evenings, my wife and I got around 5 hours sleep. Fortunately my children would sleep through a bomb blast and so it didn't effect them! I complained 3 times but was told that the guests wanted entertainment and they would try to keep the volume lower. It didn't happen.

I have never stayed in such a fantastic two bedroom apartment - we were gob smacked! It was like being at home. Cannot fault the apartment and hope to be back again soon.
The whole complex is very clean and tidy. All staff, Thomson rep, and Kids club reps were always very polite and helpful - always with a smile.
We mainly stayed by the pool, as our first trip to the beach didn't end well. The 80 steps back up the cliff took it out on my Mum. There is a beach in Praia Da Vau which is about 20 mins walk away, this beach has easier access but is a lot busier.
Of the evening we eat out most nights and would recommend Atlantis, Hollywood, and Titanic.
A planned trip to Zoo Marine for the Dolphin Interaction is a must - will never forget. Wish had planned more trips.
Hope to be back soon to Plaza Real.

Two families, children aged 13,15 & 18, just got back from the Plaza Real. What can I say WOW these apartments are HUGE and clean, we stayed in a two bedroom, so much space you could live in the bathroom alone! Maid service most days.
Food in the bar not bad price try the Club sandwich it's HUGE. The nearest big super market is 15 mins walk but a cab is about 4 euros (and well worth it for your first shop!), couple of supermarkets on the strip so if your down the for the evening just top up there. A good 10 mins walk to the main strip (using the short cut) but worth it, as the way Thomson tell you is a good 15-20mins down the main road.
Beaches are fantastic but the water a little chilly. The 4x4 Safari is a must as it's fantastic fun. We didn't enjoy the new shop n slide as the market was PACKED lots of people selling knocked off watches etc!) and by the time you get to the Aqua show there is nowhere to sit and the queues were huge the kids just wanted to come back to the apartment.
Overall, fantastic apartment, fantastic beaches, definitely go back again.

We have just returned from a week’s holiday at Plaza Real Apartments.

They were spotlessly clean and so spacious; the staff were also very friendly and helpful.
The apartments where also fully equipped and cleaned almost every day, clean towels and sheets were also on hand.
The small but friendly bar restaurant was great the food was excellent and staff were also great.
We were only 5mins away from beach which was spotless and wasn’t that busy as it has quite a few small coves along it.
The pool was also great well kept and clean plenty of sunbeds around all free of charge.
We were also a short walk from the main strip which was full of bars and restaurants and shops plenty of places to eat and drink (much to the pleasure of my other half).
All in all an excellent holiday would go back again in a minute. Well done to the staff and the local people for an excellent holiday and I would highly recommend the Plaza Real Apartments for friendliness and helpfulness.
I will be back without a doubt.

The Plaza Real apartments are clean, have lots of room and the first ones I have stayed in where I’ve not found any insects of any kind! The food was a bit expensive and is much cheaper down the road in town.
I would recommend them for families but if you are a young couple or elderly I would just be aware that the noise from kids is quite annoying at times, from 6 in the morning till late at night. Also there was a lot of background noise from nearby building work going on every day, drills and hammering etc.
The people in Rocha are very friendly and all speak English to some degree, the beach is about a 15 minute walk, if you take the shortcut. If you stick to the roads it’s about 20 minutes. The beach at Rocha is huge and very nice, we were there most days.
There are lots of good restaurants, but we were approached 2 or 3 times a day by drug dealers walking up and down the main strip outside the restaurants, which was a pain after a few times. Why they are allowed to peddle their drugs so openly I don’t know but it was a bit unnerving sometimes.
I would recommend taking a taxi for 5 euros to Alvor which is much nicer and has the best beach I’ve been on, it’s almost Caribbean with its white sands and blue sea, the village is much more traditional as well and I would probably stay in Alvor if I went to the Algarve again.
Overall I’ve given the plaza real 8 out of 10, good clean apartments with friendly staff.

What a great apartment, 2 bedroom on two floors, large kitchen and living room. Spotlessly clean and everything brand new considering 5 years old.
The staff were very helpful requested more pillows and more chairs for balcony, they arrived within half an hour.
Pool area clean and well maintained, quiet area, but only 10 min walk into main bars and restaurants in Praia da Rocha, loved it will book again.

Hadn't realised that this review facility was on line until I signed in to try to re-book for 2007.
Plaza Real is the perfect family holiday base and I will endorse most of the comments within this site.
However, a few downfalls that people should be aware of.
1) Keep your young children away from the beaches that have isolated rock formations (stacks). Our 9 year old son had a close shave when he was trapped against one of these rocks. It was in a matter of seconds that laughing turned into a lifeguard situation.
So beware the sea changes so quickly. The lifeguard was immense though. There are plenty of fantastically maintained and safe beaches available, but make use of the beach flag system. It is there for your benefit.
2) Don't be persuaded to take the timeshare tour. It is a waste of a day and nothing like the promise. (Thomsons)
3) Don't assume that there will be food available on the flight home (Thomsons). Either book a meal or stock up before you return to the airport.
Other than these points.
4 wheel safari - a must
Traditional evening - a must
Dolphin show at (can't remember the name) - stunning. As was the rest of the park.
Ok 9.5

Went for a week self catering to Plaza Real. Having been to Spain a few times, I was expecting a small cramped and fairly poor room with tiny sun terrace - I couldn’t have been more wrong. The room was a superb size, all fixtures and fittings were modern / new, the facilities on site were excellent (would recommend the kids club with Thompson - the staff were really good and it gave us a few hours to spend on our own). The resort staff were brilliant - very friendly and were always on hand.
I honestly cannot fault the Plaza Real - good food, great staff, excellent standard of accommodation. Praia Da Rocha was really nice too. The beaches are superb and not overcrowded. The Restaurants are excellent (especially "Pizzeria Cletonina" on the main road) and are only a short 10 minute walk which means the actual apartments are very quiet at night so you get a good nights sleep.
The air conditioning in the apartments was heaven sent also). The locals are very friendly too (as are the taxi drivers). All in all a brilliant holiday and we will def be going back to these apartments again. 10 out of 10. I can’t recommend it enough.

Fantastic rooms throughout the whole complex. Has everything within easy reach such as shops, bars, nightclubs and restaurants and suits people of all ages. The resort itself is fairly quite during the day so you can completely relax but it does liven up a bit in the evening with regular events and shows taking place.
I would recommend this accommodation to anybody wanting to relax on their holiday or for families looking for a quite hotel to take their kids on their first foreign holiday maybe.

Could it be possible to ask for anything more in a holiday?
As a person who had not travelling into mainland Europe before, you could say there was a fair amount of trepidation before travelling to Portugal last September. What would the food be like? What would the weather be like? Would the accommodation be good?
Well all these worries were well and truly put aside once arriving in Praia Da Rocha. The apartments wee immaculate and very well located. The weather was superb, honestly not a cloud in the sky until the final day and the food in restaurants like Titanic and Atlantis as well as the resort centre itself was like manna from Heaven. Not only that, at the local Supermarket, bottles of Sagres lager were only 6cents, 4 PENCE!
There are plenty of activities at the beach and the promenade, and trips to Zoomarine and Splash n Slide are musts, especially to cool off from that glorious sunshine.
And who can forget about the highlight of the trip. No visit to Praia Da Rocha would be complete without a visit to the legendary Taffy's Bar. If you could choose any pub in the World as your local, then there would be very few who would choose somewhere other than Taffy's.
All in all a superb holiday, which I can't wait to repeat in the very near future.
Taffy, get the captain's juice ready!!