Salgados Beach Villas

Terrible Experience – Not Worth the Hype! I am deeply disappointed with our stay at the Vidamar Resort Algarve. We expected a 5-star experience but were met with shockingly poor service. On the night of February 14th, the night receptionist was unbelievably rude and unwelcoming. It was as if our presence was an inconvenience. The situation worsened the next day when the midday receptionist practically threw us out of our room. My husband wanted to extend our stay, but we were curtly told that the hotel was fully booked – no effort was made to accommodate us. We are accustomed to staying at some of the best hotels in the world, and this level of service was far below standard. Even the smallest details were disappointing – they charge for every single bottle of water, which is absurd for a supposedly high-end resort. This experience was beyond frustrating. I do not recommend this hotel to anyone expecting quality service. They clearly do not understand the basics of hospitality.

Photos are self explanatory. Broken fridge and equipment, mould and humidity all over the place. No furniture. Terrible beds. Dirty as if it wasn't cleaned for months. they are selling the villas because the developer went bankrupt a few year ago but managed to keep some properties. It's shameful that they rent things like this.

We stayed in this accommodation in our winter break (family of 4). The villa was a little bit confusing to find, but is actually right in front of VidaMar Hotel (turn right from the roundabout as you see the hotel). The villa is located in gated community and the reception is located in 1B area (left hand side as you pass security gate) so you feel extra secure (especially for us who rented a car). As we came in January, it was not really busy and a bit quiet (other than in New Year where some villas nearby having a New Year blast) so it was very relaxing. The villa is huge with dedicated parking in the basement and door direct to the accomodation. The parking is a bit tight though. We picked 2 bedroom-villa and it is a very spacious villa. Very high ceiling and airy with essential furniture. Saying that, as the room is basically quite empty, it is very echoey and a bit hard to hear what other family member was saying to you when you are not in the same room. There is swimming pool in each villa which is clean (1.2 m is the deepest) that we did not use (as it was too cold) and 4 loungers. Outside, there is also a dining table in case you like to dine after swimming. It feels like staying at home away. Kitchen has fridge-freezer, oven, microwave, toaster, coffee machine, kettle, washing machine and dishwasher. Dishwasher tablet and washing powder is not provided as part of your stay, but you can easily buy them in nearby supermarket 2 roundabouts away (Coviran). They also have an ironing board with iron, broom/dustpan/mop, etc. Wifi is strongest downstairs and TV is not very entertaining as not all channels work and they are either in in local language or dubbed. There is also TV in master bedroom and both bedrooms have AC (we don’t need that though). Master bedroom has ‘his and hers’ sinks and there is bidet in both en-suite. The only thing weird thing is that there is no shower screens so water would splash like anything every time you take shower so extra bathroom mat is absolutely needed. Comfortable beds and there is balcony in master bedroom facing the pool downstairs. Beach is only about 5 minutes away from villa, clean and quiet, maybe due to winter. If you feel like cooking, there is Coviran/Ocean Supermarket that has almost everything. It has an attached cofffe shop with some nice pastries. But if you don’t feel like doing anything, VidaMar Hotel could sort you out. We had our breakfast and brunch there and it was really good. Villa does not actually provide housekeeping, but there was staff came inside our villa when we were in to check if we need one. All staff were very friendly and helpful, we were allowed to have a late check-in as our flight was later in the evening. We were really grateful with that. We are thinking to come again very soon, maybe when it is a bit warmer so that we would be able to use the swimming pool outside.

Let me tell you, do not book under any circumstances, this is the worst place I have ever stayed in and I have traveled around the world, I was misled as this is advertised as a 5* wow more like 3* and I am being generous, Issues Rotten decking Dirty floors, walls and furniture Kitchen falling apart Doors broken Pool grids dirty Pool grid broken very dangerous Pool floor 10inch crack This is place is so run down it’s a health and safety hazard and should be shut down I complained and they said there was nothing wrong and it’s not a 5* Not sure why they advertise this as a 5* Don’t be fooled by the lovely pictures on there website, they are about 10 years old This place is the worst

Villa was great as was the pool area. Everything you need including a full kitchen. It was a bit worn but does not affect your holiday. No problem with ants as reported. You will need a car as not much locally. The marina has plenty of good restaurants and about a 10 min drive. Check in isn't until 4 pm which isn't good when your flight lands at 10 am so a lot of hanging around. Can't fault the villas however the bigger villas were used for a lot of stag & hen parties and also accommodates large groups of youths. Most groups were fine and you expect them to have a bit of fun however for the last 4 days a large group of lads were a complete nightmare. Music blaring full blast all day with all the doors open so no quiet relaxing by your pool. Also loads of banging and shouting sitting in cars with music full volume during the day and night.we were expecting groups to have nights out but they were arriving back around 4 am with the same noise level. If I had realised the resort was hosting large groups of youths I wouldn't have stayed there. We were put here by TUI last minute after they cancelled our village villa so not a lot of choice. I think the resort should decide if its for families or parties. Felt like I was in an 18 to 30 resort the last 4 days. Also worth noting that a couple of mornings we found the gate to our pool area was open and on one occasion a guy from the noisy villa even walked into our pool area so we never left the doors unlocked and kept valuables out of sight. If you are lucky enough to have neighbours with a bit more consideration you will have a fab time.

What a fabulous week I have just had with my family! The villas and the surrounding area is stunning and myself, husband and three children loved it. The villa is beautiful and is absolutely huge and has everything you need for your stay - Iron, hair dryer etc. Upon arrival your villa is stocked with shampoo, shower gel, enough toilet roll for the week etc and in the kitchen, some dishwasher tablets and cloths. We was in a three bed, three bathroom villa and when I say massive, they are! Each room had a modern feel to it and the glass walkway across the top floor and floating staircase added to that. It did seem clean when we arrived but I will say we found odd dummies etc around the villa during our stay so it can’t have been as thoroughly cleaned as we thought. You do get bath and pool towels provided and these was changed by a cleaner who came in once during our stay and cleaned around. The pool area was lovely, albeit a bit cold but this can’t be helped. You did feel safe in the villa as to get on the complex you have to pass security but all the locks are by an electric keycard, I would of felt much safer if I had a chain lock or a physical lock so I knew 100% it was locked. This was the same for the basement door which led to the underground car park and front door, you never felt like they was locked. Only thing I would consider with these villas is if you have young children you can not relax, or I felt I couldn’t. The staircase would of been better with a retractable gate as you could just walk around the staircase from coming in the front door and if you have a toddler whose wanting to run round etc they would fall the two flights down to the basement. It’s hard to explain - sorry should of took pictures. The area is really nice and quiet and the complete opposite to the centre of albufeira we visited one day and I’m so glad we chose to stay in this area. The beach is a 5/10 walk away and the waters clean and the sand clean. You can hire beds and umbrellas and if you walk further down the beach there’s a couple of snack bars open. There is a grocery shop 5/10 min walk away the other way from the villas that stocks almost anything you would need for your holiday. We ended up using Ubers all week to get to zoomarine, the marina and central Albufeira to name a few. We needed an XL Uber but the most we paid was about €18 each way, they was super quick and every time came to the villa entrance in a couple of minutes. We did eat out every night but our favourite was Scenarium, we also tried Primadonna (which was in the nearby hotel), Bellavita and Ramires. Ramires was about a 20 min drive away but is a real authentic peri chicken restaurant. You don’t get a menu just plates of chicken, fries and salad. Lots of locals in, definitely should go there to try. We also ordered 2 meals on Uber eats as we got in late but they took hours to arrive and wasn’t that good. We booked the holiday only a few weeks before going so was limited to wh