Tivoli Marina Vilamoura Algarve Resort

Looming large over Portugal's largest marina facility is this landmark hotel, one of the country's most iconic beach resort properties. It is set at the southern end of the marina, right on the beach, and the fabulous location affords guests an appealing choice of leisure and entertainment opportunities, including the Tivoli Spa and a huge circular outdoor pool. Befitting the location, the fun extends to a range of outdoor activities, including golf (several of Portugal's top-rated golf courses are within a 20-minute drive from the hotel, such as The Old Course). Thrilling water sports options abound - this is the embarkation point for sightseeing cruises, big game fishing expeditions, and dolphin-watching excursions.

Several different guest room types are available, ranging from Deluxe Rooms with either sea or marina views to the top-floor Presidential Suite, an opulent pad with panoramic views of the entire area. Family groups are well catered for, with dedicated rooms featuring their own exclusive deck.

You won't go hungry here. No less than seven restaurants are housed within the premises, with international menus listing traditional Portuguese gastronomy, Italian cuisine, Japanese sushi, and American-style flame-grilled steaks. The resort also operates Purobeach Vilamoura, a live entertainment spot embedded on the beach, where snacks and light meals are also served.

Vilamoura marina is a magnet for tourists. Lining the boardwalk are some lively places to eat and top-notch evening entertainment.

Grande Real Santa Eulália Resort & Hotel Spa

If you're seeking a resort near Albufeira, where every tourist need is conveniently at hand, this is the place for you. With an enviable 344 guest rooms of which 29 are suites, plus 155 vacation apartments, Grande Real is one of the largest hotel properties in the region. The appeal lies in the fact that guests have little reason to venture beyond the gates given that there's so much going on inside to keep them occupied. For a start there's Santa Eulalia right on the doorstep - just one of many fabulous beaches found in the Algarve. Here, an incredible array of watersports like canoeing and water skiing is played out in warm, mirror-like waters. For little ones, the Realito Kids Club is a fun-packed haven of limitless imagination. Indeed, this is a favorite resort for families and friends.

For adults, their sanctuary is The Real Spa. Generous floor space allows for 17 massage and treatment rooms, a thalassotherapy circuit, sauna, hammam, and a host of other feel-good facilities. Otherwise there are always the four outdoor swimming pools to indulge in, one of which is a toddlers' paddling pool.

And there are plenty of things to do after dark. The oceanfront Santa Eulália restaurant specializes in Portuguese cuisine, particularly fish and seafood, while Pérgula is their new gourmet burger house. Afterwards, digest it all over live music and cabaret acts in the show hall.

Cascade Wellness & Lifestyle Resort

The theme running through this impressive resort property is the expeditions of Portuguese navigators, who mapped their way across Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America in the 15th century. Their seafaring exploits are imaginatively reflected in the interior décor embellishing the hotel's rooms and suites, which add a suitably historic touch to the contemporary architecture that defines the hotel's eye-catching accommodation wings.

Renowned as a center for sport, wellness, and a host of other invigorating outdoor activities, the resort promotes a "healthy mind in a healthy body" lifestyle through its Tainai Spa facility. Here, a program of therapies and treatments complements predefined or bespoke well-being packages, like "Keep it Fit" and "Body Detox," that realign the physical being with the mental state. Tennis, golf, and football academies further underline the emphasis placed on fitness and nutrition. But it's not all about working up a sweat. On-site leisure amenities include an inviting outdoor swimming pool, a smaller sand-bottom pool designed for youngsters, and the fantastic Caskiddy Kids Club adventure playground.

The resort is located near Lagos, close to the beautiful Ponta da Piedade headland and within walking distance of the most picturesque beaches in Portugal. After a day out sightseeing, guests can relax in one of the hotel restaurants like Senses, with its show kitchen and stunning views over the Atlantic Ocean.

Pine Cliffs Residence

Combining the privacy and convenience of your own accommodation with the exclusive amenities of the renowned Pine Cliffs Resort, the 154 two- and three-bedroom luxury residence suites set within the manicured grounds of this secluded retreat guarantee a memorable stay in the Algarve. Perfectly suited for family groups, each suite is classically styled yet impresses with its range of modern appliances - a personalized home away from home with ample living space.
Guests are encouraged to live their vacations at their own pace and to do as much or as little as they want - but there are plenty of things to do for the active holidaymaker. Golf enthusiasts can test their accuracy of play on the famed Pine Cliffs Golf Course. Enjoying a stunning cliff top setting, the layout's signature hole is the 6th, the eye-popping 'Devil's Parlour" that requires a tee shot over a yawning cliff gorge. A highly regarded tennis academy features floodlit courts. Beneath the resort is the beautiful Falésia Beach where, during the summer, an exciting program of watersports is offered. The Serenity Spa meanwhile caters for those in need of a spot of pampering and TLC.
No less than 11 restaurants serve the resort, with menus offering a mouth-watering array of different cuisine, anything from international gourmet meat dishes to regional fish and seafood plated up with aplomb. Dining is very often al fresco, with exceptional Atlantic Ocean views on hand to whet the appetite.

PortoBay Falésia

Nestling in beautifully manicured grounds of profuse greenery is this handsome resort property, which enjoys an outstanding location overlooking Praia da Falésia, not far from Albufeira. It's an outlook enjoyed from many of the standard and superior rooms and junior suites, and a view that also takes in the curvaceous outline of a superb outdoor swimming pool. In the distance, a ridge of tawny-red sandstone cliffs line the beach, which is accessible directly from the premises.
Much of the appeal here lies in the fact that guests can easily find little pockets of tranquility in which to relax. Scattered throughout the gardens are wood decks and platforms furnished with sofas or plump, oversized cushions set under a canopy of scented pinewood. Linger here at sunset as hidden spotlights illuminate the grounds, and the romantic ambiance is quite tangible. Actually, such is the connection with nature, the gardens also play host to yoga classes, and massage sessions are conducted in the privacy of your own exclusive curtained terrace. Otherwise, the hotel's Blu Spa features four treatment suites, where guests can indulge in a range of relaxing therapies and rituals to enhance physical and mental wellbeing.
PortoBay hotels are noted for their excellent gastronomy, and this resort is no exception. Besides a humungous and healthy themed buffet choice laid out at dinner in the Madeira restaurant, guests can also opt for the Il Basilico restaurant, with mouth-watering Italian fare served indoors or on the terrace.

Martinhal Sagres Beach Family Resort Hotel

Often cited by guests traveling with children as the most enchanting family resort they've stayed at, there's no doubt that the facilities available here are designed to keep young minds fully occupied. From toddlers to teens, there's something for everyone, including face painting and cookery classes to T-shirt printing and video game playing. The Raposinhos ("little foxes") crèche caters for tots aged six to 23 months, while the kids' club looks after children aged from two to five years. Of course, there are also plenty of other things to do like splashing around in any one of the five swimming pools set around the lovely grounds. Older kids can also take advantage of the resort's sports academies, peddle out on a sightseeing cycle ride, or try their hand at watersports.
For grown ups there's the heavenly Finisterra Spa, with an inventive range of treatments and therapies. But even here there are special wellness packages designed for children as well as senior citizens.
Accommodation is first rate, with options spanning apartments, design houses, luxury villas, and the stand-alone Martinhal Hotel. Food is taken seriously. The menus at the O Terraço and As Dunas restaurants err towards traditional Portuguese gastronomy, while Os Gambozinos is lauded for its Italian cuisine.
About a 10-minute drive from Sagres, the resort's location is fabulous, set as it is overlooking secluded Martinhal Beach, which is lapped by warm, shallow crystal-clear waters.

Vilalara Thalassa Resort

Home to one of the best thalassotherapy centers in the world and to a Longevity Spa, the acclaim showered on this stunningly conceived Algarve resort is wholly deserved. Enjoying a secluded location and cradled within magnificent landscaped grounds, Vilalara sits on a cliff top facing the sea above Praia das Gaivotas, a pocket of golden sand accessed directly from the hotel's color-splashed gardens.
Accommodation comprises 104 junior suites and 12 apartments of contemporary design and light pastel hues. Private terraces or balconies allow for pleasant views of the gardens, the pools, or sea. Blended within the resort's contours are four outdoor seawater swimming pools and one heated pool around which are set a number of bistro cafés. Exemplifying the dining experience, however, is the B&G restaurant, where executive chef Pedro Sequeira has designed menus that acknowledge Portugal's diverse culinary heritage. For a more al fresco feel, grab a poolside table at the Terrace Grill.
Most of all, this unique resort is all about the proven benefits of thalassotherapy and its remarkable healing properties afforded by using the region's Atlantic marine climate to relieve a host of ailments. Complementary therapies are provided by the medical spa, which when combined with thalassotherapy offer guests a remarkably varied health and wellness program designed to help you relax, reenergize, and rejuvenate.