Hotel Grande Real Santa Eulália

Unlike many other hotels at the Algarve (rather like bunkers), this hotel fits perfectly into the landscape. It only has 3 levels, so that no one has the feeling of being in a large concrete hotel. The hotel is located right on the beach and has a lovely garden. During low tide you can walk to Albufeira across the cliffs. We did that once, but didn't really like the way, as you never really knew where to walk. You can also walk down the road to Albufeira, of course. We found the hotel to be a small oasis. All around us, everything was built up in a touristy way and not very inviting. As soon as you enter the hotel, everything is suddenly quiet and cosy. Albufeira has many shops which can easily be reached by car or bus. 

In our opinion, service can only be rated as being top and deserves 5 stars. Whether at the reception, in the restaurant area, the cleaning staff or in the spa area - all the members of staff were always courteous, helpful and friendly. Staff all spoke fluent English and some even a little German. Enquiries and requests were dealt with promptly. The rooms are cleaned daily and very thoroughly. Any used toiletries such as soaps, shower stuff, etc., were constantly being refilled and the bedtime sweet (which we didn't necessarily need) was not missing once. Additional services such as laundry, a doctor or child care we can not judge because we did not use any of them. The Kids Club, however, made a very professional impression. The rooms were decorated very nicely and friendly and there were lots of toys (and a playground outside the club) for the children.

We had booked B&B, so that we can only rate the breakfast. This left nothing to be desired, in our opinion. There was something for everyone - whether you like to eat healthy, or like to indulge. Every morning there is a wide selection of fresh fruit (mango, papaya, pineapple ...) and many types of bread (brown bread, whole grain bread, rolls, croissants, etc. ), biscuits, cakes, cheese and cold cut buffett, cereals (various kinds), curd, yoghurt, freshly squeezed juices, champagne and of course hearty things, like bacon and eggs, beans, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms and so on. If you don't find anything there, you are beyond help. The buffet was just great! Staff were very friendly and cleared used crockery away permanently. Special requests, such as espresso, were immediately met. The dining room was bright, friendly, very clean and overlooking the sea. Cafe del Mar music was playing quietly in the background. We were looking forward to the buffet every morning and can not make any negative remarks.

We made full use of the leisure activities. As the owners of the Golden Spa card we could use the Thalasso Bath every day between 11.30 am until 5 pm. The spa has a sauna and steam room. In the swimming pool several nozzles provide the appropriate massage effects. These nozzles, however, are very noisy, which complicates the subsequent relaxation in the resting area, as this area is not separate from the pool area. Here there is room for improvement. The gym has 2 treadmills, a cross trainer, 3 exercise bikes and various other fitness equipment. The devices are certainly not the best, but clean and fully functional. The gym is equipped with gym mats and gym balls. 3 times a day there are various sports programmes (Pilates, Balance Fit, Body Fit, Aqua Fit, Stretching ...)which take half an hour each. We took part in all of these, except once, and were very happy. The trainer (32 years old, physical education teacher with additional training in physiotherapy) treated us very individually and worked out a really good sports programme for us, as we were the only ones who were taking part in the programme. We felt very well looked after and professionally supervised. The spa facilities (showers and changing rooms) are very clean. Towels, bathrobe, slippers are always sufficiently available and clean. We had a laptop and despite a few minor network failures, the internet worked perfectly.

We had a room on the 3rd floor with a partial sea view. The room was large enough and had an oversized bed (we think it was even bigger than a king size), refrigerator, television and telephone. The furniture was ok and everything made a clean impression. The bathroom was large and spacious and had a bathtub as well as a bidet. Unfortunately, the fittings were a bit older and the ones on the bidet a bit lose. The water pressure was generally poor. We would also have liked to have had a couple more coat hooks and shelves in the closet. What annoyed us a bit was the fact that the rooms were very badly soundproofed. One night we could not sleep because the neighbours next door had a "party". Even guests below our room could be heard. We think that during the summer, when there are more guests there, the quiet might be disturbed even more. The balcony was roofed and equipped with a table and two chairs.

Since we only had breakfast at the hotel, we went to eat out every night. As a restaurant tip we can recommend the little restaurant Tres Marias. It is located about 1.2 km from the hotel. When you walk out the front gate onto the street, turn right straight away and after about 15 minutes it's on the left side of the road. The Tres Marias is surely not a culinary delight but it offers simple yet delicious daily specials (7.90 €), fish or meat.What we particularly liked was the extremely friendly staff.  The owner (on site for 13 years) has organised his little restaurant perfectly and together with his employees simply takes good care of his guests.We felt very comfortable at the Tres Marias and can recommend it. The numerous guests (this restaurant, compared to the surrounding restaurants, was always full and we always had to make a booking for the next day) can certainly confirm this. (Closed on Tuesdays)