I would not recommend staying in Quarteira. The 'resort' could be described as an inner city council estate by the beach. It was quite dirty, very run down and we felt very unsafe at night (and a little uneasy during the day). On our first journey to the hotel from the centre of Quarteira, we saw much graffiti, many corrugated iron shacks, etc....

The 'hotel' was clean and most staff were friendly and helpful. The pool was reasonably clean, but the pool area, loungers and parasol (we only spotted one!) were not the cleanest/in the best condition. It seemed that the children's pool, pool bar and games room don't actually exist. Also, the location of the hotel does not quite fit the description on websites. It is in fact a good 15 to 20 mins walk to the beach and at least 3km to the centre of Vilamoura. The hotel is very isolated - only a couple of bars/restaurants within a 10 min walk and no shops. Because of this, we ended up spending at least 20 euros a day on... more