Have just returned after five of us, four adults and a 6 year old, spent first week in June at Real Bellavista Hotel. It wasn't our original choice. We booked Vile Gale Cerro Alogoa Hotel in February but 5 days before departure Panorama Holidays moved us to the Bellavista. We weren't pleased but were assured it was an equal 4* plus had the advantage of ''on the level whereas Cerra Alogoa was up a hill.'' Imagine our deepening disappointment when we arrived to discover the opposite. Bellavista is further from all amenities, in a very quiet area, up a hill on cobled stoned footpaths, certainly not suitable for elderly or pram pushers.
Having said that, the first impressions of Bellavista are very good, spotlessly clean and a beautiful marble foyer and check-in area. Our room was fine and spacious, everything changed and cleaned daily. Our balcony was small and view was predominantly another apartment block. Coming from Ireland it is difficult to understand why no tea/coffee making facilities - all hotels and guesthouses back home provide these. The pool area was lovely and we never had difficulty getting sunbeds. Our granddaughter had a ball in the pool. Incidentally few children was in the hotel. Panorama told us another plus was the kiddies club but we saw no activities. Perhaps it was too early as schools not closed yet.
The dining room is well laid out and breakfast is magnificent - ecellent choices. We intended having dinner at the hotel occasionally but very few appeared to go to the dining room at night so we went to the Oldtown. Glad we did - huge choice of excellent restaurants and most reasonably priced.
The bar at night was a disaster. On the Tuesday night we returned for a night cap but NOBODY was in the bar. It wasn't much better on Thursday night - just four people.
The hotel staff were always friendly and polite and deserve praise for their professionalism and courteously.
We would probably have enjoyed our holiday better if Panorama Holidays were more honest with us. Location is important to me as I am no spring chicken and it was the main reason I chose the Cerro Alogoa. If the hotels swapped locations I would gladly return to the Bellavista.

I have just returned from a 6 day break at the Real BellaVista Hotel (booked with Globespan) and I loved it !

This was my first visit to Portugal and I really wasn't sure what to expect. I can honestly say that I would go back in a minute.

On arrival at the hotel we were greeted by very friendly and helpful reception staff. Our room was located on the 4th floor, it had a balcony, mini bar, bathrobes, fresh fruit and bottled water. The entire room including the bathroom was very clean.

The bar area was great - reasonably priced, plenty of seating and TV screens that came in handy for the start of Euro 2008. Special mention to two people who looked after us brilliantly - Joao and Jorge - very friendly and the service was excellent.

The pool area was lovely with a pool side bar to keep everyone refreshed. The indoor pool and spa looked great although we didn't actually use the facilities - the weather was too good to stay indoors.

We stayed at the hotel on a B&B basis and the breakfast was faultless. There was an excellent choice from fresh fruit salad, cereal, juices, pastries, bread, cold meats, cheeses and of course a cooked breakfast option. You could eat as much as you wanted and the staff were helpful and efficient but not intrusive. We had lunch in the bar on our last day and it was also great - the burger and chicken baguette can be recommended.

We chose not to eat dinner in the hotel as we were only there for 6 days and the choice of restaurants in the old town were too good to miss. Our favourite being Cabana Fresca.

The hotel offers a free bus to the old town, the strip and their sister hotel - this runs throughout the day and is great especially when you are not sure where you are going. The old town/beach area was my favourite location. A taxi back from the old town cost us 4 euros and saved the uphill walk. There is a supermarket close by - 5 min walk - great for buying more water and snacks for the room.

We also went to Villamoura for the day - a taxi cost approx. 16 euros but there is a bus that runs and will cost approx. 3.75 euros per person - one way.

My only recommendation for the hotel would be to supply irons for guests. I forgot a travel iron and although I appreciate clothes can be taken away and ironed I felt those prices were expensive -over 5 euros to iron a skirt. My ghd hair straighteners doubled as an iron during my stay.

Overall - an excellent hotel, worthy of it's 4 star rating and I can't wait to go back. I would definitely recommend the hotel to anyone.

I´ve stayed at this hotel in 2 diferent ocasions.The first was on business, and i´ve enjoyed the hotel so i´ve decided to come again, now for a few days of relax. In both ocasions, i found the hotel very clean, with an excelent staff, and a good restaurant. Too bad that the bar closed so soon. Both pools are nice, aldo that they dont have that much of activities.
The rooms were large enough, and you dont hear the noise from the outside.
The breakfast its very nice, as well as the restaurant, aldo that there are several great restaurants, outside the hotel. The beach its a litle far, 15 minutes walk but the hotel provides you a shuttle free.
I would recommend the hotel for a casual vacation, but not with the luxury of others hotels in the algarve.

We stayed at the Real Bellavista Hotel & Spa for a lazy long weekend; arriving late Friday and left Monday evening. I would thoroughly recommend this 4-star hotel. It was pretty much our own as this was still very early in the season. We virtually had the indoor pool and Jacuzzi to ourselves. Bedroom and bathroom was spotless, fresh and clean. Breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets were most enjoyable and reasonably priced. The pool and Jacuzzi is free but the sauna, Turkish bath, gym and squash court all costs 10 euro each per session, per person! Spa facials and treatments I’m advised were on par to what you’d have to pay in the UK. A courtesy mini-coach will take you into the old-town, the new-town (The Strip) and the two nearby beaches. It only takes 5mins or so to drive to the nearest beach but it’s a good 20mins if you have to walk. All the staff we encountered at Real Bellavista spoke English and they were very helpful. Reception kept a very big bowl of complimentary sweets well stocked up. Make sure you take the free mini-coach over to the sister hotel the “Grand Real Santa Eulalia Resort & Hotel Spa” this is a 5-star hotel and well worth popping in there for coffee. We had a look round their spa facility which was really really fab.