I stayed at the Stella Maris for 1 week in a Studio w/c 29th May with my wife and 10mth son.

With only a 30 min transfer from Faro airport the realitively quick journey after a 3 hour flight with a baby was appreciated!

Check-in was very quick and the reception area very clean and modern. Our studio bedroom was on the 3rd floor of the hotel overlooking the gardens and childrens playarea. The open plan appartment was excellent and included an ironing board, hair dryer and toaster which was excellent.

The bedrooms were splotlessly clean, as was the pool and restaurant areas.

The pool area was pleasant but not overly huge - so be prepared to get up early to 'claim' your beds! Also do be aware of the parasols - as if the wind picks up they seem to easily fall over. My wife got a bang on the head - which whilst vaguely humourous could have been more serious. You have been warned!

The beach is lovely, nice and quiet, and very safe. The sea was freezing though!!!! Still didn't stop me going in!

We walked to Villamoura along a hillside path one day - well worth a visit - a lot more shops and restaurants than Praia De Falesia which only really had a handfull. We also visited Albuferia old town for lunch - 10 Euro in a cab - which was nice for a change of scenery.

We ate at the Chinese restaurant and the Flor De Mer restaurant (nearby) in the main square by the hotel and both were very good! The hanging meat mixed kebabs at the latter were very good indeed!

All in all, the hotel is very good and the surroundings very relaxed and low key - ideal for a family getaway.

(PS for those taking little ones you can buy baby food in the local supermarket but not baby milk - remember to take your milk powders!)

We chose this place after reading that the accommodation was spacious, clean and well-equipped. We were aware that the location wasn't what a majority of people would consider 'good', but it was exactly what we wanted and we had a great holiday. We catered for ourselves the entire week after a trip to the hypermarket at 'Algarveshopping' in Guia. We made it there by taking the local bus to Albufeira bus station and another bus that dropped us off outside the shopping centre. We took a taxi back and that cost us 15 euro. To be honest, for more than two people it would be cheaper and a lot quicker to take a taxi there as well. We took the Aparthotel's courtesy bus to the centre of Albufeira for a morning of shopping but since the return bus was too late for us, we took a taxi back. Pricey at 14 euro, we thought.

There is a complex of bars, eateries and shops a two-minute walk from the apartments. Obviously the supermarket was a bit expensive, but some items were actually cheaper than the larger supermarket on the approach road, near the Sheraton, so it's not necessarily worth the 15-minute walk there. There are also shops for beach gear and bijoux, and a newsagent.

Praia de Falesia beach is beautiful, but the ocean looked too rough for swimming. We walked to Vilamoura marina along the beach - it took 1 hour, but a bit longer coming back because the tide had come in and it was difficult to walk on the soft sand. I've nothing different to add about the Aparthotel itself, except maybe that the reception staff were civil rather than friendly or particularly helpful. Any Portuguese we dealt with in shops were pleasant though - they're likeable people.

While the Stella Maris apartments are beautiful and exceptionally clean and well maintained, I couldn't possibly recommend to anyone that they stay here. This is because the hotel is just in the most dreadful location possible - don't be fooled when it tells you it's in Albufeira! It's actually about 5 miles out from the new town of Albufeira, and another couple of miles on from there to the picturesque old town. So if you're wanting to go to Albufeira, choose another hotel that is actually in the town. The Stella Maris is in the middle of nowhere, so be prepared to spend a lot of money on taxis if you want to go anywhere, eat in nice restaurants, etc. A taxi to Albufeira costs around 12 euro, a bit more to the pretty marina at Vilamoura, but both of these are lovely and worth seeing. While the general area is great, it's just a shame that this hotel is in such a terrible location, meaning that if you don't want to rent a car you're completely reliant on taxis.

Albufeira old town and Vilamoura are both lovely though, and I would happily have stayed in either of these towns. One other word of caution - the cleaners stole some money from our room, so make sure you make use of the safety deposit box if you do decide to stay here!

Overall I would not recommend you choose this hotel, unless you don't mind that there is nothing to do within walking distance, besides go the beach. If you like to be near to shops, restauarants etc, steer well clear of the Stella Maris.

My fiancé and I stayed in the Stella Maris aparthotel from 15th - 22nd May 2008.

Positive points: Very clean, towels and bedding cleaned daily, spacious, great kitchen, good sized balcony, hotel staff were very helpful, lovely beach within a 10 min walk, relaxing atmosphere, nice grounds around the hotel.

Negative points: The beds were very uncomfortable, I'm not sure if double rooms are available, but we ended up with a twin room and neither of us had a great night's sleep in 7 days! The food in the hotel is quite basic, as a veggie I could only eat off the snack menu as the buffet laid on each night was not suited to my tastes, but those eating from the buffet appeared to enjoy their food. The hotel is kind of in the middle of no-where - which is fine if the weather is lovely every day, however, if you'd rather not spend your whole holiday by the pool then you need to walk about 40mins or grab a cab - which costs between 10 and 15 euros depending or where you are traveling to. Trying to get a taxi from the hotel also proved quite difficult for us at times, one night we just couldn't get one and had to stay at the hotel to eat.

I would not recommend eating at the square - which is a 5 min walk from the hotel. The food was not of a high quality and did not appear to be Portuguese, instead, like a lot of the Algarve, it was catered to British tastes, if you like that food fine ..., but I'd rather not have a roast beef or Yorkshire puddings on hols. We tried out one of the cafes and both sent our food back, it was not fresh and the veg looked like it had come out of a tin ...

The two towns that are within a 15 min taxi ride are Vilamoura and Albufeira, however, they couldn't be more worlds apart if they tired. Whilst Vilamoura is classy, serves delicious local food and has great surroundings, Albufeira is tacky, cheap, full of undesirables and larger louts. We are a young couple - I love dance and house music and would have been happy to stay out until 4 or 5 in the morning, however, not in this area!

If I returned to Portugal, I would be sure to stay at Vilamoura, but not until I have children as it is not geared towards young couples looking for a good night out.