My husband and I have just returned from our first holiday to the Algarve. We booked it through the internet and were not too sure what to expect (although we never heard a bad report of this area). Our apartment was brilliant, very spacious and well equipped with stunning views of the lovely beach and the Atlantic. The apartments were well situated at the far end of 'the strip' which gave us a nice walk every night but there was no noise in our area.

The staff at reception and the maids were all very friendly and helpful. Our apartment was cleaned and towels changed 7 days out of the 9days we were there.

We ate out every evening and found some very nice restaurants. Hollywood was very busy but good food and excellent prices. The young waiter on the door was particularly pleasant. Titanic has an excellent reputation and although we found the food very good we felt the atmosphere was all a bit frantic. It was a busy night and people had to wait for a table which was fair enough but the antics and attitude of the head waiter would not have put Basil Fawlty to shame! Our favourite restaurant was Squash which had amazing food, nice waiters and did not cost the earth. One not to be missed!

We visited a snack bar on a few occasions called Dina's Bar (opposite Dirty Nellies Pub) for my husband to have a Mega breakfast. Staff were really nice and helpful , food was lovely and they run a book exchange which I find a bonus not to have to carry all those books home again.

All in all we had a great holiday and hope to return to this beautiful part of the world again. I cannot recommend it highly enough!