Olhos D'Agua Riu Guarana

My wife and I returned on 24.06 from 2 weeks at the Riu Guarana. I must first point out that we have never been to Portugal before, never stayed at a Riu before and the only time we have been all inclusive was on a Thomson cruise a couple of years ago. We had never experienced such a multi-national hotel with everything being announced in at least 4 different languages.

The Thomson brochure and website states a good place to start unwinding is at one of the two swimming pools. These lagoonlike lovelies have adjoining Whirlpool Baths and are flanked by teak sun beds with cream cushions and elegant parasols.

The swimming pools are fantastic although the swim up bar only looks half built and not open yet. The sun beds are not teak, but the usual plastic ones, and there are no cushions.

There are also no adjoining whirlpool baths although there is one in the larger pool. We had to be at the pool by 10am during the 1st week to reserve our beds and earlier during the 2nd week when the hotel seemed to be overrun with other guests. It can get very crowded by the pool at times.

The room we had was of small to average size, but adequate, with two large single beds made into a super double and overlooked the front of the hotel. It was tastefully decorated and included two bucket style arm chairs and a small table. A small balcony with two plastic chairs and small table, there is a fridge, safe, large wardrobe space drawers, and bath with shower over. Air conditioning is available in all rooms.

The main restaurant seemed small for a hotel this size, especially if large numbers went to eat at the same time. However the meal times were very flexible and opened for Dinner from 7pm to 10pm, so ample time. We found the menu disappointing and have discovered that we are not fans of buffets. If I see another piece of hake or pork fillet again, I will scream. A week was just as much as we could take in the main restaurant, and we ate twice in the Asian and once in the Grill restaurants. We also went out a couple of times. On saying that the food was good quality, it was just so repetitive and often bore no resemblance to the menu at the door. Often it was poorly labelled, so you didnt know what it was you were putting on your plate. One particular gripe about the main restaurant " why say that men should wear long trousers during the evening and then allow men with shorts or lengths in?

We often ate at the pool restaurant during the day. Although the selection was more limited than in the main restaurant, it was less hectic. The afternoon snack bar was the same every single day " burgers in buns, hot dogs, chips, sometimes salad.

We were a little disappointed in the lack of choice at the bar. There was only one type of beer and limited spirits, liqueurs. The Sangria was on tap alongside the wines and the cocktails were pre-prepared. The Cointreau tasted like Triple Sec, a cheaper version; Tia Maria also seemed like a local version. However if you specified you could get real Smirnoff or real Bacardi or Gordons gin. The local brandy was good though and the entire staff were really helpful. I liked the drinks machines, especially during the day. They saved so much time.

Our biggest gripe about the evening club room is the massive columns blocking the view of the stage. At a guess I would say that you can get a decent view in less than 30% of the seats in the room.

The staff work very hard and you do get good service and the Hotel itself is kept very clean. The entertainment staff are generally very good and the entertainment itself fairly standard. The Animation team were quite good especially the males, but some of the shows lost a lot in the repeated translation into different languages and the terrible miming.

We did have a few problems during our stay and it didnt help when we were amongst the last two to get to our room, some 3 hours after our arrival. When we finally got to our room there were no bath towels and it took 2 phone calls and 2 visits to reception to get some. On two separate occasions we had no hot water and while these things do happen, we had a bigger issue with the way there were dealt with. I dont appreciate being told that staff were too busy to answer the phone, after trying continually for nearly 10 minutes. The air conditioning also failed, although they did offer us a new room at this point.

Despite all that I have written we did have a relaxing time and it was a lovely hotel and the weather was outstanding. We have decided that all inclusive is probably not for us, as we enjoy the ambience of eating out at local restaurants and being in a local town.

PS Dont forget to ask for the free bottled water.

Rius latest hotel. Not quite finished but 99.9% done. Clean and smart but no shop on site and beach is 190 steps down a rock face. Stayed at the Riu Guarana on an all inclusive basis.