Portobay Blue Ocean

"This is a beautiful hotel, with everything you want for a great stay. The rooms are clean & well presented. The staff are very courteous and pleasant, from the reception staff at check in to the cleaning and service staff in the restaurant. The whole place has a fresh, clean feel to it. The pool and spa are amazing. The food in the restaurant was good quality and tasty. The view from the hotel was stunning. Can’t rate this hotel highly enough. Only downside is, you get a complimentary bottle of water in the room on arrival, but you have to buy any additional bottles."

"Really lovely 2 weeks, loved the hotel, loved Portugal. Our first stay here ( recommended by family) but already planning to return next year. From arrival to departure, we found all the staff to be very helpful and professional at every interaction. The hotel itself is clean and attractive throughout, the room and surroundings excellent. There are 3 pools, we mainly used the indoor pool, not busy, and out of the sun. All the meals had excellent food, ( buffet, but well and freshly cooked) and the desserts were lovely. All serving staff were brilliant, especial thanks to Eduardo, Anabel, Tina and Adilson who we saw most ( everyone was great) . Its the nicest food we’ve had in this type of hotel. Very quiet and relaxing throughout, our room backed on to the adult section. Room, showers, etc all very good. Nice interesting Wine tasting session in the hotel with Eduardo. Small town (sports bar) and supermarkets in few minutes easy walking distance. Nearby long sandy beach easy walking distance but a lot of steps down and up! Gardens are attractive and quiet, with a few local birds. We saw the managers around, and expressed our thanks to them on our final day. Evening music pretty good ( we are early birds!) . Highly recommended."

"We recently stayed at PortoBay Blue Ocean and had a mixed experience. On the positive side, we received a warm welcome from Gabriela at check-in. She was very helpful and kindly arranged a room change for us after we explained that the first room allocated to us offered very little privacy on the terrace. We appreciated her professionalism and willingness to assist. Unfortunately, there were several aspects of our stay that were disappointing. The hotel simply does not seem to have enough sunbeds for the number of guests it accommodates. During our stay, all sunbeds were occupied, despite it only being the beginning of June. It is difficult to imagine how crowded it must become during peak season in July and August. This was particularly noticeable in the adults-only area, where the number of available sunbeds was very limited. We also observed what appeared to be inconsistent treatment of guests. In our experience, Portuguese guests seemed to receive less attention and friendliness than international tourists. A hotel of this standard should ensure that all guests are treated equally, regardless of nationality. Another disappointing incident occurred one evening when my partner went to the bar at 11:25 pm to get me some water, as I was feeling unwell. The bartender stated that the bar was closed and refused service. Moments later, an English man approached the bar asking for drinks and was attended to straight away, while my partner was completely ignored. This left a very negative impression and made us question whether all guests were being treated equally. We also experienced poor customer service at the pool bar. I ordered a sandwich that came with crisps. Due to the strong wind, the crisps blew off the plate and onto the floor as the waiter was serving the meal. Instead of offering to replace them, he simply told me to eat quickly before more blew away. Considering the prices charged at the hotel, a small gesture such as replacing the crisps would have demonstrated much better customer care. Overall, PortoBay Blue Ocean is, in our opinion, a highly overrated hotel. While some staff members, such as Gabriela, provided excellent service, we found the overall standard of hospitality—particularly in the bars and restaurants—to be disappointing. The hotel has potential, but improvements in customer service, fairness towards all guests, and guest facilities are needed to justify its reputation."