| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
Grant Bevan from Bromsgrove travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2007 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location |  | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: Our experience of large hotel complexes has been mixed in the past so I was hoping, more than expecting, a nice hotel and facilities.
I am pleased to report that the hotel, facilities and staff all exceded my expectations. Our room was a lot larger than usual and we couldn't fault the cleanliness from arrival to departing our room. The balconies are huge with two sun loungers/parosal and a table and four chairs.
Maybe it was due to our visit being early in the season (May 07), but the cutlery, plates, etc, seemed brand new. Cannot fault the room at all.
The location to the beach is excellent but please do beware of cardiac hill. You will only walk up it once! You can walk up the hill from Reception (past the swimming pool) and cut through the Hotel giving a much more gentle path leading to the bottom of the Strip.
We booked a day trip to Vilamoura via Reception and the staff were always more than helpful to offer advice and assistance.
We didn't really use the hotel entertainment but it always seemed popular with other residents.
If you are staying at CPO I hope you have a stay as good as ours. Happy holidays!
Click here for more information on this hotel, resort and region
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C Murphy from Kilmarnock travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Direct Holidays
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have just returned from out holidays and have nothing but praise for the hotel. The staff are helpful and very pleasant, the gardens are stunning and the pool and rooms are spotless. When we got there it was late at night when we were taken to our room and we felt it was too far away from the pool where we usually like, so we requested a room nearer the poolside and they were very helpful, informing us that we could move to another room at change over, but in the two days waiting time we fell in love with our room which was on the ground floor a few steps up from the beach so we became 'beach bums' for the fortnight! So much so, when we return, (and we will), we will ask for the same room!
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Kath and Andrew from Lancashire travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Direct Holidays
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2006 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: This club/ hotel is a large complex with beautiful gardens and plenty of space.
You have the choice of 2 pools, we found the one next to the hotel much quieter with very few children.
Praia D'Ouras position is perfect for the beach, and the "Strip" which is just 5-10 minutes walk away.
If you get a room overlooking the bowling green you also get a sea view and this may be worth requesting a few weeks before you depart.
The reception staff were really helpful, especially Angelo who spent over an hour looking for another room for us. Be warned some of the studios to sleep 2-3 people are minute.
The club has a good piano bar for the evenings which is relaxing for us couples to sit and talk and another bar next to the bowling green to sit and watch the world go by during the day.
The maids came almost daily and were always very polite they even washed up for us!! There always seemed to be people working, cleaning and tidying throughout the hotel.The kitchenettes were well stocked and there was a TV in our room.
If you want a car ask at reception. They recommend Auto Jardin who arrived promptly with maps and were keen to plan out scenic routes we could follow.
We did not stay for any entertainment in the main bar although there seemed to be lots going on especially for children.
Welcome meeting very short and Reps were quick to disappear when we were told about our 4 hour delay.
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P BURKITT from WILLENHALL travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
FIRST CHOICE
on a friends holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 03 2006 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: Stayed at Clube Praia de Oura Hotel. Very clean, maid came in everyday except Sunday.
The hotel staff were excellent.
The entertainment wasn't up to much a bit cheesy.
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Sharon, Paul from York travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
First Choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Due to a terrorist blast in our planned destination of Kusadasi, Turkey, a couple of days before scheduled to go on holiday we changed to this Algarve holiday.
We were initially disappointed at losing our 5 star B&B in favour of this 3 star self -catering accommodation but at the end of our stay we would recommend the resort.
We had asked for a high room with pool view and double bed. We were given a studio which had small single beds (but thankfully not sofa beds) which did not have a pool view but the very helpful and friendly young lady on reception assured us it was a very nice appt in Block k - a quiet part of the complex and she thought we would like it. If not, we could go to reception the next day and they would try to change it.
The room was quite spacious and we had a fully equipped kitchen and breakfast bar and a welcome bottle of wine with the resort's compliments (I had dropped them an e-mail before arriving, so this may have been the reason for it). We kept the room, and found it well placed for going to the pool at the Oura Praia hotel across the road. It was also close to the supermarket and you could easily access the bars, strip etc avoiding the steep hill from reception. You could put a card out on the days you wanted the room servicing, which we did every other day and received fresh bedding, towels and tea towels.
Could not fault the cleanliness at the whole resort, bins everywhere for litter. Maintenance was also excellent, we had a problem with a shower just trickling, which was fixed same day. Also toilet stopped flushing which was promptly fixed. We also reported that the umbrella blew off the balcony and received a brand new one the same day. We also asked for extra pillows and coathangers which promptly arrived.
If you need anything it is easier to contact the hotel than your rep who we felt was less than helpful. She was more interested that we all ticked the excellent box to guarantee her next resort in Barbados than being genuiunly interested in her current holiday makers.
She slagged off local transport as unreliable when asked and in favour, promoted the First Choice trips. We learned later that Portugal has excellent public transport and has a fantastic train service that can take you as far as Lisbon within a couple of hours. The trips with the rep are expensive and offer poor value for money. The same trips are available cheaper direct from CPO, but are even cheaper if booked outside of the resort.
Slide n Splash is an excellent day out but the bus picks up at so many hotels in Alburfiera that we were still within the resort over an hour after being at our pick up stop at the designated time.
Beach at the resort is fantastic, although sunbeds I felt were a bit expensive at 13 euros. Most people sit on towels and have umbrellas that you can buy in resort for around 7 euros. Main pool at the CPO is loud and crowded but great if you like loads of organised entertainment.
Careful around the pool edge it can be very slippy, one young boy smashed his head open and was taken away in an ambulance during our stay. There is a quieter children's pool and lovely gardends and an aviary and childrens playground. If you just want to sunbathe there are 2 sun terraces that we found always had spare beds and umbrellas. If people reserved sunbeds at either pool at CPO or OP accross the road, these were removed - much to some people's annoyance, but is a fair system.
Eating at the OP during the day is very reasonable and there is a wide range to choose from. Breakfasts start at 3.5 euros which were great. On an evening, we prefered to avoid the strip for eating out and went to geordie pride, the cockerel for the sunday and mid week roasts. Father Ed's in the irish quarter was fun and lively and had a fantastic U2 tribute band.
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Connolly from Dublin travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Direct Holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 1 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: I have just returned from two weeks in Club Praia De Oura and just to give you a taste of how good it is - I have already booked it again for next year.
The complex itself is in a superb location near to the beach and also close enough to the main strip which is full of bars and restaurants.
The beach and sea were both very clean and are only a couple of mins walk from anywhere in the complex.
We were lucky enough to have a sea view which was spectacular especially at night when you could see the fishing boats lit up.
The entertainment in the complex was second to none. I am not usually into the organised entertainment kind of thing but both myself and my daughter took part in quite a few of the activities like aqua aerobics/ pool volley ball / kids club (obviously my daughter and not me!). You could get involved if you wanted or not - it was up to you. They also had evening entertainment on for the kids like face painting or talent competitions.
We stayed in a studio apt and although it was small it was fine for us as we really only used it as a base. The apt was cleaned nearly every day and we had more than enough clean towels. The equipment in the kitchen was all pretty new and there were plenty of pots and pans to make a good meal if you choose to cook in. As there was no air con in the rooms they did get very hot at night but we requested an extra fan and it was delivered up to our room within an hour.
The staff at the complex were all very helpful and there are plenty of notice boards around letting you know what's going on.
Overall we had a superb time and I would highly recommend the complex. Probably mostly suited to families or couples - not really a singles holiday type of place.
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Barbara Lyon from Saltburn travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Direct booking
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2005 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We arrived quite late at night to find there was no room reserved for us. Had booked via a direct marketing call from the resort.
Called the CPO manager who didn't care - blamed others and said nothing to do with CPO !!!!!
We were taken by the shuttle driver (who said this happened all the time)to another complex miles from beach and CPO - on arrival the worst examples of British were drunk in the lobby - no staff anywhere to be seen.
We didn't stay. It cost us around £200 for one night in the Sheraton but at least we were safe !!!
Next day went back to CPO - they found us the worst studio on site, dingy, not re-furbished, from patio was overlooked by windows of next door apartment and back looked out onto rough ground and semi derelict possibly staff apartments. Absolutely disgusting and no-one cared,- no compensation and no apology from anyone.
Each department at CPO blamed others and they try to tell you none of the departments are connected .
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spike morton from leeds travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
direct holidays
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2004 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Stayed self catering only because we have the choice to try different restaurants, but I must say the food in the complex restaurants was top quality but a little over priced compared to places around town, still if you fancied a night in the complex it has all you want.
The location was easily the best, and after seeing the town were glad we were not halfway up the 'strip' or better still right at the top as this would be a nightmare to get to the beach each day.
The staff were most helpfull, we only needed directions for places to visit and communication wasn't a problem.
The apartment was very clean and had good quality furniture and was in a good position, but would hate to be on the road side with no sea view or sun to sit in.
Went to a couple of shows and was quite impressed with the 'acts' - something for everyone.
Didn’t get a lot of hassle from time share sellers in the complex, and we would definitely be making this our first choice place to say in Portugal
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Michael from Manchester travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
CPO
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2004 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: After deciding to take a late 10 day holiday on the Algarve I would just like to say that this hotel was excellent and met all expectations ...(and I am fussy so believe me this is meant as a real compliment).
The apartment over looked the sea was impeccably clean and a pleasure to spend time in. My only disappointment would be the lack of single people in the complex and the resort for that matter which could mainly be due to the time of the year.
The location was superb (ask for a sea view) no complaints there infact everything gets a full recommendation........ say no more!!!!
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rob from kildare travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
direct holidays
on a singles holiday.
There were 4 adults and 5 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We spent two weeks in Aug 04.
In the two weeks we were there two mobile phones, walkman, a pair of jeans, tops, bra, bags were stolen when we were out of the room, no sign of a break in. Reported to hotel staff nothing done, still no word from hotel.
Direct holiday insurance will only cover phones, but want me to see if phones were covered when bought.
Never any room at pool, reported seen a rat outside room to hotel staff never heard any thing back. We will never be returning to this poor hotel and would not recommend this place to anyone. The police were rude and unhelpful.
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Lammie from Fife travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Direct Holidays
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2004 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Having read all reports before going, we were really looking forward to going, and we did have a great time.
Just a few things, our room was a 10-15 min walk to the pool because of stairs and we couldn't get the buggy down them so we had to walk the long way. After arriving at the pool at around 9:30am we could not get a sunbed due to the amount of beds covered with towels!!
Our room was clean enough, just we didn't have much of a view, we looked onto the shop!
Staff were great!!
Can't really comment of the entertainment because we never used it. We were always out!
I would definitely go back to Algarve!!
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Taylor from Rotherham travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
First Choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2004 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Hotel studio apartment was clean with large sea view balcony - even sun beds on balcony + table chairs and parasol.
Bed was pull ot style and required making everyday - bit of a pain. Maim problem was no air con -- fan fixed to wall but too high to reach without chair! All equipment in room excellent clean and newish . towels only changed 3 times in seven days. Beds were not touched.
Food and pool area good and much to entertain children in the evenings. Beer prices similar to Strip and botted beer better than draught.
RECEPTION QUICK AND EFFICIENT.
Taxis 5 euros to any where in Albuerfria and arrrived almost immediately.
Beach and sea practically on door step - excellent.
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Jake from Stockport travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Direct holidays
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2004 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The location of the hotel is excellant, next to the beach and a short walk from 'the strip'....As I said on the resort report page everything is brilliant, cleanliness is super, maids clean every other day, the food was really nice (i recommend the chesseburger and chips!!) All the hotel people were really nice, i didnt really speak to reception that much, i was round the pool making friends and playing water basketball, which is ran by the hotel entertainers, its a lot of fun, any ages can play! The nightly entertainment was as good as you could expect and I would definately go there again
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mike and julie from manc travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
comos
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2004 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: When you get to the airport it’s about 30 mins normally to Albufeira but our transfer took just over 1hr because of drops but our return was direct to airport which was nice
We stayed in a small studio in club Praia da Oura near the pool so we got lucky we was out during euro 2004 and attended a full welcome meeting with our rep in the morning after we arrived and she told us the easy ways to get around the hotel complex because its massive and there are lots of short cuts you can take. She explained these and the way to avoid cardiac hill. Sian was lovely and explained about the football taking place and the ways you can get to Lisbon and the fact that if you got a train you cant get a cab from the station till 630 am which we didn’t think was true, because she was selling coach tickets it was the point of telling us the cheap and easy way to Lisbon football ground. Well we booked the coach for the next two games as she was spot on about the trains and taxi's.
I'd advise all to go to the welcome meetings with your rep not the time share meeting.
The hotel has a 3 swimming pools 4 bars and activities all day and a beach at the bottom of the complex which is very beautiful
Hotel bars
Ocean bar is the most amazing bar about 7pm when the sun going down our rep showed us it amazing watching the sunset in such fabulous surroundings.
Amanda bar is the entertainment bar the Michael Jackson guy was wicked and the staff are so friendly
Piano bar is relaxing at times can get so noisy and is where you find the reps during there times in hotel
Local area
Restaurants
There’s lots of choice in the strip
the best way to find what you like is to walk and look at how busy they are and what’s on offer sizzling stones is a bit expensive but very nice and close to the hotel
Bars
Reno la Bammas, Kiss Erins Ilse
Whatever you like its there
Night club Kiss open till7am
Bars are open till about 4 and are cheap and cheerful there some that do karaoke
Some that have pool tables and some that have entertainment
Beaches the old town beach was having a Cliff Richard concert at some point and was a lovely little beach with lots around to do in the evening the old town has street entertainers
There’s lots to do we did a few days out and here is what we did
Zoo marine swim with dolphins
It cost 120 euro to swim and you still have to pay £23.50 for entry and travel to zoo marine and a extra 25 for videos and photos but its worth every penny as you get an insight to dolphins and then you get to play and swim with them and do a few tricks it’s all so amazing
Jeep safari was 45$ but you got a day out off road up the mountains and dinner and a try of fire water and honey. The things you learn and see are just breathtaking we had a little dip in the natural lake with a little water fall and it was cold but so worth it we needed cooling down.
With your dinner it’s a roast and you get free drink to and you can ask for a veg dish if you wish you have fresh bread you can smell it cooking on your way.
You also stop in the beautiful little towns some have no electricity or running water. They have to go to a pump for water and have a little area where they all go to do there washing it’s so like the old times .Its a highly recommended trip to do.
Boats - we did a half day Catamaran which shows you the coast lines of Vilamoura down passed Albufeira and turns and comes back its a peaceful relaxing tan topper to do.
We had a wicked holiday. Hope our review helped you. Plus if u see Marcio the bar man say hi. H iis the nicest bar man ever speaks good English and is so friendly
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Gill from Leamington travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Direct
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2004 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: I have just returned from a week at CPO along with my two teenage children, there is some building work going on at the rear of K block but Direct holidays are not placing any of their customers there. We were in block J which is near the supermarket, about three minutes walk through the complex to the pool and about 10 minutes to the beach.
We never managed to get a sunbed by the pool but there was plenty of lawn to stretch out on. The whole complex was very well kept, the apartment we had was one of the older ones and though the furniture was a little shabby and the bathroom could do with a refit it was spotlessly clean, the maids changed the towels and cleaned every other day. The kitchen had recently been refurbished though we only used the kettle and fridge.
To avoid "cardiac hill" it is easier to head through the grounds towards the hotel and then turn left towards The Strip, you then have to pass the Sizzling Stone which has to be one of the best restaurants in the area.
The hotel has it's own bus which runs to the old town of Albufeira unfortunatly the last return jouney is at 8.30pm but as there is a set taxi fare of 5 euros it is quite easy to get back.
I cannot make any comment on the entertainment as we didn't go to any of the shows. We were not bothered by any time share people though we did witness people being shown round. We are already talking about going back next year.
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Tall Chapy from UK travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Unknown
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2003 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Couple with one small child. - 1st 2 weeks in August 2003
Building work -
Building work is directly behind Oura Praia & one side of Block K. While we were there very little work was being carried out. This I believe was due to the fact that the first 2 weeks in August are like a national holiday in Portugal.More on this later
We stayed in Club Praia da Oura.
To be honest we only ever went to Oura Praia to take a short cut to the supermarket.
Oura Praia -
Interior extremely well kept.
When you book a room I would recommend that you only book a room with view of the pool, (Front facade could do with a wash.)as the front faces a main road & the rear backs on to the building site & a small road which should become busier when completed.
Club Praia da Oura
Is well managed & very well maintained. Porter brings your bags to your room.
The k block is detached from the main complex & is a little isolated (No pool view,no sea view) & backs on to the small road mentioned above. Blocks A,B & C have pool views & some could have sea views. Block D,E & F all have sea views, with F block fronting directly towards the sea.
Facilities :
Club Praia da Oura Bars:
We never had a drink in these the whole length of the stay. Too pricey
Club Praia da Oura Resturant(s):
Too pricey, also heard the food was only ok
One thing I did not like was that they kids entertainment & then through in a buffet & had charged of kids €10 adults €20, so for some kids entertainment it would cost €50 - no thanks.
Jacuzzis - shower before (shower at jacuzzi)10 min max, max 4 people. Usually more than 4 & stayed for more than 10 mins. They are nice though with 2 people. Main swimming pool is good, no problems. Deep end towards the bar. There is about 115 sunbeds around the pool. One morning at 10.30 these were all taken by people or covered in towels. Another morning at 09.30 only 15 were left.
As Pandora said "BEWARE" at the bar end there is a glass panel to allow people in the reception area bar to see swimmers although only their undersides and legs - make sure you aren't caught out adjusting your swimwear in front of an audience!
The kiddies pool is directly below block D & as Pandora said The kids pool at CPO is large and shallow with a bridge over it. There are no sunbeds in this area but there are benches and lots of grass to lounge on if you take a mat or towel.
Tennis court -
Is situated in Oura Praia & I believe there is fee
Bowling Green -
Is situated in Club Praia da Oura & I believe there is fee
Reception - Is ok, with a small reception for owners.
There is a separate reception for Information. All info/reception area staff speak excellent english.Also a small shop.
One thing I did not like was that they asked for your credit card number, so that they were covered for any damages. We were never informed of this before we left(I believe it is standard in a lot of places) I had no credit card so I had to hand over €100. This can be a lot of money to someone on a small budget.
Never used the launderette.
Sauna is free but never saw anybody avail of it.
Kiddies club, never used it, though there is a dedicated person who organises a kiddies disco, karate & football lessons & agree with what Pandora said previously.
APARTMENT
We had a one bedroom apartment
Fridge with ice box, which is suppose to be left at setting 4.We found this too low & rasised it to max 5.At the end of week 2 the ice starts to become full with ice.
The fridge is defrosted for hyigene before each new arrival.
3 ? ring cooker, with grill & oven, all/every utensils supplied including kettle.All are spotlessly clean.
Microwave - never used
Dining table 4 chairs rarely used as we mainly ate out.
Bread bin, mop & bucket,breakfast bar..etc..
Sofa bed & another pull out underneath.We also had a sofa chair bed(never used) but could of accomodated another child.The cane sofa beds are believe to be in the most modern rooms.
TV - Has Sky news, sky one, BBC news24, CNN? & a few Portugese channels. A lot of information relating to the complex is held on some of the other channels & even more is available on the text service. But you need to hire the remote (€15 refunded).
The main bedroom was large, there was plenty of linen & plenty of storage. We had 2 fans in the apartment, we believe 1 is the standard. My wife fould it hard to sleep with the heatwave that was on at the time & could not get another fan. There is no air conditioning installed. Bed linen seemed to be changed only once while we were there & towels were changed regularly.
Bathroom
Shower/Bath,sink,mirror, Toilet & a Bidet.
Safety Deposit box
This cost €10 a week plus a €15 refundable deposit.
Room maid tip
It is policy at Club Praia da Oura that they ask you to leave a tip (€5-€10)for the room maid. They even leave an envelope with her name on it - another new one on me. To be honest we had no problem as the woman was always nice & obliging. We usually threw our change into a bowel at the end of each day & whatever was there at the end we gave to the room maid.
Each apartment has a small sun terrace, 2 sunbeds a table with umberella & 4 chairs.But with timeshare reps walking passed every 15 mins, it would be discouraging to use.
PARKING
This a complete nightmare or you could pay for the privilage in the car park across the road,they have 'special rates'
BEACHES
These are very close.There is an alcove an the end of the complex, walkway down is a little tricky. This ideally can provide some shade near the end of the day if you wish rather than moving. If you walk to the right from the car park this will lead to the main Oura beach the beach is fine & has some watersports & food places at the back.
Beach negatives
The water is cool, yes even during a heatwave it is cool, it is hard to heat up the whole of the atlantic !! I recommend you fry a little on the beach & wait until it starts to get too hot, jump in then. You will then soon get use to it. The Oura sea has a a small layer of shale/shingle (3ft wide)across it, so when you start to walk into the sea you must walk across this with your bare feet. The sea itself seemed clean enough.
TIMESHARE
It is mainly related to the complex itself. Nobody invited us to any time share meeting, until a woman walked into our apartment 3 days before we left & we politely told her no & she was happy with that. The timeshare 'area' is directly in front of Block D (Yellow area). They seem to have reps from each different country to show people from each different country around ie English show the English, Portugese show the Portugese..etc..
SHOPS
There are 2 main shops near Alisuper at the back of Block A & Marrachino supermarket which is at the front of Oura Praia. Mirrachino is bigger & cheaper than Alisuper. Bottled water is dirt cheap, we got a 5 litre bottle for 65 cent. Bring your own tea bags/coffee as the prices are a rip off. Drink is cheap in the bottle shops. The tap water is ok. Sort of in between UK/Ireland & Spain. Lidl is too far away to use.
TAXIS
These are cheap but a nightmare to book one to pick you up & the nearest Taxi rank is over halfway up the strip at the main road that runs across the strip.
CARDIAC HILL
My advice is to walk along the top tier of the complex & towards Oura Praia & walk towards the Sizzling Stone
RESTURANTS
Do not touch 'La Bamba'. We waited 45 minutes for our meal. The meal was half cooked, we complained & asked to see the manager, no manager appeared, we were told 'you no pay' so we left & they then came chasing after us saying we did not pay, we went back to see the manager, no manager only the police !! They would only take the word of the staff, demanded that we pay, we refused to pay the full bill, they threatened us with arrest. They even charged us with the Couvert(bread & butter) which we immediately refused when it was put on the table. Eventually we had to pay some of the bill. This was either a mix up or a setup. This could of been cleared up if the manager had of coming out in the first place. The staff & police were an utter disgrace !!
Carravelle Resturant has lovely staff, but we ordered fillet steak & got rump & we were not the only ones to complain. The attitude by the staff when you complain is unbelieveable. Rather than being helpful they are confrontational. So give as good as you get. In a lot of places there customer service leaves an awful lot to be desired.
The only decent resturant at the strip we found was The sizzling stone, nice food, nice people. I would recommend eating in the Albufeira. 2 excellent places are The Atruim & the Tequilla Cafe (English run, Colin).
SHOPPING
There is very little decent shopping on the strip. Maybe the odd spot that you have to search for. The is an Indian run shop towards the Hotel Montechoro end that is suppose to be the cheapest on the strip. As for Algarve shopping complex out of town toward Guia. This is dearer than the strip. The one good thing is that there is a Nike discount store recently opened across the road some bargain to be had there. Expect to see a few shoe bargains but not a chance. Plenty of shop in Albufeira, but not many bargains.
PLACES TO GO.(Outside of Albufeira)
We hired a car & if you shop around you could get a good deal, heard it is best to stick to the main dealers.
Hyundai Accent 4 days €140. Cheaper deals for smaller cars. N125 is the main road, but the motorway can also be used.
Zoomarine - Excellent value. Shop around for the best price. Well worth a visit, dolphins, seals, exotic birds..etc. Swimming pool, rides for the kids.
Gale Beach nice beach, some rocks in the sea.
Lagos - very nice with marina.
Cape St. Vincent beautiful views of the cliffs.
Alvor - Has a nice beach, waves are strong, but apart from that & the quaint town it has not got much. Enter Alvor via Portimao.
Silves - Muesum, Great Moorish Castle, not much to do inside castle (walk the walls, missed the torture chamber)as there is a dig on at present when it is complete in a few years time it will be a wonder.
Never go to Albufeira/Montechoro in the first 2 weeks of August as this is a National Holiday & it is packed with Portugese, who come down in their cars & cause traffic jams (Nothing major though-Taxi men mainly complain). We met 2 lovely portugese couples while in Club Praia da Oura.
Most working people in bars & resturants were very unfriendly & rarely smiled genuinely. The exception been some of the places mentioned above.
CPO was nice but the strip no thanks !!!
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Pandora from UK travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Unknown
on a Unknown holiday.
There were Unknown adults and Unknown child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2003 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: THE HOTEL
Returned last night from Club Praia da Oura/ Oura Praia Hotel.
I would like to echo what fitzy has said about the major building work going on. Panorama had not informed us of it either - had they I would not have gone as the ripped up pavement and dust track road alone were a nuisance but there was quite a lot of noise from the diggers and cranes. Not to mention the heckling from the builders.
The studio we had originally was large and airy. In the kitchen there was a fridge with ice box, two halogen cooking rings and a microwave/grill combination. The instructions were in the kitchen although we never used the micro!
When we were moved (because of the building noise) the studio we had then was significantly smaller than the first we lost out on some cupboard space and drawers and a dining table with three chairs became a breakfast bar with two.
The third bed for our daughter was a fold-up variety but we left it down all week. Bed linen is only changed once a week so I'm glad we moved midweek so we got some clean! Towels are changed twice a week from what I gather.
On site there is an Alisuper supermarket which is well priced - no dearer than others around. By the Oura Praia is a Marrachino supermarket which is much bigger. These two chains seem to dominate the area and it is worth shopping round as they are cheaper on different items!
THE POOLS
The pool at the Oura Praia is ideal for families as it has a shallow and deep end which allows the bigger kids to swim and play safely. There is a splash pool there as well.
The main pool at CPO is large and deep all round - unsuitable for kids. BEWARE at the bar end there is a glass panel to allow people in the reception area bar to see swimmers although only their undersides and legs - make sure you aren't caught out adjusting your swimwear in front of an audience!!!
Nearby are two jacuzzis with a short stay policy although whilst we were there the teenagers used them constantly as a pick up bar!
The kids pool at CPO is large and shallow with a bridge over it. There are no sunbeds in this area but there are benches and lots of grass to lounge on if you take a mat or towel.
Down a flight of steps from the kids pool are two jacuzzis often free wchich are either nice and warm or freezing cold depending on the day you catch them! Next to these is a seldom used sauna which is free.
BARS
There are bars dotted around the complex although these are expensive at 2.5 Euros a pint. There is a piano bar by the CPO reception which looks really nice.
At night there is entertainment laid on but when we arrived at 10 to the Oura Praia it was almost deserted and looked awful. Other holidaymakers told us later how poor the entertainment was. The CPO entertainment appeared to be better attended judging by the drunken state of the people we saw staggering out.
OTHER FACILITIES
There is a daytime entertainment programme laid on at the CPO but you need to look and listen hard to find out what is happening and when. I didn't meet anyone who had used the facility!
There is a hut by the CPO which is used for the kids club. I didn't use the facility as the location of the hut - in a busy area by a main road and the reception did not seem ideal and there never seemed to be any kids there!
In the Oura Praia there is a gym which is free to use as long as you bring a top, trainers and a towel.
TIMESHARE
The front of the Oura Praia is where the touts live offering scratchcards to people and then pulling the winners in for a "free tour". It is quite amusing sitting anywhere in the complex seeing how many people are taken on these tours.
From what I gather after the rep meetings (I didn't go to mine) you are handed over to a CPO rep for a tour which turns out to be a timeshare pitch. There are maps everywhere and do you really need to be told "this is a pool", "here is reception".
Contrary to what we bleived would happen nobody rang our room or gave us invitations to timeshare meetings we were left alone. The only time a CPO rep spoke to us was outside the Oura reception and when I asked how he had the nerve to sell timeshare in a building site he admitted how awkward it was making his job.
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fitzy1 from UK travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Unknown
on a Unknown holiday.
There were Unknown adults and Unknown child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2003 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: Having just returned from a stay at CPO, (we last stayed there 8 years ago) we found it to be just as good as our first visit. Just one thing that potential visitors ought to be warned about, they tell you in the brochure that CPO now is part of and shares all facilities with it's sister hotel, the Oura Praia. What the brochures didnt tell us was that the Oura praia, impressive as it was, is currently a building site. A very large complex is being built directly across the very narrow road from it, and also all the pavements and kerbs around the Oura Praia are being replaced, which means each time you enter or leave the hotel, you are walking on rubble. We were allocated a room in Oura Praia, and our balcony on the first floor immediately faced the buiding work. We stayed put for that night, but we were woken at 6 a.m next morning by the steady stream of construction traffic, JCB's etc. I asked for a move to CPO, and after a bit of negotiating, we were given a lovely quiet room just by the supermarket. Moving rooms was not without trauma though, as it was very difficult getting the luggage trolley up and down Cardiac Hill, made worse by the absence of any proper pavements! The rest of the holiday was perfect, but I feel Direct holidays ought to have warned us, and there were many people complainig long and loud to their reps!
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DiMacca from UK travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Unknown
on a Unknown holiday.
There were Unknown adults and Unknown child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2002 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: My family and I stayed at CPO for the last 2 weeks in August 2002. The weather was fab! The beach gorgeous!
We had a 1 bedroom apartment overlooking the pool. The apartment itself was fine.
The supermarket in the complex stocked most things we needed to buy during our stay.
The grounds were lovely and well looked after.
If you wanted a sunbed, you had to be down there by 8.30am and make sure you STAY WITH YOUR TOWELS! Because, if you didn't, the pool man (much to everyone's amusement!) would walk around the sunbeds, swiftly removing all the towels from unattended sunbeds
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pjharr from UK travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Cosmos
on a Unknown holiday.
There were Unknown adults and Unknown child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2002 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: Just returned from 2 weeks at the CPO (14/07/02) – the best holiday we have ever had. The complex is superbly maintained, and our apartment in K block (furthest from the beach at approx. 200 metres) was spotlessly clean on arrival.
Having read other entries on this site, I was well prepared for the timeshare sales people who are in abundance. One woman who knocked on our apartment door said she represented the “tour operators”, and denied it was a timeshare meeting she was inviting us to. A firm NO sent her packing and to be fair we were not bothered for the rest of our stay. We did meet other guests who had endured a five and a half hour sales pitch so be warned – the sales people are extremely clever and display amazing stamina.
We didn’t use the restaurants in the complex as there were plenty available either on “The Strip” or behind K Block. I would recommend Neto’s on the road behind K Block. Good food but the very friendly service was rather leisurely if you were in a hurry to go elsewhere that evening. Eddie’s Bar is also nearby. Cheap and cheerful, but always a very friendly welcome from the lads who work there.
Best meals we had were at La Bamba on the Strip. Excellent quality, keenly priced, friendly service. Only down side is that the notorious “cardiac hill” has to be climbed to get there, unless you take the longer lesser gradient around the back of K Block.
Facilities at the Oura Praia Hotel are also available to guests of the CPO, but when we went there it seemed almost deserted. I suspect OPH residents go down to the CPO where there are more facilities.
When you make it to the strip, look out for the Indian guy who paints pictures on glass– absolutely fascinating.
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duke from dublin travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
dircet holidays
on a friends holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2002 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: hotel was very nice and staff were excellant.
pool v clean
one note the music in amanda bar can be extremely loud and i dare say exceeds 90db which in EU terms deem potential for hearing loss to employees on the bar. I notice a lot of infants in this location at night & with the loud music I question the wisdom of this practice. turning down the music could easily solve this problem and may result in more usage of the bar, ie increase in takings by the complex.
trolley baggage collection on departure did not arrive after 20 mins, perhaps this was because of where i was accommadated and other location nearer to reception are getting better service. i stayed the previous year at same complex and was located beside swimming pool, trolley service was very promt on that occassion.
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rosbros from UK travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Sunworld
on a Unknown holiday.
There were Unknown adults and Unknown child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2002 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said:Well just returned from a glorious week in CPO - my daughter and myself returned having had such a good time last year.
Just logged in to say have booked another week in September to bring my husband - we've had our package holidays through the years but I think I've found the place I love and would like to use as our retreat from normal 9-5 days - so definitely I will return once a year (if not more) to take a spring or autumn break - (I can't take extremes of heat so high season is out for me - though my daughter's now bringing her friends there next high season)
I'm learning portuguese on the internet now - address: http://link.bubl.ac.uk/portuguese
Local people so accommodating - next time I go I want to at least speak a little bit of their language.... |
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geddoyle from UK travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Unknown
on a Unknown holiday.
There were Unknown adults and Unknown child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2002 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: I have had two wonderful relaxing breaks here and I am planning a third. The whole complex is perfect with lots to see and do and the management have such high standards that it makes a pleasure to stay their.
Although, I was booked in as self-catering, the eateries their were also of a very high standard. The location is just perfect with a short walk to the beach and is also a stones throw from the lively British Strip if you are missing your egg and chips!
The Club also organise very good deals on day trips and car rental and the prices were better than being competitive, They were very cheap.
Can't wait to go back.
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brendad45 from UK travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Direct Holidays
on a Unknown holiday.
There were Unknown adults and Unknown child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 03 2002 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: My husband and I have not long returned from a five week long stay at the CPO and we could not have wished for a better holiday it was fantastic from the location to the staff,we have booked for six weeks next year before we left to make sure we get the same complex.
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rosbros from UK travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Sunworld
on a Unknown holiday.
There were Unknown adults and Unknown child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 02 2002 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: My daughter and I had a great week in CPO last year and as it was our first time away together (she's 21, I'm 44) as a twosome we were a bit apprehensive - we spent a bit too much money in the hotel restaurants the first few days but by the end of the week were enjoying the food from the local supermarket which we cooked in the apartment - we wished we had been a bit more careful about this as in retrospect discovered we had spent £24 on wine at our first meal - and that was ONE bottle - hadn't quite adjusted to the money!!
This year my daughter has approached me to go back to the same hotel (last year was my treat, she's paying for herself this time) - and she's much more fussy than I would be, so I've given this hotel full marks all round and we have booked again to go back this May.
We had a 1 bedroomed apartment which suits 2-4 people and it was lovely. The one bedroom had a double bed and there was a single pull out bed from the sofa in the living area. Towards the end of the week we really relaxed but as our hours of sleep began to differ more and more throughout the week I took to the single pull out bed which was surprisingly comfortable. The kitchen was well equipped and I didn't need to ask for anything.
BUT the thing I'm most looking forward to when I go there again are the local supermarket's - we have actually decided to only go out for one or two meals this time as the fruit/veg and produce available are of the highest standard - to epitomise this place - we both had our cosy but very easy domestic scene going on in the apartment, my daughter had her wild nights with friends she made with the staff and other holiday makers - and I got to read 4 novels on the beach, on the balcony, by the pool.....
Can't wait to get there again!
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bobbyone from UK travelled to Praia da Oura Club with
Direct Holidays
on a Unknown holiday.
There were Unknown adults and Unknown child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 02 2002 |
rated the Praia da Oura Club as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
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| said: Fourth visit this year to CPO. Excellent accomodation and an abundance of facilities, 4 jacuzzis outdoor, lawn bowls, sauna and pool with bar. Soft music playing as you wander round the gardens which are lit at night.
Only 15 min walk to the famous strip without using Cardiac hill And our local pub/restaurant The Kilt & Celt where Louise, Kev and Jimmy will welcome you with open arms. Plenty other bars and eating places with lots of gift shops on the strip,also if you like Pan Pipe music you might find them playing near the Villanova complex dressed in their Indian costumes.
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