Holiday Inn Algarve Portugal – Armacao de Pera Review

UPDATE: As of 2024, this hotel is currently closed for renovations. It’s supposed to re-open under a Hilton name. I’ll leave this review up for anyone who might be interested.

The Algarve region of Portugal is a fantastic tourist destination with its beautiful beaches, shops, historical sites and castles. There are tons of hotels and resorts in the area that it can be overwhelming to chose the right one! I had such a tough time picking our hotel for this portion of our Portgual road trip (we visited during the winter “off-season” and hotel prices were dirt cheap, making basically every place affordable!).

I ended up settling on the Holiday Inn Algarve in Armação de Pêra for a few reasons –

• It was on the beach
• Armação de Pêra seemed to be a ‘central’ location within the Algarve. We had a car and wanted a good base for day trips.
• It’s a chain and I can earn those points. Gotta make every hotel stay count towards your next vacation!

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Algarve for three nights during our Portugal road trip. So let’s review the Holiday Inn Algarve – Armação de Pêra in Portugal:

Holiday Inn Algarve Portugal – Amenities

• Fitness Center
• 3 Restaurants, 1 bar
• Outdoor pool (was open in January when we stayed)
• WiFi was free and worked great
• Small gift shop in the lobby

We didn’t use the fitness center, as it wasn’t open until 7am. For us, this is too late for a workout (we like getting an early start), so we just did without. The reasoning behind the late opening hours is due to the fitness center’s proximity to guest rooms – the cardio equipment tends to make too much noise, disturbing other guests’ sleep.

We didn’t use the pool either – since we stayed in January, it was too cold for an outdoor pool, but it was open and a few brave people were using it.

Location:

The Holiday Inn is located in the Algarve city of Armação de Pêra and the hotel itself is right on the beach and within walking distance to shops. If you are coming here just to enjoy the beach, this is a great location and you could get by without a car if you’re visiting in the summer and looking for a beach vacation. We were on a Portugal road trip, so we had a rental car and used this hotel as our base in the Algarve region and it worked out great! The hotel has free parking and is a 45 minute drive from the Faro airport, which is the closest major airport in the area.

Room:

We were upgraded to the “Executivo Suite” which was great! In the room, we had a large living room area with a couch, television, and a refrigerator. Our room had a balcony with two chairs and a table, overlooking the beach and the sea – it was a great spot to catch the sunset. The Holiday Inn Algarve has rooms that face the beach and city view rooms. All the rooms that face the beach will have balcony.

Our room had a double bed (that was actually one bed – in Europe, you’ll find that it’s usually two beds pushed together, which can be really uncomfortable). In the room was a window overlooking the beach, a full length mirror, TV and countertops/compartments for storage and plenty of plug-ins for our techy gadgets.

The rooms are a bit dated and probably could use an update but remember – you booked the Holiday Inn, not the Ritz, so keep your expectations in check. It’s not going to kill you if you see a light fixture from 1998.

The room was extremely spacious by European standards (heck, even by American standards, the suite was huge!).

Bathroom:

The bathroom was fairly spacious – included a shower/bathtub combo, a toilet with a bidet, a hairdryer and the usual soap and mini shampoo/conditioner.

Dining at the Holiday Inn Algarve

The hotel has a bar, buffet restaurant (Pôr do Sol), Raj, a sit-down Indian restaurant, and Pal Beach, a beachside outdoor restaurant. Pal Beach and Raj were closed for the season during our stay, but the buffet and bar were open. We didn’t not eat at the hotel restaurant so I can’t speak to it. Breakfast is also served in the buffet restaurant but is not necessarily included with your stay (you will have to book a breakfast rate room if you want this meal included).

Visiting in Winter:

Whether or not you chose to stay at the Holiday Inn Algarve, if you visit this region during the winter months, you’ll run into the same seasonality issues no matter where you stay. You’ll find many places closed for the season – especially restaurants — and it’s simply too cold to enjoy a dip in the sea this time of year.

However, what you will find are incredibly low hotel prices and no crowds. We really enjoyed having everything to ourselves – not just at the hotel but at all the attractions in the area too.

Final Thoughts on the Holiday Inn Algarve

We really enjoyed our stay here and I’d definitely stay here again if my travels bring me back here (and I hope so! This was an amazing trip!).

Pros:

• Great off-season room rates
• Excellent location for both relaxing in Armação de Pêra, or using as a base for exploring the Algarve, like we did.
• Right on the beach!
• Several on-premises restaurants to chose from (especially if you visit during summer)
• Balcony rooms have amazing views

Cons:

• Your experience may vary depending on what time of year you go. Summer could be extremely busy and pricey, with a crowded pool and beach scene, but visiting in winter comes with seasonal business closures.
• Rooms are a bit dated, but you’ll survive.
• Fitness center has inconvenient hours.