Eden Resort Albufeira - My Review

Padraig Mor

As it happens, just came back from a week there yesterday! Weather first few days was great - 20C and sunny. Monday was rain all day. Tuesday and Wed nice and sunny, but cool when out of the sun in the afternoon.

In terms of the resort itself:
Location: it IS a little bit out alright. From the door to the old town square is about a 25 minute amble with kids stopping at shops etc. If you walk via the (sort of) park rather than the dual carriageway (they're parallel) there is a playground and various bits to entertain the kids on the way. We walked in a few times and got an Uber back. First time using Uber and recommend it. Never waited more than 5 minutes. Fare from Spar at the start of the old town to Eden was less than €3. Wouldn't really recommend walking back with kids - it's uphill all the way, and the last 10 mins or so are quite steep.

Shopping etc: there is a small shop on site with limited stock. Prices higher than elsewhere but not as bad as expected. There's a Pingo Doce supermarket at the first roundabout towards town about 10 mins walk away. Watch out for the uphill climb back though! There's also a couple of Pizza / pastry restaurants there too. About a 5 min walk away to the left is Restaurant a Cocheira - we had planned to go there but didn't, but it seems to get very good reviews.

Pools etc: three outdoor pools. One large one for adults only at the 'back' of the resort. A large one in the middle with kids pool too and big bar / coffee shop (closed until April I think?) - this is closed off at the moment for works. Another large + kids one with a small bar only open July August I think. In the middle is a small playground suited to younger kids and a kids club which is supposedly summer only but was open the last few days we were there. There's also a little stream with a bridge from where kids can watch the loads of fish there swimming (mine loved this!). One indoor pool - small and not exactly balmy warm.

Accommodation: we had a 2 bed villa. Very spacious. A/C in living room and each bedroom. Wifi fine but TV needs to be on for it. Very limited English language TV channels - kids channels were all in Portuguese. Kitchen fairly well equipped but absolutely no 'bits and pieces' - no dishwasher tabs, cloths or even a brush. Beds not great and pillows poor.

Bars / restaurants: besides the pool ones above, the rest is concentrated around reception. There's a large restaurant where breakfast / lunch / dinner is served (only open for those). Alongside, there is the Kiosk cafe bar open 10.00 - 23.00 serving coffee / soft drinks / booze in plastic cups and a limited snack menu (burgers etc). Upstairs is the Apple bar open 16.00 - 24.00 serving drinks only - in glasses and can't be taken out.

Food: the restaurant food was "OK". Nothing especially wrong with it but was very bland and very samey from day to day. We were all inclusive but after a couple of days we got very sick of it. Just about managed a week and wouldn't do it for two weeks. Surprisingly limited kids options too. Only got food from the snack bar once - couple of hot dogs for the kids. For all inclusive, food (outside of main meal times) is limited to 1.5hrs each in the morning and afternoon.

All inclusive: first time doing it and a very popular option here. As above, the food didn't exactly impress - however, given that the restaurant was reasonably busy at times in Feb, I can't imagine it would be anything other than crazy busy in summer. Same with the bars - they're small service areas and I suspect you could be waiting quite a while for your free food / drinks in summer!

Any other questions, just let me know.