Garbe Hotel Armação de Pera

Just got back from a 3 night stay at the Hotel Garbe - had an excellent time. Lovely pool, amazing beach, delicious food!!

The pool area is exactly as they say in the description...basically overlooking the sea. The beach is sandy, clean and not too busy - although we were only there in May. The snacks sold from the pool bar were gorgeous - delicious chips & pizza - freshly made!

The balconies on the standard rooms are rubbish it has to be said, only a metre square with space for 1 chair but if you can afford an upgrade it is well worth it!

The rooms are clean and generally the staff are lovely (few grumpy ones here and there!). The lounge cabaret basically consists of a rather cheesed off chap playing the keyboard but we did see a rather good magician!

The breakfasts are just amazing - there is so much choice and it's all fresh and delicious! The food at the Raj restaurant is also very good - try the Chef's special tandoori for a real treat!

At first we thought there wasn't a lot in the local area but you have to keep walking down through the shops until you get to a pedestrian area, where there are a few good shops (lovely man in the off-licence), restaurants and a tapas bar.

I found this excellent value for money and we are already discussing going back next year - fab!!

We have just returned from a week here in late Feb 2005.

What a bargain - we paid £159 for a week's halfboard with Style Holidays and I've got to say it was a great week.

The food was excellent and varied, both Breakfast and Dinner. Staff really helpful and the rooms facing the beach have superb views, especially at sunrise/set.

I'd go along with the previous reviewer from Leeds, who mentioned the somewhat quixotic entertainment here. Rita and her piano recitals seem to go down well with the blue rinse brigade ( who I guess make up 80% of the guests here in the winter), and they also had a dutch girl who sank karaoke on on one night. Good voice, but covering 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is a no-no. Stick to the pop songs...

The Hotel also has an authentic indian restaurant, which you can eat at for free if you are on half board. Just ask at reception for a voucher.

As far as the resort goes, it's not the prettiest of places when the sun isn't shining, but we had two days when the weather was beautiful considering the time of year. The beach is gorgeous here, but also check out Senhora da Rocha, just 5 minutes away by car - we discovered it on the last day of our holiday and only wish it had been sooner.

All in all a good and relaxing week, but with a mainly older clientele ( my wife and I are in our 30's). I'd certainly consider returning again.

It might have been due to off season travel (January), but the crowd was definitely grandma and grandpa age. We are a young married couple and were travelling with single friends, so we had loads of fun anyway.

Our room was huge, with a small table and couch. We had views of the beach out of 2 large windows - great for sunrise! The bathroom was very modern and clean - with a nice hot and powerful shower.

Breakfast buffet was large and had lots of good breads. We also enjoyed nice sausages, eggs, cheese, yogurts - it seemed to go on and on!

This location in the Algarve is a bit quiet, but the city had a lot of new construction going on, nice beaches, and was really in the center of the entire south coast! Only an hour or so to Cape St. Vincent by car, and I think even Spain wasn't far away to the east.

Don't miss the somewhat funny lounge entertainment (singers, musicians, etc.). It's great to have some drinks at the bar and watch if you've got no other plans for the evening.

All-in-all Armacao de Pera is a nice location, and Hotel Garbe is a clean and friendly hotel.

The room decor was very basic and small, but clean. The ocean views are great. The hotel had mostly British citizens over 70 years old staying there for the Christmas holiday season. The beach area is beautiful and you can walk a very long stretch. The breakfast buffet was very generous, but not always wonderful. Dinners were buffets at a set price and did not look too appetizing. Hotel has a happy hour every night and several parties per week. The older folks seemed to enjoy these special events. We stayed here because we were traveling with our daughter and it gave her a private sleeping area. Nearby restaurants were adequate, but nothing wonderful, but then it was off season (Christmas).

Just to say that we have just spent a wonderful 9 days in the Garbe (courtesy of Palmair) and can endorse many of the comments already made. For those who wonder what the name of the restaurant painted blue and white mentioned by another guest in the area is - it is the 'a santona' (or is it a santola?)...absolutely wonderful. Charming waiters and great food! We also tried 'Porters', mentioned by someone else - and that too was great - we went there twice..... and twice to Clippers which is just a stone's throw from the Garbe and the service there is splendid. But I must also mention "The Raj at the Garbe"...an Indian restaurant with an extensive menu, wonderful ambience and decor, helpful waiters - perfect!

We have just returned from a 5 day stay at this hotel and found it to be one of the most comfortable and clean places we have ever stayed. All the staff are very pleasant and charming, and nothing was any trouble to them. The food was excellent, especially the buffet breakfast.

Although our stay was out of season it was thoroughly enjoyable and we just didnt want to come home. We shall be visiting again in the new year without a doubt.

We have just come back from a 2 week stay in the Algarve at the Hotel Garbe.

It was a really great holiday: the hotel is ideally placed, directly on the beach and about 5 mins walk to center of town where all the restaurants and bars are.

We had a BB accomodation which was excellent because the breakfast is full english breakfast and served until 10.30, whilst dinner can easily be grabbed in any of the local restaurants: one trick is to choose one used by portuguese, they are the best value for money!

I also suggest renting a car and driving around the coast as it is really beautyful, especially towards the west.

Many trips available.

Hotel can arrange Airport Transfer for about 33 euros each way which is the cheaper option.

Might also be worth looking at the possibility of flying into Lisbon and driving down to Algarve: it is a 2,5 hrs drive with beautyful scenery and might be cheaper than flying to Faro, enabling you to cover the cost of the car.

Hotel has Parking but do not know the costs (could be free)

Beach in front of the hotel is clean and nice. Umbrella plus 2 loungers cost 12.5 Euro daily so a bit pricey but plenty of space if you want to just lie around.

Loungers by the pool are free and easy access to the beach for dipping in the sea :-)

If you wish to have more info contact me at kriiol.it!

We just returned from a 5 day stay in the Algarve staying at this hotel(mid July). We arrived before 10:30am, and had expected to leave our luggage with reception and explore the local area until check-in time. We were suprised to be told that we could check-in immediately, and even more suprised to be placed in a sea-view room. I highly admire hotels that place you in the best possible room available, no matter what or how you paid (we used a discount internet package deal, and certainly did not pay the extra for a sea-view). We had a similar experience upon our check-out. The hotel management allowed us to have a late check-out (3:30pm as requested) at no extra cost. The rooms were genuine 4 star. Useful to note that I may not have been to happy with the small size of the balcony had I paid the extra for it. However, this appeared to be common on all of the buildings in the area. It is a well refurbished hotel, good standard. Some of the outer areas could probably do with a bit of a refresher (ie some paint or re-concreting), but this is negligible when you consider the positive aspects. The hotel is probably the only one on this long stretch of beach that is immediately on the beach (not across a rather busy road). The pool area is on the small side, but with the beach immediately in front of it, one should not complain. Breakfast (included) is good (eggs, bacon, tomato, sausages, cereals, fruit, pastries, bread, juice and hot drinks). We chose not to eat at the hotel for any lunches or dinners, as there is plenty around locally to try. Highly recommend a restaurant west along the beach (accessible from the road at night) which is blue and white (the name escapes me). It has a deck right on the beach, and is a lovely place to be eating and drinking when the sun goes down. Food too is good value and tasty (recommend the grilled sardines). Hotel is very accommodating to your needs (towels available with a refundable deposit). All in all, a great trip. No in room bar-fridge, although there appeared to be the spot for one, so you may merely need to request for one. About a 40 minute drive from Faro airport, we had pre-arranged a return transfer. This should cost no more than 68 Euros if your search thoroughly or email the hotel to ask about local providers. Otherwise (as we did) an internet search will give you costs of about 80 euros. Alternatively, it is an arduous trip of multiple bus rides, which take much longer. We recommend at least a 2 hour trip to Silves (15 minute bus trip). Check out the castle and have a local meal.

After 20 years of waiting we finally visited the Algarve and it was well worth the wait. We flew from Bournemouth with Palmair, recently voted best UK carrier in a 20,000 respondents Which survey. We have flown with them before and they are just fantastic. For anyone who can make the effort trust me, flying from Bournemouth with Palmair is a sheer joy. Food on the plane is better than the food at the airport!The Hotel Garbe was chosen after lots of research and elimination and we certanly chose well. Armencao is an ex fishing port where the boats still go out but a small (and growing) town has developed. Trains non existent but buses along the coast great fun, local service pay on the bus, rapise or express (couldn't see much difference) but tickets in advance.Make sure you visit Portamao, only 25 minutes away on the rapide and well worth it, nice shops and eating and a lovely front. Unless you are 17 - 25 and looking for lager and a wide screen TV, do not go anywhere near Albufeira!Didn't hire a car, if there longer would do though Portugal has 2nd worst driving record in the world. Roads were quiet while we wre there but we saw some interesting manouevres and I'll bet high season is fun driving.Hotel is on a small cliff right on the most beautiful beach and with an excellent beach cafe just below as well as the usual pool facilities. Pool is heated October to April and was wonderful - not for kiddies though (mind neither is the hotel really) as it starts at 4 feet deep and goes down to 11 feet!Excellent restaurants - Porters offers the best value meal I have ever eaten anywhere in the world, touristique menu until end May is 10 euros for three well cooked courses and a half litre of excellent house red wine. James the English owner has been there 15 years and we found him a mine of information on the area.Clipper on the front is simply sensational, 45 euros will buy you three courses of the best fish and outstanding service.We will return probably in September as the locals all seem to think that is the best month of the year.

We found this hotel to be an excellent choice for myself and my husband. Rooms were clean, food was good and its position straight onto the beach could not be better. We were particularly pleased with the fact that you could loan beach towels daily. Entertainment was good in the evenings but not obtrusive if you only wanted to sit and have a drink to relax. All in all a first class hotel.