Following our flight, Our first stop on our latest adventure was to the Conrad Algarve. The Conrad hotel chain has a special place in our hearts – we’ve had some tremendous memories and this would mark our 10th Conrad together. We had three nights there for the first leg of our trip, paid for in rewards certificates and points (thank you, Hilton Amex!). Our first day was delayed due to some rental car troubles, so we arrived in the early evening. After navigating some rather strange back roads courtesy of Waze, we arrived at the stately Conrad Algarve. We had been looking forward to this property since we heard about it years ago in our honeymoon. Read on to see if the Conrad Algarve Review meets the hype!
As a reminder, for internal “house” reviews, we score on the same 1-3 scale we use elsewhere. A 3 indicates that a given category exceeded reviewer expectations, a 2 indicates it met expectations, and a 1 failed to meet expectations. We evaluate the categories we believe are most relevant to the flight, hotel, or lounge experience.
We were greeted by a wonderful member of the staff who walked us through the extensive property and Diamond benefits we’d enjoy. Spoiler alert for the Conrad Algarve Review: Mrs. PTI immediately declared we were going to be spending as much time as we could at this fabulous property.
Details
Dates: 9/7/19 – 9/10/19
Room Type: Deluxe King Room
Price: 2 Hilton weekend night certificates (one from Surpass, one from Aspire), and 80,000 points
Room – 3/3
Our Deluxe King room was fantastic. The bed was incredibly comfortable. We had a good amount of space even for a standard-sized room. The storage was excellent, with plenty of room for clothes and luggage.
A spacious balcony with a nice view was unexpected and quite excellent. The room was in great condition, no signs of wear and tear. Conrads have Nespresso machines by default, which I love, particularly when traveling internationally – the ability to have a shot of good espresso to keep me going is always a godsend when battling jet lag. There was also a sink and microwave which we never used. The only minor complaint was having to do some contortions to connect a power cable from the bed to the nightstand – #techieproblems.
The storage was excellent, with plenty of room for clothes and luggage. A spacious balcony with a nice view was unexpected and quite excellent. The room was in great condition, no signs of wear and tear. Conrads have Nespresso machines by default, which I love, particularly when traveling internationally – the ability to have a shot of good espresso to keep me going is always a godsend when battling jet lag. There was also a sink and microwave which we never used. The only minor complaint was having to do some contortions to connect a power cable from the bed to the nightstand – #techieproblems.
Bathroom – 3/3
I may be weird, but I judge a bathroom as equally as important as the rest of the room. This bathroom passed with flying colors. Two sinks, a large tub, a beautiful rain shower, bathroom and bidet. A+ would Rain Shower again.
Breakfast – 3/3
The Conrad featured a fantastic breakfast spread in the Louro Restaurant, which featured both outdoor and indoor seating. While not as ridiculously over the top as some Asian hotels, there was a large selection of great food.
In addition, there was a made-to-order menu with several omelet and egg options complimentary, and several for-pay items (such as steak), as well as an egg station that opened a bit later. Everything we tried was excellent.
They also had all the juices. All of them. Even green apple juice if you’re too good for normal apple juice. I didn’t even know that was a thing. Mrs. PTI enjoyed sampling a different one each morning.
Status Benefits – 3/3
I am a Hilton Diamond member, and while I do not obsess over recognition – although they did a good job of that here too – I am always interested to see what the status tangibly gets you beyond the possible upgrade (not this time) and the free breakfast. Diamond status had a number of great benefits at this property, and a flexibility that impressed me.
First, the bottle of wine at the restaurant did not have to actually be enjoyed at the restaurant – they offered to send it to our room, which we accepted. In addition to that bottle of red wine (which we stored for later consumption in Barcelona with family), the room amenity was… another bottle of white wine. That one we drank on the balcony. The cocktail/tea experience could also be traded for two cocktails since the “experience” times didn’t work for us; although the redemption process for that was a little rough, it worked out in the end. I really enjoyed the flexibility of the benefits, as it made them feel genuine. The usual “bottle of cheap wine if you dine at our expensive restaurant” you see at some properties was not the case here at all.
Another benefit of note was the “thermal circuit” in the spa. The spa was quite nice – and covered below – and what I thought was a throwaway actually ended up being pretty nice. Overall – a great batch of benefits that made me feel appreciated.
Hotel Facilities – 3/3
The Conrad Algarve is a resort property, and it shows. It features three pools – an adult-focused infinity pool, and then a larger pool for families, as well as an indoor heated pool (that we never even made it to). There are two restaurants: Louro, the hotel restaurant, and Gusto, a Michelin-starred restaurant (also in the hotel, but not the “hotel restaurant”), and several other poolside restaurants. Louro’s breakfast, as previously noted, was fantastic. We did not dine at Louro otherwise. If I were to make one critique, the pool restaurant food was rather boring – it was a typical resort meal, with few healthy options beyond some salads and nothing unique to the region’s cuisine. That said, the Caesar salad we ordered was quite good one afternoon. We also dined at Gusto, which was fantastic and worth the price tag.
The hotel also ran shuttles hourly (except for a break in the early afternoon) to nearby Maria’s Beach, where you could rent daybeds. There was also a very nice restaurant (unaffiliated) there. The beach, while lacking the dramatic cliffs of some Algarve beaches, was beautiful and tranquil.
The hotel also featured a large spa, with eye-popping prices services typical of resorts. As a Diamond member, we had access to the “thermal circuit,” which included an indoor heated pool with jets (essentially a giant jacuzzi), cold water plunge pool, outdoor heated pool, sauna, and the like. Access to the thermal circuit typically cost 15 euros per day, which had the function of making the spa pools relatively empty when we went. We actually really enjoyed the spa area for a couple of hours on our final day. I did not utilize the gym during the trip.
Service – 3/3
Service throughout the hotel was great, with all staff members being kind, courteous and friendly. They handled all requests promptly.
Location – 2/3
The hotel was located about 20 minutes from the Faro airport/train station, with stunning backdrop scenery. There was a shopping center across the street with useful amenities such as a pharmacy and grocery store, and a few casual and nicer eateries. While the property itself was not located on the beach, there was a shuttle that ran most of the day.
Conrad Algarve Review 2019 Bottom Line – 3/3
One final oddity to note about the property. There are two buildings worth of “Conrad Residences” flanking the hotel… which are empty. Staff told us that they’ve been empty since being built ~7 years ago. Kind of creepy, but it didn’t detract at all from the fantastic stay at the Conrad Algarve. We are self-admitted Conrad snobs and this one rocketed to our top 3 (behind Osaka and Tokyo). The property was amazing and the rooms wonderful. I’m not sure when life will take us back to the beautiful Algarve region, but we’ll be staying here again!