The Lake Spa Resort, Vilamoura

The Lake Spa Resort is a beautiful, contemporary 5* hotel in Vilamoura, a popular beach resort located in the Algarve in Southern Portugal. Vilamoura is very easy to get to, it is only half an hour’s drive from Faro airport, which is a short two and a half hour flight from the UK.

The Lake Spa Resort is positioned at the very end of Vilamoura marina which offers guests staying here the best of both worlds, a quiet, peaceful location, next to the beach and only a few minute’s stroll to the marina and the town.

Vilamoura is a cosmopolitan town, full of upmarket, boutique shops set directly behind the glamorous marina. The promenade is lined with restaurants on one side and cocktail bars on the other, which sit side by side along the waters edge overlooking the incredible yachts gently bobbing on the water.

The hotel sits within beautifully manicured gardens with two huge swimming pools as well as a shallow, sand bottomed pool which is perfect for little ones to paddle in.

Keen golfers will be very happy with the five world class golf courses on the doorstep, there is also a lovely Spa and kids club from ages 3 to 12. There is a private lake within the grounds which has an incredible floating seafood restaurant as well as an authentic Portuguese restaurant and two bars.

The rooms at The Lake Spa Resort are bright and airy with floor to ceiling windows which open out onto a private balcony. The design is simplistic and luxurious with stone floors and natural colours with a hint of light blue, bringing the feel of being by the beach inside your room. Families can stay in a one bedroom Suite with sofa beds for the children or interconnecting rooms. The balconies have garden/resort views, sea views or panoramic sea views, ground floor rooms have a terrace which opens out onto the gardens, a great choice for families with young children.

I stayed at The Lake Spa Resort with my husband and would highly recommend it as a choice for couples, it was lovely to stroll just a couple of minutes out to a great choice of restaurants and bars in the evening and walk back afterwards. Now that I have a one year old son, this is one of the first places that I want to visit as a family, the short flight and short transfer make this a very easy trip with children. If you are travelling with a pram this is also very easy, there are no hills to contend with and plenty of lovely of places to walk around if your baby is having an afternoon sleep in their pram. The sand bottom pool is very shallow and perfect for toddlers to play in, older children and adults have the larger pools keeping everyone together and entertained!

Portugal is a seasonal destination which is best to visit between the months of May and October. It tends to get very hot and busy in the height of the summer (over 35 degrees), my favourite months to visit are June and September, it is still lovely and hot at around 25-30 degrees and a little quieter.

There is a lot to see and do outside of the resort, if you are travelling with children they are bound to love the waterparks which cater to all ages. I would highly recommend a boat trip which takes you to explore the many caves around the coastline. If you have hired a car and have enough time to explore, drive two and a half hours north to Lisbon or the same distance east for a day trip to Seville.

To book a stay at The Lake Spa Resort or to discuss other fantastic options in Portugal, please get in touch!