PortoBay Falesia

Excellent hotel. Breakfast amazing and such a variety. Hotel staff genuinely helpful and happy. The common areas like pool, restaurant, lobby etc are all excellent. The only criticism is that I feel the rooms are a little dated, however the beds are so comfortable. There was always a subbed available no matter what time of the day. I never witnessed anyone reserving sunbeds which was lovely. The beach is amazing. We counted 125 steps down and they are hard going on the way up, but benches are provided intermittently for those like me who couldn’t manage the steps in one attempt. The beach beds are great and not sagging in the middle and the beach bar offered lots of choice and ice cream and clean toilets are available too. We would definitely recommend and return. We did hire a car and pleased we did as we like sightseeing and with the hotel being up a hill we didn’t have to walk down and back up the hill for shops and eating out, although many people walked up and down without any issues. This was a different hill to the beach hill. Free parking at the hotel which was difficult to get, however plenty of parking outside of the hotel and again free of charge.

We had a lovely stay overall. It’s a beautiful hotel with friendly staff and stunning views. The hotel does feel like it needs a little refresh, although we were told that renovations are apparently happening soon, which will hopefully bring it back to its full potential.

One thing we noticed during our stay was the overall age demographic. As a couple in our mid-20s, we were definitely among the youngest guests at the resort, and the atmosphere felt more geared towards a slightly older crowd. In comparison, Blue Ocean felt noticeably younger and had a more lively atmosphere. This isn’t necessarily a negative, but it’s something younger couples may want to be aware of when choosing between the two areas.

The rooms were clean and the beds were comfortable, but the bathrooms and some of the fixtures, fittings and paintwork around the room could definitely use some TLC. The spa was pleasant but felt a little outdated, and unfortunately the jacuzzi and sauna were out of order during our stay. It also seemed to be very quiet, as we were often the only people there. One thing worth noting is that there didn’t appear to be any staff monitoring the spa during any of our visits.

We often chose to use the Blue Ocean spa facilities instead, as these were a little nicer and the facilities themselves were better. However, we found the area much less relaxing. The stairs behind the outdoor spa beds were extremely loud, which really disrupted the peaceful atmosphere. There was also a constant flow of people walking through the spa area to access the toilets, as well as people smoking outside the spa, which further took away from the ambience.

For us, a spa should feel like a calm and relaxing space where adults can properly unwind in a peaceful atmosphere. Unfortunately, the layout and noise around the Blue Ocean spa made it difficult to achieve that. On several occasions there were also infants in the jacuzzi on inflatables, despite this apparently not being allowed, which made us somewhat uncomfortable from a safety perspective.

Breakfast at Falesia was nice, although we weren’t as impressed with dinner. The food quality seemed quite hit and miss. We appreciate that catering for such a large number of guests is challenging, but we felt there could be more of a focus on quality over quantity. The vegetarian section in particular was disappointing, with limited options that didn’t seem to change much and sometimes looked rather neglected.

Basilico, however, was lovely. Sitting outside overlooking the cliffs was absolutely magical. We also ate at Flor di Sal, where the food was delicious and plentiful. The Blue Ocean buffet was also better than the main buffet in terms of food quality, although the experience was quite chaotic and crowded. There didn’t seem to be enough tables for the number of guests, and people were left queuing for quite some time to be seated. Unfortunately, we also found some of the staff there to be quite rude.

Falesia happy hour was definitely a highlight for us. There was a great choice of drinks and the staff were friendly and helpful. One thing we didn’t like, though, was that happy hour was advertised as 5:30–6:30pm, but on a couple of occasions staff started removing the menus from tables around 6:15–6:20pm. This meant guests weren’t really able to make use of the full advertised hour.

The pool area was nice, although, like other parts of the hotel, it could benefit from a little TLC. The various lookout points were beautiful, and we particularly loved seeing how well cared for the cats and kittens around the resort were. There were plenty of food and sleeping areas for them, which was really lovely to see.

The beach access was fantastic. The beach itself was busy, but absolutely beautiful, so it’s easy to understand why it attracts so many people.

Our only other criticism was the timing of the housekeeping. The maids did a wonderful job, but they often came extremely early. On some mornings, we would leave our room at around 8am and find them already waiting outside to clean. This meant that if we wanted to return to the room afterwards, we couldn’t really do so.

Overall, despite the things that could be improved, we really enjoyed our stay. The hotel has a beautiful setting, fantastic views and plenty of potential. With the planned refresh and some improvements to the dining and spa facilities, it could be an exceptional place to stay.

Returned once again to this lovely place. Hotel is showing some age but updates are coming we're told and staff work hard to keep the aging from effecting our stay. Like most service businesses, it is the people that make this place special and it is great to return and see the same great staff hard at work. The dinner buffet has improved significantly from 2025 but could improve more. Breakfast and lunch are fine.