We have just returned from a holiday at the Old Apartments in Vilamoura. The apartment had maid service which was very good - every other day.The reception lady was very helpful as was the Thomas Cook rep. We had a 2 bed apartment overlooking the main square with roof top terrace for sunbathing or eating al fresco or just taking in the views towards the marina. The furniture in the apartment had seen better days but it served a purpose and it didn't spoil our holiday.There were plenty of bars/cafes and restaurants on the complex. The Roma Inn was excellent - a small Italian restaurant that served excellent food. The 20 minute walk to the marina was well worth it to see how the other half live! The walk back was not too bad although we caught the little road train which was quite novel. It was a very relaxed holiday you could do as little or as much as you wanted - there were 2 swimming pools, golf courses all round the complex, tennis courts just along the road.

stayed at the old village for 1 week, travelled with airtours,

all the town houses and appartments are privately owned,and sub let to holiday makers,

we had an excellent accomodation in a top floor 2 bed apt. with roof access for sunbathing, sat t.v. balcony for breakfasts and cosy livig accomodation,

enjoyed the walk to the marina, about 10 mins.but there is a small holiday train runs at 25mins past every hour,if you dont want the exercise,

well stocked supermarket on site, and a couple of bars and retaurants,

we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and can recomend the old village to our friends, will definately be going back,

the temp.was between 27 and 31 in june 2004

We have stopped at the Old Village Apartments in Vilamoura twice and would not hesitate to return. June is fairly quiet at the village (which we like).

Our apartment was rented from a private owner and had everything we needed and more, it looked over one of the two pools, which are cleaned on a regular basis, the gardens and pool area were cleaned every morning (you had to be up early to catch them).

The staff in the office in the main square were very helpful with anything you wanted to know about golf, taxis, places to go etc.

The food on the complex is varied from snacks served all day to 2 super restaurants with a good selection of food.

From the Village it takes about 20 min stroll to the Marina or there is a road train which stops outside the village if you don't fancy the walk.

Clean and very quiet. In fact, a bit too quiet for our liking. The extremely relaxing atmosphere would be better suited to the more mature traveller or people with very young families. An indicator as to how unlively the Old Village is the fact that when we visited, one large restaurant had closed down.

The Thomas Cook rep was very knowledgeable, but we didn't need to trouble her too much because there was an extremely helpful lady in an on-site office. I believe she is paid by Thomas Cook but not an official rep.

We had a ground floor apartment. It was clean but past its best-by date. Nowhere near bad enough to complain but from speaking to other guests I think the standard of accommodation varies widely.

There are two pools. Also very clean. The only irritating thing was the fact that the Old Village has started to charge for sunbed use. We pu up with this on the first morning, and handed over the 2.50 euros each. The irritation was made worse when they demanded a second payment for the afternoon. At that, we found a small patch of grass around the pool and slummed it for the rest of the week!

The walk to the marina was nice enough and never troubled us. On the whole its quite a flat walk, except for the final 500 yards to/from the Old Village.

I have just come back from Old Village on Sunday. It is a lovely complex, however it was dead, I suppose that is due to the time of year. There are several small bars in the complex and 2 restaurants. One bar ,Old Village Inn, is very scruffy and dirty - the floors and tables looked like they hadn't been cleaned for months. The 2 other bars near it were o.k. but very quiet. The best bar was the Bar Nautico, which is at the back of the complex, it was very clean, you could use the toilets without fear ( unlike the other bars). It is also the most reasonably prices for drinks.

The restaurants - 1st on we ate in was A Caso De Largo, which is beside reception, we had a nice meal - fillet steak, potatoes, veg. The meat was very small, about 4oz and quite expensive at 17 euros. We did enjoy it - until we saw one of their Portugese kitchen staff go into the toilet, come out and not wash his hands - he walked straight past the sink and back into the kitchen.

The 2nd restaurant C.J's was much nicr. The surroundings are very romantic and cosy. The meal was slighter nicer, though still small portions and, as in most restaurants in Vilamoura, there was a cover charge of 2euro per person. This gets you a dish with cold garlic carrots and a hunk of bread - it is not optional.

The best restaurant we found was behind the Marina, just beside a hotel called Olympus, near MacDonalds. It was called Shakespeares - the food is to die for. 4 of us had fillet steaks, which were at least 8-10oz, a hugh plate of potatoes, cauliflower, brocolli, carrots,peas, mushrooms , tomatoes and freshly made pepper sauce. Their home made desserts are scrummy - we had banoffee pie. Our total meals, including 2 beers and 2 wine spritzers was 72 euros - compared with 105 euros in Caso de Largo and 125euros in C.J's!!! It was excellent value. They also do 3 course meals with a wide selection for 16.50 euros. I would thoroughly recommend it. Don't be put off by it's cafe looking exterior - give it a try.

All in all it was a god holiday- Portugal is spotlessly clean and the architecture is lovely.

The Old Village is well maintained and being private apartments you get a lot of extras, like full cooker, toaster, kettle, washing machine and hugh fride freezer. It has a supermarket on site for all your needs, though it is quite small.

The only downside was the weather - we had five overcast days out of seven, 1 night of rain and 1 really glorious day. At night we had heaters on and blankets on the bed. I would probably go back, but not in November.

This was the first holiday we had abroad with our two year old and we were looking forward to it very much. The brochures made the village look excellent and we were not disappointed at the appearance of the complex. However the first apartment we were put in was dirty, scruffy and generally worn out. The table was falling to bits and the sofa was torn and the decor was dirty.

This is not the cheapest place to stay in villamoura and for this price it is not acceptable. After complain we were moved to another apartment which was of a standard that you would expect to see. The problem is that all the apartments are privately owned and so are all of different standards, maybe we just got the worst at first.

Although very helpful the rep said she could do nothing but report it to the owner. Even so I would visit again because the location is excellent and the general standard of the facilities are good, however be prepared to move if your apartment is not up to standard as there all different.

We were self-catering so no rating for food!!!! Great place though quite a distance from the Beach, also up a hill (which is crossed by a golf course) so beware. Still, lovely setting with superb apartments, entertainment on most nights was good. Vilamoura marina is about a mile or so away, bit of a trek especially on the way back.

Friendly and attractive apartment grouping with good on-site facilities (bars, restaurants, shop and pools) for when the marina is too far. Beautiful marina reached by a lovely walk from the apartments, excellent choice of restaurants, bars and shops all around the marina. Add in local places to visit and other tourist attractions and it makes an ideal family holiday.