Fairy Travels

Prainha Village, Alvor review

At the beginning of October we took our first family holiday as a family of 4! I was a bit apprehensive to begin wondering was I crazy taking two smallies on holidays abroad, however thankfully I was wrong. We had an amazing time at Prainha Village.

The Resort

Prainha Village is situated just outside the picturesque town of Alvor on the Algarve, about 1 hour drive from Faro. It comprise 35 hectares of grounds with direct access to a stunning private beach and a cliff top salt water pool. The views are incredible.alovr2

Also in the resort is another pool with kids section as well as three restaurants:

  • Canico which is accessed via a left down through the cliff  which has the most breath taking views over the sea
  • Miss Pasta, the kids absolutely loves this place. Tasty pizza, relaxed atmosphere but best of all, brilliant staff who the kids just adored.
  • There is also restaurant in the hotel itself which we didn’t get a chance to sample – there is always next time!

alvor3There is also a small supermarket on site with the essentials (milk and wine!!!) and fresh pastries in the morning. For the kids in addition to the kids pool, there is a playground and tennis courts. We didn’t use the tennis courts but did make use of the playground.

The Villa

We went with our extended family and friends so we took a 4 bed villa with pool. The villas are located close to the main resort which was really handy to pop over for a drink or snack.  There are plenty accommodation options from apartments, 2/3/4 bed villas with gardens with or without pool.  The Villa was spacious and spotlessly clean.  All appliances were high end and worked perfectly, plenty delph, cutlery etc.  Housekeeping came twice during out stay to clean and replenished towels.

There was a beautiful bbq patio out the back where we enjoyed relaxing when the kids went to bed. My only gripe about the villa was there was no option to fence or cover the pool.  My heart was in my mouth when the 18 month old was out the back.

Pros:

  • Caters for all, from young to golden years, with a variety of eating options. Our party ranged from 18 months to 60 and all enjoyed
  • Relaxed atmosphere, helpful staff
  • Clean, spacious and well equipped, what more could you want when travelling with kidsprainha
  • The view from Canico Restaurant, no words can do this justice. Its stunning
  • The staff at Miss Pasta, we enjoyed many lunches and dinners in peace while the staff made my smallies feel like VIPs
  • You actually don’t have to leave the resort during your stay, contains everything you need for a great stay.

Cons:

  • Distance from Alvor – its actually not much over 1km to the town but difficult terrain to navigate with a buggy. Not a big deal and certainly would but me off going again
  • Would love the option to fence or cover the pool – again not a deal breaker rather a nice to have

Insider tips:

  • The supermarket in Alvor is very reasonable, we did a big shop the first day as the shop in the resort is a lot more expensive particularly for drinks
  • Book your dinner in advance at Canico, totally worth it and it can get busy during peak months
  • Eating out in Alvor is also cheaper than the resort.
  • The sunbeds at the Atlantic pool need to be paid for, thrown down a towel inside they wont move you and the kids love the novelty of this.
  • Miss Pasta does take away, ideal after a long day out and about
  • When booking Prainha look at the location map before you book a villa/ apartment consider if sea view or close to hotel facilities are whats most important to your stay, at 35 hectares the resort is vast.
  • Use Yellow Fish taxis! The provided a service to us which went above and beyond

Packing essentials:

  • UV suits for the kids – a must in my view. They were in and out of the pool and it saved me constantly running after them with sun cream.  I bought them in my local Dunnes at their end of summer sale, less than €10 from memory.

 

  • aden + anais sleep suit adenanaisthe  little man loves his gro bag so rather then worry about him being too hot we took this and it was fantastic, muslin type material so its breathable, cosy and avoids the stress of blankets or being too warm. Plus it washes great. High recommend for anybody with babas who love being cosy but not warm! From https://www.adenandanais.co.uk/.

 

  • Sun creams – travelling with young kids with delicate skin, having a sun cream I could trust was a given.  As a blog ambassador for Childs Farm I was delighted to be able use their sun cream and after sun.  Its factor 50+, water resistant and suitable for sensitive skin.  Keeps skin lovely and moisturisered and smells great.

 

  • babymoovBabymoov #stresslessweaning essentials – We are part of the Babymoov #stresslessweaning team so I packed my trusty snack pots and muslin squares which were in daily use.  The Babymoov muslins come in a lovely packaged set of 3 of different sizes. They are super soft and doubled up as a light blanket for when the little man napped out and about.

 

 

Note: This is not a sponsored post, we paid for our trip and thoroughly enjoyed it. We booked via www.privatevillas.ie Brian was fantastic in accommodating my last minute changes and my millions of queries! I have already emailed him about next years trip!!

 

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6 Comments

  • Reply Bumbles of Rice November 7, 2016 at 12:59 am

    Sounds great, we’d a fantastic holiday in Portugal this year too and drove past Prainha Village on the way to Alvor, so it’s good to read the review.

  • Reply Mamma Fairy November 7, 2016 at 1:04 am

    It’s a great family friendly resort and really suited the variety of age groups we had. The town of Alvor itself it so pretty. The kids keep asking to go back to Portugal!! Where did you stay would you recommend it?

  • Reply Corrina November 15, 2016 at 10:34 pm

    Sounds like a fab family holiday, I must look it up!!

    • Reply Mamma Fairy November 26, 2016 at 11:00 am

      It really was, very reasonable price wise and very suitable for age ranges we had.

  • Reply Clare (Suitcases and Sandcastles) July 23, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    Looks like a great place for a family holiday. We’re really hoping to go to the Algarve at some point in the future with our two. I particularly love the view from the swimming pool! Thanks for sharing on #FarawayFiles

  • Reply Miles Fitzgerald July 2, 2020 at 11:45 pm

    Lisa, from Travel Loving Family thoroughly recommends a stay at the stunning Lakitira Resort near Kos.  She shares her full review of the resort and tips for making the most of a Mark Warner Holiday here Lakitira Beach Resort, Greece .

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