Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Exotic and charming hotel located in the first line of Praia da Rocha beach, offering rooms with sea view and direct beach access. Nearby is a marina, restaurants, bar, shops and sightseeing interest places..
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Quiet
Charming
Languages Spoken
English, French, Spanish, German and 1 more
Location
Avenida Tomas Cabreira, Praia da Rocha, Portimao 8500-802 Portugal
Name/address in local language
AP Oriental Beach Hotel
974 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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AP Oriental Beach Hotel is commended for its spotless cleanliness and serene atmosphere, enhanced by live music and tasteful decor. However, guests have called out its varied service quality and noise disruptions. While the rooms are seen as clean and comfortable with good views, some travelers find the bathrooms and amenities outdated.
The hotel's beachfront location and dining options earn rave reviews, despite some guests suggesting updates. Opinions on value are mixed, with mentions of both affordability and unexpected additional costs.
Atmosphere
Tranquil
Rooms
Comfortable
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Spotless
Noise level
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Well-appointed
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The Oriental Hotel is really lovely. Attractive architecture both outside and in. Lovely big room – 520 – with table and chairs both inside and outside on the lovely large balcony as well as having sunbeds. Lovely views over the sea and coastline and it overlooked the garden. Very quiet room – there is a very large restaurant/bar above us (not part of the hotel) but we never heard any noise whatsoever.
Always sunbeds available in the garden and by the pool so no need to put those towels down by anyone!
The hotel is in two halves – our side seem to have larger and quieter rooms but there is no lift on that side. This meant one short set of steps to and from the other half that contained the reception, restaurant, bar, pool, lifts, salon. This caused us no problems but might for someone with mobility issues.
There are 54 steps down to the boardwalk (yes I counted them!) that runs along the whole beach of Praia de Rocha with several bar/restaurants. Then there are further boardwalks that lead down to the sea where there are areas of sun loungers and umbrellas. The hotel details say these cost from 10 – 15 euros each but we believe that they are less than that and can be hired by day or half day.
Breakfast and dinner were excellent all through the holiday with huge choice and excellent quality. You have to decide on what sitting times you would like when you check in. However, there were no issues except on one night when we had to wait in some armchairs for 10 minutes as they were particularly busy that particular night. Staff were always available to help where necessary.
Fortunately, the Oriental is at the quiet end of Playa de Rocha. We walked the main strip which is full of bars, restaurants and Irish pubs and rammed with people.
We visited Portimao a couple of times and eat very tasty sardines in a restaurant overlooking the river. Found excellent craft beer in the Algarvian Brewery which is owned and run by Mexicans! Took a water taxi over to the old white walled fishing village of Ferragudo – catch the water taxi from outside the Naval Club but pay for your return ticket when you arrive at Ferragudo 8 euro but 10 euro if you pay at the Naval Club! – definitely worth the trip.
Taxi’s are cheap with Bolt even cheaper than Uber but often the drivers don’t accept the quoted prices so you either have to bid more or wait and try on the app later but we never paid more than 6euros anywhere in Portimao/Praia de Rocha
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Date of stay: September 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hotel AP Oriental, Diretor-Geral at AP Oriental Beach Hotel
Responded Sep 17, 2024
Dear Guest, Thank you for the great review of our hotel! We are glad that you enjoyed your stay and hope to see you again very soon. Sincerely, Pedro Contente Diretor / Manager
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The hotel is nice ...situated on the boardwalk. Private access to boardwalk. The breakfast is excellent as is the 27 Euro buffet dinner. Live piano music for both breakfast and dinner added a nice touch. The rooms and beds are nice too - lot of light and you can hear the waves. Parking was not a problem as we feared based on prior reviews - it is on the next block and we found it easily because it was March. We booked a tour to Benagil Caves from the Hotel (perhaps 5 Euros more than the outside vendor) only because we had more confidence in the hotel if anything went wrong.
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Date of stay: March 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Â Waterview is best !
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hotel AP Oriental, Diretor-Geral at AP Oriental Beach Hotel
Responded Apr 14, 2023
Dear Mr. /Mrs. Cricketer, We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your most recent comments about AP Oriental and its Team. Your kind and complimentary words mean a lot to us and fill us with pride and satisfaction. Our goal is to provide all of our guests with an unforgettable and enjoyable experience, and knowing that we were able to achieve this goal is extremely rewarding. Your positive comments encourage us to continue working to maintain our high standards of quality and exceptional service. Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us and other travelers. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you again soon. Yours sincerely, For the AP Oriental Team, Ricardo Santos (Hotel Manager)
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Just returned from an enjoyable 10-night break at the AP Oriental.
The hotel is ideally situated overlooking the main beach at Praia Da Rocha with private access to the beach and boardwalk below, ideal for a leisurely stroll. Numerous bars and shops outside the front entrance but despite this the hotel was very quiet with no noise issues at all.
No worries about finding a sunbed – there were always plenty free no matter what time of the day we decided to sunbathe.
We upgraded to a sea view room which was in the garden area and this came with sunbeds anyway We would recommend upgrading although you get a good view of the sea from most rooms anyway.
Entertainment is low key with just local musicians playing in the restaurant every now and then but as the majority of guests were of a similar age to ourselves (50+) this was absolutely fine.
Hotel and grounds were spotless and all staff from reception to cleaning were really pleasant and approachable, a credit to the hotel!
Only negative was the restaurant allowed smoking at its outdoor eating area. The smell also drifted into the main restaurant at times when the doors were open. Maybe have a dedicated smoking area far away from any food areas so other guests could enjoy eating their evening meal outside.
All in all, we had a perfect break away and I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone considering a break to this area of the Algarve
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Date of stay: June 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â lovely quiet hotel ideal for older guests
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hotel AP Oriental, Diretor-Geral at AP Oriental Beach Hotel
Responded Jun 28, 2024
Dear Guest, Thank you for the great review of our hotel! We are glad that you enjoyed your stay and hope to see you again very soon. Sincerely, Pedro Contente Diretor / Manager
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This is one of the few hotels we have stayed in wherby you always feel things could be better, but at the time seem perfectly adequate. The reception is totally confusing as each receptionist appears to work to different standards, one is both abrupt and rude and the other more accomodating. In the end you will be allocated a room but don't expect any favours as they excel at telling you what they can't do not what they can do!. For reasons unknown one of the receptionists asks you to nominate you meal times (they have 3 sittings for breakfast 7.30, 8.30,and 9.30 and 3 for dinner 7pm, 8pm or 9pm) whatever you decide there are no systems of enforcement and especially in the evening there is a "stampede" at 7pm to grab a table so in effect no one takes any notice of the system at all. The rooms are clean with comfortable beds etc, bathrooms are modernish but the showers are a bit old fashioned and take an age to adjust to a suitable temperature with much wasted water. Any toiletries suplied are all fixed to the wall and poor quality so take your own. Any pictures you see of the rooms on their website suggest you will have both slippers and bath robes... you wont get either!!. The room maids are by far the most friendliest staff in the hotel. Meals are all buffet style. The quality and choices are good but let down by cold plates and only luke warm food, for some reason their food warming system just doesn't work. Coffee and tea is also self service (morning only, you pay extra at night if you want one). All bar drinks are served by the staff with an archaic system of "signing paper" which you either pay or charge to your room providing you have previously arranged cedit facilities. You won't get a copy so reconciling your account on departure is difficult. You won't get a smile either and may well be told off if you attempt to order at the bar, we were told in no uncertain terms to sit at the table and order. The design of the hotel means the general sitting areas are mainly restricted to groups of 4 or 6. There is a tv situated in the dining room with room for 12 people sat at 6 x 2 tables, this is the only place you can watch UK sport as the tv's in the bedrooms seem to show different channels. The grounds are well kept with plenty of sunbeds on the lawn areas and rather surprisingly not covered in towels at 7am!. Access to the beach is by wooden steps easily managed by anyone who is able bodied.
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Date of stay: April 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Rooms facin east have very little afternoon sun.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hotel AP Oriental, Diretor-Geral at AP Oriental Beach Hotel
Responded May 7, 2024
Dear Guest, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We hope to welcome you back to our hotel very soon! Sincerely, Pedro Contente Diretor / Manager
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Beautifully decorated hotel, food good etc but not rated it high because we were hoping for a relaxing week but instead had to listen to two thousand youths partaking in a World championship Frisbee competition which was relentless from 7am to 7pm. Front office said they couldn’t be responsible and only offered a different room which was pointless as you could hear the noise everywhere. I felt the hotel through a duty of care for their guests should have offered different dates of cancellation prior to arrival. Marred our weeks holiday.
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Date of stay: October 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Yes check before booking re events on the beach.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hotel AP Oriental, Diretor-Geral at AP Oriental Beach Hotel
Responded Oct 22, 2024
Dear Guest, Thank you for your review of our hotel! We are sorry that due external situation your experience was not achieved like we also wanted, but there are some events that don't make any disturbance to our guests, but on that case for some guest was not so confortable. We hope that you can come in another time to our unit and we will try to make a better experience. Sincerely, Pedro Contente Diretor / Manager
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Unfortunately, and this is not the fault of the hotel, our stay was completely ruined by the disturbance on the beach below because of Frisbee players - 2000 of the blighters in the first week. We then had three days of peace followed by 500 American "veteran" players arriving, who were fine on the beach but took over the hotel restaurant and insisted on eating dinner in beach shorts and causing a terrible racket. The head waiter seemingly could do nothing to stop this. I did ask and there is a no shorts policy advertised. Why let them behave like this?
I blame Jet2 Holidays as they must have known that this level of disturbance would occur. the "tournament" happens every year so is nothing new. Why did they not offer me a different hotel? I have taken this up with them.
However, if you can avoid all this, the hotel itself would be lovely. The rooms are good and comfortable, the food is great, so much fish and shellfish, although cooked breakfasts were always cold. The gardens are never busy with sunbed hoggers and the pool, though small and cold, was fine. Drinks can be expensive and are not included.
Left feeling very disappointed that our relaxing holiday in the sun had been ruined. Only to arrive at total chaos in Faro airport, which is surely not fit for purpose. Two hours to get through security and passport control and very nearly missed the flight. Authorities should be ashamed.
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Date of stay: October 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hotel AP Oriental, Diretor-Geral at AP Oriental Beach Hotel
Responded Oct 28, 2024
Dear Guest, Thank you for the review of our hotel! Regarding the situation reported, we are sorry, but the last event was in 2019 in Praia da Rocha and we didn't had much disturbance, we tryed to ask compreention to guest that was on the championship. We hope that we can receive you again in our unit. Sincerely, Pedro Contente Diretor / Manager
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This summer. Unless you have booked specifically for The Festivals I recommend you contact your Travel Agent and ask for another Hotel immediately. We arrived as have others unaware the Festivals were taking place. Several times during the summer. Hays Travel and Jet2 failed to inform us of this when we booked our relaxing 2 week break with easy beach access. The Municipality have taken over the beach shown in the brochures and turned this area into a 18-30s Festival area. Such a shame as the beach would have been beautiful without the huge construction going on day and night. We have already been through the 3 night Afro Nation weekend and now bracing ourself for Rolling Loud Portugal Rap and HipHop!! a four day event 4pm-3am, but this is minus sound tests etc. The Main Street of this location is full of tacky shops, cheap restaurants and no longer a pleasant evening stroll as you make your way through the drunks and are offered drugs, viagra and NOS balloons are widely seen on the streets and by ‘latest hotel guests’ who today amused themselves today playing football over the sun loungers on the grass area. How pleased we are that at least we got moved to an upper room on day 2 of our stay.
The hotel itself is really nice, most of the staff are helpful, housekeeping, restaurant and reception. The Manager is rather abrupt, or perhaps he was fed up with complaints from guests re the Festival. As you book in your asked to choose what times you want your meals. We found it’s also a rule that the restaurant staff have been instructed that only longlife carton eggs can be used for omelettes at breakfast regardless of the fact fresh eggs are piled up nearby. Don’t dare ask for a fresh egg. Unless it’s fried. Also the water machine in the evening is turned off unless the ‘Big Manager’ visits! Bottled water is sold. As others have mentioned drinks are served but only expect to be asked once. Guests usually go to other venues after dinner or return to their rooms, no real space for socialising. I have never know this in any other 4/5 star hotel. On an additional note face masks are compulsory on Public Transport in Portugal but it seems no longer required in hotels or public spaces.
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Oriental H, Diretor-Geral at AP Oriental Beach Hotel
Responded Jul 6, 2022
Dear Mrs Tina, Thank you for your comments, but no one is fed up because of the festivals or anything else. What we are not used to deal with is bad manners and arrogance. As for the eggs, and has spoken and explain to you, this is mandatory from our governet health department. What you wanted was an omelet with egg white. The Half board regime as no drinks included. This information is on every website an brochure. Best regards Ricardo Santos Manager
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We booked a suite for the week commencing 3rd June 2024 with half-board. On our arrival we noticed that the suite was located next to a busy road, adjacent to two hotel elevators and the view overlooked a bar/restaurant that was not part of the hotel (see picture). We immediately requested another room, which was denied on this occasion and also on subsequent requests. The all-male staff on the front desk were unhelpful, dour and had a negative reply to all our enquiries. We subsequently found that the previously mentioned adjacent bar/restaurant played loud music from 12 noon to 12pm at weekends and 5pm to 10pm during the week, even though we could see it was empty. This noise, coupled with mechanical plant operating on the beach, emitting a ‘beep-beep’ all day every day was maddening and exhausting. The buffet breakfasts and dinners in the restaurant were tasteless, though the female staff were helpful and pleasant, as was a charming trainee (Manager?) called Joao. The notice regarding dress code in the restaurant was completely ignored and we had to endure the sight of men’s hairy legs in shorts and trainers. After nearly 7days we were glad to get away after our worst vacation in 30 years of excellent holidays.
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Date of stay: June 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hotel AP Oriental, Diretor-Geral at AP Oriental Beach Hotel
Responded Jun 21, 2024
Dear Guest, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. While I wish you had a better experience, it is feedback like this that we learn from and use to improve. We work hard to deliver an exceptional guest experience, and it's apparent in this case that we fell short. If you give us a chance to earn back your trust, I can assure you that we will do our best to give you the great hotel experience that so many of our guests have grown so fond of. Sincerely, Pedro Contente Diretor / Manager
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Lovely hotel located right on the cliff/beach in Portimao. Friendly staff, beautifully maintained property, large room with a balcony overlooking Praia da Rocha. Piano player at the morning breakfast, which was self serve and lots of variety. On site pool and cabana area; hotel private entrance downstairs to the beach was very nice. Very unique decor. How do you recommend and would return again. Rates in February were very low so value for location and amenities was high.
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Date of stay: February 2025Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Exceptionally priced in January/February when we were there and great value for your money....
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Oriental H, Diretor-Geral at AP Oriental Beach Hotel
Responded 2 days ago
Dear Guest, Thank you for the great review of our hotel! We are glad that you enjoyed your stay and hope to see you again very soon. Sincerely, Pedro Contente AP Oriental - Hotel Manager
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We arrived at the property around 10pm on a Wednesday night, after driving from Porto. We were hungry and tired. There was no food available at the hotel, so we asked about the hours for a pizza restaurant we passed about a block from the property. The front desk agent's response was a curt "I don't know. You'll have to go there and check."
The service didn't get much better from there. We found that customer service just wasn't a priority. For example, when our friends couldn't open their in-room safe, it took over an hour for someone to find a key and when they finally arrived in the room, they explained that the safe instructions on the wall were incorrect. The same thing happened in our room and when I questioned the staffer who came to the room, he just said, oh well, you should have figured it out.
Also, we made spa appointments and when we arrived, the spa was locked. The front desk told us that the spa is a separate entity and they couldn't help. Yet they were the ones who made the appointment to begin with. When we finally got it straightened out and went to pay for our massages, we were told that it was cash only. We couldn't put the charge on our room or use a credit card, which was an inconvenience.
Finally, I was on the walkway to the hotel's beach chairs when I tripped over the uneven boards and took a hard fall on my face. Hotel staff was kind to bring first aid and help me. But when we asked, they told us that the walkway was the property of the closest beach restaurant and didn't offer any apologies or further assistance. The front desk agent couldn't tell me where the closest pharmacy was to get band aids and ointment for my cuts and black eye.
We enjoyed the property and the location but found the staff to be lacking in friendliness and hospitality.
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Hotel AP Oriental, Diretor-Geral at AP Oriental Beach Hotel
Responded Sep 27, 2023
Dear Guest, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. While I wish you had a better experience, it is feedback like this that we learn from and use to improve. We work hard to deliver an exceptional guest experience, and it's apparent in this case that we fell short. If you give us a chance to earn back your trust, I can assure you that we will do our best to give you the great hotel experience that so many of our guests have grown so fond of. Sincerely, Pedro Contente Diretor / Manager
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Hassocks, United Kingdom22 contributions15 helpful votes
Sorry it’s taken me so long to answer. The weather is great in October. Mid twenties during the day. Even in the evening we were in t shirts eating outside. We also went in may & it was the same. Hope this helps…. Oh it rained once in may , for 10 mins light misty stuff, then instantly cleared up
Dear customer, Thanks for showing interest in visiting our property.
Regarding your question, our gym provides 2 Treadmill, 1 multifunction muscule, a few training mats and some gynastic ball.
Hoping for your visit sooner.
Best regards,
Marco Rodrigues
There are more places to choose from in the Praia da Rocha area.
PRICE RANGE
C$122 - C$315 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
oriental hotel praia da rocha
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Hotel Oriental
LOCATION
PortugalAlgarveFaro DistrictPortimaoPraia da Rocha
NUMBER OF ROOMS
90
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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