In busy, crowdy Praia da Rocha (in the summer, at least) there's an oasis of calm and luxury.
You can relax in the beautiful pool or walk to the beach just below the hotel. Beautiful view, beatiful hotel, very nice, polite and helpful personnel.

We stayed in the Bela Vista Hotel for a weekend and we were truly spoiled and enjoyed every moment of it. The hotel is beautifully decorated, the facilities are excellent, the staff was helpful and made us feel very special. We had the dream get-away weekend.

We stayed here for a week ( 24th September-1st October) and it was a wonderful experience.From the moment we drove through the gates and left the busy street in front of the hotel we felt truly spoilt.This is a destination hotel-don't let the fact that it is in the over commercialised area of Praia Da Rocha put you off.There is direct access from the hotel to the stunning beach below,reception reserve sunbeds on the beach for you and you can take poolside towels down.There are good beach bars and restaurants on the beach and some lovely walks along the seafront..Try to ignore the built up area behind the hotel full of cheap restaurants and bars,but if you want to catch up on sport and enjoy a cheap beer then this is an option!The amazing views of the beach more than make up for the area behind the hotel-this is an oasis Breakfast on the terrace is a wonderful experience and we ate in the restaurant twice for dinner-it is pricey,although they do offer a very reasonable guest menu alongside the main menu,and you get what you pay for,the food is of Michelin star standard-the best we have ever experienced in a hotel.Service is attentive,friendly yet low-key.The pool area is stunning,in fact the design and attention to detail is superb across the entire hotel-an amazing restoration of a beautiful old building with a choice of character rooms in the main building or modern rooms in the new wing-we stayed in a sea view room in the new block and it was gorgeous with a huge bathroom with l'occitane products.In the local area we would recommend turning left out of the front gate and walking for 10 minutes or so until you reach the last of the cheap bars and carry on a few hundred yards to the restaurant All Beef on the right-lovely food and service,or carry on past and visit the local blue and white Portuguese bar/fish restaurant on the left and sit on the terrace for the most amazing sunset views overlooking the beach.Ferragudo a fishing village across the estuary from Portimao is also well worth a visit for fantastic fresh fish restaurants on the harbour.It also has a lovely beach with a couple of nice beach bars and is very unspoilt.Allin all we would highly recommend a stay here at the Bela Vista and look forward to a return visit.

This hotel must be one of the best hotels we ever stayed in. The hotel website and the hotel exterior seriously understate Bela Vista's luxury and style. The decoration of the rooms, terrace bar and pool area is what you find in design magazines. The staff is very friendly and attention is put to the smallest detail. While the hotel does not have its own private beach, the hotel has a standing agreement with a renter of beach chairs on the beach in front of the hotel. It just suffices to tell reception that you want to reserve chairs and when you arrive down at the beach somebody will be waiting to accompany to your chairs. Housekeeping will knock on your door early evening to find out whether you stil have sufficient toiletries, whether you wish fresh towels, etc.
Breakfast on the terrace overlooking the ocean is a pure delight. Contrary to other hotels, breakfast is not walking to/around the buffet as most of the food and drinks are actually brought by a waiter: fresh orange juice, eggs a la minute, espresso coffee, a small special fruit drink, etc.
Rooms are deliciously decorated and if you choose, like we did, a deluxe room, you will find yourself in the new building (adjacent to the main house), with a sufficiently large terrace overlooking the beach and ocean.
The hotel is gated and this secures privacy and tranquillity of the guests. The Bela Vista succeeds nevertheless in keeping a part of the nonchalance (it is a after all a beach hotel) while avoiding the formal, sometimes affected nature of top establishments.
On the negative side, we were not impressed by Praia da Rocha which is likely the ugliest place on the Algarves.