This was such a great hotel and had such great staff that I hate to criticise them. But there is no denying the 2 flaws that kept it from rave review status.

My daughter and I had been to Praia da Rocha previously so we knew what we wanted and the Santa Catalina seemed to tick all the boxes: location directly on the main street/beach front, parking AT the hotel, air conditioning, balcony, elevator, twin bed room, and very reasonable cost. It never occurred to us to specify detailed requirements about beds and balcony.

So on to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:

The Good was actually great - the hotel was immaculate. The room was spacious with a massive built in wardrobe with generous hanging and drawer storage, free room safe. Each bed had its own small bedside cabinet with lamp. Air conditioning was very quiet and efficient. Floors were tile - a good choice in that climate/locale. The bed linens were superb, sheets were high quality and felt luxurious, pillows plump.

The bathroom was a delight; it was large, excellent lighting including a frosted window for natural light, and completely tiled. Loads of really hot water with great pressure and an a really nice variable shower head. There was space to put your bath stuff next to both sides of the bath within easy grab reach. After a long day walking and exploring, that shower was a blessed respite. Lots and lots of towels, replaced daily, all really soft and very large and fluffy - I really loved that the bath towels were huge enough to fully wrap around yourself. The hotel supplied shampoo, bath gel, little soaps, shower caps, etc - not usually found in low cost hotels. Even the toilet paper was soft, high quality - actually we could tell the brand from the design on the paper.

The rooms were thoroughly cleaned and made up each day. Freshly made beds with crisp linens, fresh towels, room neatened. It always had that clean fresh smell of good housekeeping.

The staff were lovely. When we asked for an extra pillow the receptionist offered two and had them promptly delivered to our room. Any time we had a question it was graciously handled. We never saw the cleaning staff but they did a perfect job.

The parking is at the side of the hotel, directly off the street, and free - this is so important in a resort area with little or no available street parking by the beach. We were able to go out for the day to explore the area knowing that when we arrived back tired out we could just pop the car back into the lot without any hassle.

The Bad: The beds. They were hard, painfully hard. It felt like a box spring with no mattress on top. And to make it worse, since there are no chairs in the room, the bed is the only place for you to sit or relax so its condition is critical. It was so awful. I finally created a makeshift mattress pad by folding the quilted bedspreads and putting them under the bottom sheet. I know I should have spoken to the receptionist about this but it was just so overwhelmingly bad I was speechless. They must know; how could they not, so why?

The Ugly. The so called balcony. I suppose technically we had a balcony - we had to as there was no window in the room so the balcony door was the only source of fresh air. The problem was, our room seemed to face a alley - the shaded back space of several buildings; whatever we were completely enclosed. We were on the 1st floor so the balcony was near street level - obviously not safe or secure in such a sheltered location. There was another attached balcony with a large air-conditioner compressor - the low wall could be easily stepped over. There was often air-borne trash deposited there despite daily sweeping. It was noisy - at night, commercial closing down noises and bar closing/loud drunk partyers. We shut and locked the door for security at night - sad because we had expected a real balcony where we could enjoy the beach breezes.

So, a complex situation. We made our reservations through a travel website which secured us a great low price. We were delighted with the hotel in general. We do recommend the hotel with the warning that the beds are hard and to insist on an upper floor room with a real balcony. But, that said, we loved the hotel anyway.

This is an excellent 3 star hotel, our room was bright, very clean and airy. The only meal we had was breakfast which was ample and set us up for the day. The staff are excellent with nothing too much bother for them. We had a front sea view room with a balcony which was an absolute suntrap and lovely to sit on in the evening with a glass or two of wine before dinner. This was our third visit in a year to this hotel and we will definitely be back.

Please note this is a 3 star hotel and do not have a pool, tea/coffee facilities, and alcohol or room service facilities. Very basic room, bed, and shower and that are it... Although this hotel is very well located and affordable you should expect no extras. The hotel doors get locked after 13:00 so be aware of any late parties. It is very much a senior citizen establishment and caters for group tours. There is a great Italian restaurant downstairs and the food is highly recommended. There is a casino build right in front of this hotel which now has the privilege of the sea view. Be aware that only a view rooms have sea view to the side.

Second visit to this hotel. It is at the quiet end of the main street and faces the beach. We got a sea- view room on the 4th floor and spent a lot of time sitting on the large balcony enjoying the sunshine. The room was spacious and kept very clean.The room safe is included in the price. Maids cleaned the room every day. All the public areas of the hotel were kept spotless. We booked bed and breakfast via travel republic. The large breakfast kept you going way past lunch time. The hotel was quiet and relaxing- the staff were very friendly and helpful. Not a package- tour hotel so you get a mix of independent bookers from all over europe.
There is no shortage of bars and restaurants a few hundred yards away- but there is no noise at this end of the street.
The very large beach is terrific and kept very clean with the beach tractor out first thing to keep it that way. There is a super boardwalk and several cafes / restaurants at the edge of the beach.
A bonus is the sight of the large cruise liners either going up the river to Portimao or at anchor a few hundred yards out from the hotel....you have a grandstand view from the balcony.
The hotel was super and the sunshine made the holiday. We had a lovely holiday.