Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort & Spa

• Pictures of Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf & Spa

• 163 guest rooms, decked out in a typically Portuguese blue and white color scheme, with plush bedding, Crabtree & Evelyn toiletries and balconies overlooking either the pool or the golf course.
• Standard rooms lack living space, but lavish bathrooms had separate showers and tubs and bidets.
• My one-bedroom digs were super posh, with a fully equipped kitchen, washer/dryer, cozy living room with an L-couch and flat screen TV and a jetted tub in a roomy bathroom stocked with L'Occitane products. Sliding glass doors open onto semi-private terraces with pool views.
• Nightly rates from $285
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• Fine dining at Cilantro. The food is a creative take on South American fare with some Portuguese influences.
• The more casual Moscada, always open for breakfast (included in most room rates), has iridescent tilework and shimmering underwater photography complementing the sunny terrace. The lavish breakfast buffet covers all the European and Continental bases. Themed dinner buffets are offered seasonally, as well as lunch.
• Aquarela, tucked into a faux-rock grotto with views of the main pool, offers grilled fish and hearty salads and is the hotel's main lunchtime destination.

• Six swimming pools, including a 'romantic pool' near the apartments (blissfully devoid of shrieking kids) made it difficult to choose where to ask the friendly pool boys to unfurl my towel.
• The fitness room, free to guests, is a small facility that adequately covers the cardio and weight training bases, with flat screen TVs and a fancy radio system to keep you entertained as you work out.
• 7 Spa, one of Portugal's largest and most stylish, is worth the 35 euro per day fee to experience the sublime saunas, steam rooms, and various hot and cold massaging pools and Zen-themed relaxation areas.

• I was bummed to have to pay 10 euros per hour to play tennis (tack on another 5 euros to rent rackets and balls) but the two courts were well maintained and just a two-minute walk away.
• The gym is open 24 hours, a nice luxury.
• The hotel isn't on the ocean, but there's a free shuttle in the summer months to the Hilton's private cabana area at Falesia Beach, where lounge chairs and towels are complimentary.
• While breakfast is wrapped into your room rate, it's worth looking into the half board and full board (adding dinner, or lunch and dinner) offers too if you plan to spend most of your time on resort property.

From Terry: "Dining at Cilantro, the hotel's most upscale option, always felt like an event. Table settings are romantic, with candlelight and white linens, but I liked that my partner and I didn't feel isolated from the rest of the dining room and could still enjoy people watching (mostly Brits and Scandinavians on golf holidays) with dinner. I liked the salted cod entree and black sole ceviche appetizer. After dinner I always popped into Rubi, the lounge bar off the lobby, to scope the night's musical entertainment - usually a lone guitarist or duo. The vibe is cozy over posh, all the more inviting to down a digestif (port wine, perhaps?) before retiring to your room. Unlike elsewhere in Europe, I was surprised to find no steam room and sauna free for hotel guests in the fitness area at the Hilton (for such facilities, you have to pay to use the 7 Spa).

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