Pine Cliffs Hotel, a Luxury Collection Resort, Algarve

Character and identity

Perched on the red-orange cliffs above Praia da Falésia, this sprawling Algarve resort spreads across 178 acres of manicured grounds, lawns and eight pools, with a glass elevator and boardwalk dropping you onto one of Portugal's prettiest beaches. The aesthetic is unmistakably Portuguese: Moorish courtyards in sunshine yellow and cobalt, hand-painted azulejo tilework standing in for headboards in the rooms. More than a dozen restaurants and bars range from Portuguese to Japanese, there's a cooking school, a nine-hole golf course, tennis courts and a 13-treatment-room spa anchoring the wellness side.

Who's it for

Bottom line

The defining feature here is breadth: a full-service cliff-top resort that genuinely entertains every age, with the Porto Pirata kids programme and the Serenity spa as twin headline acts. Families travelling with children of mixed ages get the most value; book a room on the cliff side for the Falésia views, and target shoulder season for better rates and softer crowds.