2 part question (exchanges to Portugal/Spain)

Part 1: I have Four Seasons Villamoura in Portugal on hold with RCI. DH & I like to sightsee by driving to areas up to 90 minutes from our resort base as well as explore the local area. Will this resort work for us?
Part 2: If we add a week in Spain, what resorts should we search for? I had thought Leia Playa, or Dona Lola, but after reading recent posts, am concerned about their location.
Thanks!

Yes, you can get pretty much anywhere on the Algarve coast in just over an hour. Check out my reply to a similar question here.

You'll love the Four Seasons Vilamoura! It's a great resort. And the town & marina at Vilamoura are great! We loved going to the marina to wander around, sightsee, and then pick a restaurant on the water to eat dinner and watch the boats. I'm jealous -- I'd go back in a heart beat. Note that you will need a car, though.

As far as Spain, I can't help you as much. We stayed at MacDonalds Villacana, and weren't pleased with it. Check out the TUG reviews for resorts in the Malaga area. Keith is our resident expert on all things Costa del Sol. He may have some good suggestions.

Blues, thanks. I did confirm Four Seasons for next May. I will keep on searching to see what comes up for Spain and am also considering an ongoing for very specific French & Italian resorts, in the event one of them comes through. I have a sense that Spain has more availability and could even show up as Last Call. We will be using our Fitzpatrick's week and have a week between that and Vilamoura.

Blues said:

Keith is our resident expert on all things Costa del Sol. He may have some good suggestions.

Click to expand...

I'm not an expert on the Costa del Sol by any measure. I've been down to the area on holiday, and done some reading too. We stayed at Dona Lola and it is certainly a great base for touring the area. About 40 minutes from Malaga airport, 20 minutes from Marbella and within driving distance for day trips to Gibraltar, Ronda, Granada and many other places. Access to and from Dona Lola is good. There is a good range of restaurants in and around Dona Lola as well as a large supermarket across the main road.
I mentioned elsewhere that getting out from Leila Playa can be 'interesting' at times.
I don't have any personal experience of other resorts in the area

Costa del Sol

We enjoyed the LaCosta resort (I think it is called de la Marina). It had a rating of 9 when we stayed there. Also if you are able the Mariott Marbella is also a top resort. You have to be careful in this area because several of these resorts are on the water but are massively overcrowded high rises. LaCosta had a beautiful view of the pool and the Med from my balcony and was very well furnished.

We've stayed at Marriott's Playa Andaluza and really enjoyed it. We drove out to Gibraltar and also did some sightseeing in the general area. It seemed to be a nice, fairly central location and never felt overcrowded.

I wish

I could trade for a Marriott! Unless by some miracle the Marbella comes up on DAE for the week I need....:hysterical: