We've just returned from our first trip to Carvoeiro and had such a lovely holiday. I got lots of tips and advice from this site, which I appreciate, so I thought I'd share our recommendations:-

Hotel:- Mirachoro Praia - Lovely quiet hotel. Room spotless, though a bit noisey. Staff very helpful. Pool nice and big with comfortable terraced area. Perfectly situation in Carvoeiro, on restaurant hill. Would definately stay here again.

Restaurants - Villa Medici - we ate there 3 times. Staff very pleasant especially Paulo. Lovely pizza particularly the piri piri one
Had a lovely lunch at Casa Algarvia, but a very poor dinner which we were very disappointed with
Same thing happen in the Grill restaurant opposite Villa Medici, great 1st meal bad 2nd one.
We had a lovely meal in Via Italia (on the hill overlooking Mungos ect). Really nice.
Koh Samui was gorgeous, with lovely friendly staff. Excellent thai dishes and a great choice.
For lunch, we ate in Cafe Grande once, and got completely ripped off. Our favorite place for lunch became O'Mexilhao bar (sp ) which is beside A Gale. Luisa makes the nicest toasties we've ever had.
For my 30th birthday we went to Rei das Praias on Canerios beach. Lovely setting with gorgeous food. We both really enjoyed it, and would definately recommend their clam dish as a starter.

Bars - Talvez (Maybe) Bar, beside Flic Flac. Diane and Phil are a lovely couple who made us feel so welcome in their bar. We spent most nights there.
O'Mexilhao Bar beside A Gale restaurant. Lovely and comfortable bar, with very pleasant owners. We had lunch there, and had a couple of drinks in the evenings.
We went to Sullys a couple of times as well as Hemmingways.
Made the mistake of going to Durty Nellies to watch Ireland v Germany on Saturday 2nd Sept. There's no air-con or even a fan in this place. I thought I was going to pass out in there

This site has been a great help to us for planning our hols in Carvoeiro. We had a really lovely time and will definately return.

Anniek you say the Mirachoro is a lovely quiet hotel but the room was a bit noisey, in what way? We have friends coming out who are planning to book there so interested to know.

Blue, we stayed there some years ago. The noise we encountered was from the fire doors banging and the marble floors echoed the"clip clop" of heels coming home hearly in the morning. The walls between the rooms and the corridors seemed very thin!

Oh dear! I'd better tell my friends to keep the noise down.

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. Yes, the hotel itself is quiet in that there are no loud groups/music ect. Our room was actually part of an interconnecting room, so there was a door, which was locked, seperating us from the guests next door. They were quiet noisey, banging doors & moving chairs around on the tiles As Avvie said, the fire doors can be a bit of a problem, and management are aware of this, as they have posted signs on every door asking guests to close them quietly. For us it wasn't too much of a problem, and I would stay in the hotel again. It's position in Carvoeiro is one of the best imo. Yes, there are some lovely 4/5* hotels, like the Palm Gardens & Tivoli Almansor, but these are a further 15 mins up from the Mirachoro.

I'm sure your friends will have a great time at the Mirachoro