This was my 3rd visit to Vista Do Mar and sadly it has lost some of it's sparkle. The location is fabulous but we missed the small touches. Previously the sense of arrival was great, bottled water in the car when being collected from the airport, chilled facecloths upon arrival at the hotel, a welcome cocktail and a small bag of local nuts on the bed. By comparison this year we got a melted Italian chocolate on the bed. In terms of repairs and maintenance one can see that very little has been done over the past few months; the timber decking and the pool area is in need of some attention. The general cleanliness of the pool was concerning; the walls of the pool were covered in black algae. Previously the manager would personally attend to the pool area every morning, hosing down the deck, ensuring the lounger cushions were placed out and running the creepy and pool pump. There was absolutely no supervision what so ever. And I think there in lies the problem; management was only around for breakfast and again for dinner....and then only in the kitchen. There was no chance of a salad or sandwich at lunch (kitchen closed) and we all had to high-tail to neighbouring restaurants. On the positive, the staff are fantastic and it is a wonderful place to relax.