Faro hotels · head to head
Old-town five-star with spa and flat-high guest scores against a Praça & Marina four-star — Cidade Velha proof, or a marina-side Barceló midrange.
By Kaiser Khan · last reviewed
Rates for both move constantly, so nothing here quotes a price. Each full review carries the rate comparison for that property.
Same Faro shortlist for many Algarve arrivals, opposite centre products. One has old-town POI distances and a 9.8 headline; the other has marina-side presence without kilometre proof. That is a real map-and-spend fork.
We publish a handful of comparisons per city, chosen by an editor. We do not generate a page for every possible pairing: at thirty hotels that would be 435 near-identical pages per city, and at five hundred it would be 124,750 for one city alone — which is a doorway-page pattern, not a service to anybody trying to pick a hotel.
Should you book this hotel?
Take 3HB for old-town distances, spa and the 9.8 supplier score; take Occidental if Praça & Marina, earlier check-in and four-star rates fit — accepting cleanliness at 7.88 and no spa/wellness in the cited list.
Position proof is one-sided. 3HB puts Faro Old Town at 0.4 km, Igreja do Carmo at 0.5 km, Ria Formosa at 0.9 km and the airport at 4.5 km. Occidental Faro has no POI rows in our seed — we judge it on Praça D. Francisco Gomes / marina address and an 8.89 out of 10 location score, not invented walks.
Guest scores favour 3HB across the board: supplier rating 9.8 out of 10 from 4,003 reviews as of 10 January 2026 against 8.4 from 6,028 as of 6 December 2025. Room quality is 9.68 against 8.34; cleanliness 9.68 against 7.88 with odor and noise named at Occidental. Parking costs are the named con at 3HB.
Facilities: both list restaurant, fitness, pool, parking, family rooms, sauna and airport shuttle. Only 3HB lists spa/wellness. Occidental lists Beach in amenities without a spa/wellness centre. Chains: 3HB Hotels against Occidental Hotels and Resorts by Barceló Hotel Group.
Check-in edges to Occidental (from 02:00 PM against 03:00 PM). Check-out is 12:00 PM at both. Occidental publishes FAO on the seed row; 3HB does not.
Verdict last reviewed . Rates, refurbishments and management change — re-check anything time-sensitive before booking.
5-star hotelOld Town & Cidade Velha3HB Hotels
A five-star on Rua Vasco da Gama — old town 0.4 km, Ria Formosa 0.9 km — with rooftop pool, spa and guest scores that are almost suspiciously uniform until you read the parking complaint.
Third-party guest reviews: 9.8/10 from 4,003 reviews — as of
4-star hotelPraça & MarinaOccidental Hotels and Resorts by Barcelo Hotel Group
A four-star on Praça D. Francisco Gomes — marina and Ria Formosa views from the rooftop, no POI rows in our seed — with location praise and odour complaints sharing the same analysis.
Third-party guest reviews: 8.4/10 from 6,028 reviews — as of
Every row is checkable against the supplier data on the two property pages. “Level” is a real answer and is used — a comparison where one side wins every row is usually a comparison somebody wrote backwards from the conclusion.
| What is being compared | 3HB Faro | Occidental Faro | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official classification | 5-star | 4-star | 3HB Faro |
| Position | Rua Vasco da Gama. Old town 0.4 km, Ria Formosa 0.9 km, airport 4.5 km. | Praça D. Francisco Gomes (Praça & Marina). No our hotel data provider POI distances in seed; location score 8.89/10. | 3HB Faro |
| Supplier rating (our hotel data provider, /10 — display only) | 9.8 from 4,003 reviews, as of 10 January 2026 | 8.4 from 6,028 reviews, as of 6 December 2025 | 3HB Faro |
| Room quality (third-party guest score, /10 — display only) | 9.68 | 8.34 | 3HB Faro |
| Cleanliness (third-party guest score, /10 — display only) | 9.68 | 7.88 — odor issues named among cons | 3HB Faro |
| What guests complain about | Parking costs; minor service issues | Noise; odor issues; parking difficulties | 3HB Faro |
| Spa / wellness | Spa/wellness centre and sauna listed | Sauna listed; no spa/wellness centre in cited facts | 3HB Faro |
| Pool | Swimming pool listed | Swimming pool listed | Level |
| Check-in | From 03:00 PM | From 02:00 PM | Occidental Faro |
| Chain | 3HB Hotels | Occidental Hotels and Resorts by Barceló Hotel Group | Level |
Rows taken: 3HB Faro 7, Occidental Faro 1, level 2. Counting rows is not how you pick a hotel — one row usually decides it, and the verdict above says which.
Every property we cover in Faro, the areas they sit in, and the verdict on which area suits which trip.
Neighbourhoods, transport, what a day costs, when to go and what to skip — the long-form guide behind these hotel picks.
