The Navigator - Solaqua anmeldelser

Very happy with my stay. Clean, friendly staff, and great location.

Lovely hotel in a decent location, but restaurant was not open

This was our 2nd visit to this hotel due to a great 1st stay but this time we where severely disappointed, on the positive side staff where lovely and friendly and the breakfast was nice with good choices, hotel is nice and clean but could do with a few repairs especially in pool where tiles are missing on bottom and tiles floating in pool at times. On the other hand noise is ridiculous especially from large groups staying there, my kids got woke up several mornings at 6am from party goers returning back not to mention all night parties in rooms, large groups smoking round pool flicking cigarette ash in pool, loud music being played by different groups, drunken yobs round the pool shouting abuse at each other despite kids being present and today a guy running beside pool naked. Spoke with staff upon leaving and was told new management have taken over and will be making changes as staff not even happy. The new management need to get working on rebuilding the reputation of this hotel and getting back to what it once was and making it more child friendly as it used to be as play area has been removed and no entertainment for any ages.

Hotel rooms were very clean, cleaners came round everyday. However in the stairwell there were some crushed crisps on the floor that didn’t get cleaned for the entire week we were there, not the end of the world but overall the hotel was clean. Outdoor pool is very nice with loads of loungers and indoor pool was surprisingly quiet, every time we went there was either no one in it or 3 people max. Hotel is in a great location, about a 10-15 min walk from old town which is all down hill to the escalators and maybe a 20 min walk to the new strip. Ubers are about €3/4 each way. big shopping centre 300m away with fast food like taco bell, pizza hut, and burger king. As well as a large shop you could compare to tesco or asda. Most staff were lovely and helpful apart from the older man with white hair at reception, he was there when we checked in and was very blunt and unhelpful, we were unaware of the tourist city tax and he just told me i had to pay €28 without explaining why, gave us our key and we were left to figure out where to go on our own without any direction. it wasn’t difficult to find our room but the overall service wasn’t good. The rest of reception staff were so lovely, we had an issue with our key where it would take more than 5 minutes sometimes to get into the room as they key card wouldn’t work, we got it fixed by the rude man at reception in which he told us it was our fault and he couldn’t understand why there was an issue and it must’ve been our own stupidity, however eventually got it fixed properly by a different staff member and were told mobile phones can interfere and stop them working. Not sure if i’d stay here again as there are a lot of groups of younger ones and the hotel isn’t very soundproof at all, walking through the hallways you can hear conversations in peoples rooms. A large group of girls came on our last few days in the room below us and for at least 3/4 hours a day were blasting music on and shouting across the road at the hotel opposite. Drinks at the bar are fairly expensive, it was €8 for two cans of 7up and for a cup with ice it would’ve been an extra €2 each. Overall a nice, clean hotel with mostly nice staff on a great area, comfortable beds and spacious rooms. Great location too.

I love this hotel ive been coming for years. I wrote a review in September about groups hoping there would be action. Absolutely awful this year. Again, fantastic hotel, lovely staff, great rooms and clean etc but now completely ruined our two week stay deapite it saying no group bookings there were nothing but. Loud German boys took over the speakers and decided to olay loud obnoxious music one morning. Noone round pool could relax. Eventually stopped. Next day bar music really loud and two seperate groups playing their own music at the pool also so three lots of music blaring. Noone could relax or read etc. litter left by groups including glass jugs round the pool told barmaid nothing done. Smoking, glass bottles all at pool. Woken all hours by drunk teens coming in and out. One day two drunk me. Trying to get into our room thinking it was theirs had to call reception. Please please stop these groups and get it back to the great hotel it always had been. I feel very sad not to be returning after 15 years.

An honest review. This was our 2nd visit and sadly won’t be back. We only booked as we couldn’t get anything else and decided to give it another chance The good bits…great pool, large rooms with kitchen facilities and it’s a great location for the old town The not so good bits….the slowest bar staff at the pool bar, they’re pleasant and polite but need retraining how to deal with queues..of more than 2 people. Again our visit was spoilt by large groups of males, drinking and smoking around the pool. Many had brought their own glass bottles and not once did any staff have a walk round to check the pool rules were being followed. I complained last time we were here and this was followed up by one immediate pool visit by staff then nothing for the rest of the week so didn’t bother again. Such a shame but won’t be back here

Booked a self-catering apartment for 2 for a week. From the reviews and photos it looks really nice but do check a lot of the more recent reviews. It seems to be a very popular hotel with certain large groups that like drinking heavily and it was dominated by this for all of our stay. The large groups of lads were noisy all the time. Forced to pay for the safe. Have to pay for pool towels as well. If you go as a family this is extra expense. Forced to pay tourist tax on check-in. No rugs in the rooms, all removed from the bedroom and the living room. No doubt because they now have more large hard-drinking groups , they can easily clean the floors. Other guest photos on Tripadvisor clearly show the rugs have been removed. The bedroom was also so dark, 10 watt light bulbs, that it was impossible to read a book. No carpeting in any of the hotels public areas or room corridors which makes it even louder at 3am when guests come back drunk. The comments about the noise by recent reviewers are spot on. Particularly on the ground floor facing the pool, the noise from the bar area carries very easily. Outside on the pool area there were no cushions on the chairs and the sun loungers hard. It would have been nice to sit outside on the balcony and have lunch by the room but it is very cold and does not get any sun. On the other hand the staff were great and the room was clean. But really a 2 Star hotel at most.

We just returned after a fabulous stay in the Luna Solaqua Albufeira. This was our first time visiting Portugal. We were blown away really by the experience. This hotel has something for everybody. Family’s, couples or Friends it’s perfect. We were given room 216. The gentleman who checked us in was so lovely and told us this room was one of the best. He was right. We got in and had a beautiful double balcony and so much space. It was a huge room. Well equipped with everything you need including a kitchen. The room and whole hotel was so clean and we were given fresh towels every day. We didn’t use the pool as we are more beach people but it looked great. In terms of location the hotel is conveniently located a 15/20 minute walk from the old town and the same the other way to the new town. The old town however is the best! There is also a shopping centre close by and McDonalds and KFC across the road. To sum it all up. It was a fantastic stay. The hotel is in a great location, it’s great for everybody and the staff are so lovely. Nothing was ever too much trouble. My only criticism (and it’s very small) is the lifts maybe could do with replacing as they shake a bit but literally who even cares about that. We highly recommend this hotel and would 100% come back. Thank you for a great stay!

This hotel is so handy! It’s bang in the middle of the old town and new town. We stayed here on a hen do, which we didn’t have any issues with. Unfortunately the weather was rubbish while we were there so didn’t make use of the pool or outside areas. Rooms were large and very spacious we were pleasantly surprised! Would stay here again.

We upgraded to a one bedroom apartment after we got there. It was a great move as it was quite roomy, and significantly less expensive than upgrading before we went. The kitchen was adequate, even with the bar size fridge as the supermarket and mall are at the end of the block. When we upgraded, we had a four burner stove top, instead of two which was handy, as I cooked some meals. There was an indoor pool and hot tub which we made use of. There also was a spa and outdoor pool, but we didn’t use those. We had a good sized balcony with a drying rack. Laundry was in the mall, so it was very close. The location is fantastic as ewe were able to walk to old town and new town with ease. The staff are amazing, from the housekeeping staff who keep it spotless, to the front desk representatives who will make reservations and call a cab for you, to the bar staff who make happy hour happen. We would come here again!

This is a good hotel in a convenient central location which could be very good with just a few improvements. We had a spacious self catering studio room with a sunny balcony overlooking the pool. It was spotlessly clean and very comfortable. Staff were cheerful and almost always helpful. The interior decor is a little old fashioned/drab, especially the corridors. The indoor pool was useable, though the basement space it occupies seemed very dark. (Some photo's make it look bright and inviting but they were taken before the ceiling was painted black!). The Jacuzzi was warm and pleasant. The kitchenette was adequate for very simple catering, but minimally equipped; (there were no serving dishes, oven proof dishes, egg cups or beer glasses). I managed to prepare a few meals using plates and bowls to cook in the microwave, but even one oven proof dish would have been welcome. There was a good sized frying pan but no spatula. I did ask at reception, but was told they did not provide additional equipment. You have to provide your own washing up liquid and sponge for washing up. A key for the room safe costs 3 euros a day. Pool towels are 1.50 euros a day each. I was slightly surprised by these extra costs in a 4 star apart-hotel. We enjoyed our stay, but I would look for somewhere better next time, especially if self catering.

This is a very nice "resort hotel", located about 15 minutes' walk from the old town. Parking is available on street public parking (no meter) only, but we could always find parking spots during the one week stay there. A supermarket is located just across the street, and there are plenty of eateries just around the corner. The hotel itself provides all the facilities as you may expect, with a very beautiful outdoor pool (also a very good indoor pool too). The room size is very good and clean.

Very impressed with these apartments. Hotel/apartment in good location not far from shopping centre and public transport. I noticed as soon as you walk into the entrance it was very clean and tidy and smelled lovely. The apartment was massive with everything that you needed, even had a coffee maker to make fresh coffee. Outdoor pool was closed but you could sun bathe on the loungers which I saw a couple of people do. Didn’t use any of the hotel facilities so can’t comment on anything that the hotel offers. Staff were friendly and always said hello. I would definitely book here again.

Spotlessly clean and friendly, helpful staff. Spacious rooms with a nice view from the balconies. Beautiful south facing pool that gets sunshine all day. Nice location between old and new town and a nice shopping mall with a fully stocked grocery store a few minutes walk away.