Albufeira Sol Hotel & Spa

Fantastic hotel and location

I was worried having read some of the more negative reviews of this hotel, but was pleasantly surprised when we got there. I’ll start with a few of the minor niggles first though. We arrived after an early morning flight at just after midday. We were told our room wasn’t ready and could see from the signs that check in was 4pm. I’d read about this already, so wasn’t too surprised. I was told that they’d try to get us in sooner and would phone me when the room was ready. We were given our all-inclusive wrist bands and told we could make full use of the facilities in the meantime. We never got a call and when my husband went to ask at 3.30 if the room was ready, he was given the keys. So that was a small frustration that we could have potentially had access to the room quicker to freshen up, but no harm done. Other reviews mention the size of the drinks. They are pretty tiny (200ml plastic cups) and you can only get two at a time per customer, but it’s not exactly a long walk to the bar, so this wasn’t that big a problem really. The cocktails are all pre-mixed from a dispenser, like you’d see soft drinks poured from, so I don’t think they were particularly strong, but tasty enough. There is only Superbock as the beer choice, but we enjoyed it. The biggest annoyance for us was, as mentioned in other reviews, the attitude from the bar staff. Not all of them, but a few were so incredibly surly to the point of rudeness. One man in particular refused to make eye contact with me or my husband, despite us being polite and smiley and trying to engage him. This is the biggest let down for the hotel and is the reason for my 4* review, rather than 5*. My husband’s theory was that they didn’t have to work for our custom as it was all-inclusive, and so didn’t have to win us over with their great service. This definitely wasn’t the case in other bars and restaurants we visited off-site, where the welcome was warm and friendly. I just felt like they had a genuine disdain for the people staying there and seemed resentful at having to serve us at all. I really feel the hotel needs to take on board the numerous comments about this and carry out some training with their team to help them understand how to give great service to their customers. The animation team were great though, and worked hard to keep guests entertained. The cleanliness of the hotel was excellent and I definitely didn’t see any of the concerns noted by other guests in their reviews. The room was really well equipped with a small kitchenette area, that we really didn’t need or use, aside from the kettle and the fridge for water. The bed was super comfy with gorgeous pillows. The curtains were lovely and thick and we had really great sleep every night as a result. The food in the main restaurant was absolutely amazing! Every dish was like a work of art. Believe the official photographs. The presentation really is that good. There was lots of choice. I’m a vegetarian and had no trouble every

I'll start by saying this review is long, but it is realistic. There are some "issues" but nothing worthy of less than 5 stars. Skip to the end for a pros and cons summary. The hotel is spotless. Rooms clean and furnished nicely. Pool area hosed down daily and skimmed throughout the day when the wind blows leaves in. Plates and glasses cleared quickly in the restaurant and bar - the staff are so attentive but you never feel like they're rushing you. If you're in the restaurant at the end of meal times, someone will approach you to ask if you'd like to grab anything else before they remove the food - such a simple touch, yet most hotels are too eager to kick you out. All the staff are so friendly and it never seems insincere. The animation team work tirelessly day and night, encouraging you to join in but also giving you space when you need it. They even offer to help you move your sun lounger. We were there at a quieter time of year it seemed. I would be concerned about the amount of sun loungers during school holidays; the pool area is quite small. We managed to find beds whatever time we arrived, but there is definitely a problem with people reserving them - we lay down at 1:30pm and the beds next to us weren't occupied until 4:30pm, despite having towels on them. I did witness guests removing towels and there wasn't any confrontation, but staff should really be monitoring this. The main problem with the pool area is the giant parasols: they cover 80% of the sun loungers, and one side of the pool doesn't see sun til early afternoon, so if you want to catch some rays, you'll need fight for them. We always found something to eat, but I will admit they had some odd salads - kiwi and pineapple often found their way in - but this is obviously to reduce waste a repurpose foods, and they do have a salad bar where you can choose your own ingredients. If you are vegetarian, you will struggle. If you are vegan, maybe avoid. We are lucky to have no dietary restrictions, and always had full plates of delicious food. Despite the hotel having a kids club and an excellent animation team, if you have a fussy eater, it might be a struggle at meal times: no usual "kids station" with nuggets, but there was pizza and chips every lunch and dinner, so you could definitely get by. There was another station that wasn't in operation when we were there mid June, so that could present other options. All inclusive snacks were fine - burgers, chips, ham, cheese, fruit salad, yoghurt, pastries. They were self serve and I feel they were not refilled as often as they could have been, especially the pastries. On the topic of self serve: all drinks outside of meal times are bar service only (except water). Most all inclusive hotels have beer and soft drinks for guests to help themselves, so that's a shame. Standard selection of all inclusive drinks: local spirits, beer, soft drinks, knock off baileys. Cocktails from a machine were just okay. The hotel could benefit f