Albufeira Sol Hotel and Spa

We first time holidays Portuguese, this hotel very happy..

We stayed at Albufeira Sol Hotel & Spa for a week on an all-inclusive basis. Overall, I think your experience here will depend heavily on what you’re looking for from your holiday.

On arrival, the reception area was clean, spacious and quiet, and the receptionist who greeted us was friendly. We arrived at around 11am and were able to leave our luggage and were given our all-inclusive wristbands straight away. We had contacted the hotel beforehand to let them know about our early arrival, but unfortunately our room wasn’t available until the official 4pm check-in time.

Our studio room was one of the biggest positives of the stay. It was a great size, with a separate living area and sofa bed, and everything was clean on arrival. The kitchen facilities and other amenities worked well. The air conditioning was difficult to operate and, despite asking for someone to help, nobody came to the room. There was also quite a lot of banging and maintenance-type noise from around 9am on many mornings.

The pool area itself is clean and the main pool is a very good size, although the water was extremely cold. Sunbeds are reserved very early, and while we managed to find beds at around 10am on some days, on others there were none available. This is a very family-orientated hotel, so expect the pool area to be busy and loud with lots of children. For families, this is probably exactly what you want; for adults travelling without children, it may not be the best environment.

Unfortunately, the food was by far the biggest disappointment. The selection felt very repetitive and, while the photographs online make the food look appealing, we found the actual quality very poor. We also ate from the snack bar on one occasion which is served out of the main dining area. This was mainly burgers and these were served cold and actually made us feel quite ill. We ate at the hotel for the first couple of days but ended up eating out for the remainder of the holiday despite being all-inclusive.

The all-inclusive drinks were also disappointing. Cocktails appeared to be made using pre-mixed juices, alcoholic drinks seemed very weak and everything was served in quite small cups. Soft drinks such as Coke were absolutely fine. We also found some of the bar staff quite rude, which was disappointing.

Entertainment is another area that is very much aimed at families with young children. The animation team seemed enthusiastic with the children, but there was very little aimed at adults. The same children’s dances were repeated regularly, and the evening entertainment took place in a surprisingly small area with seating for only a limited number of families, so we never ended up staying to watch it.

The location, however, is excellent. The beach is within walking distance and the hotel also offers a shuttle bus. The Strip is less than a five-minute walk away, while Albufeira Old Town is around 15 minutes by taxi, with taxis costing us roughly €5. This made eating out and exploring the area very easy.

Overall, I think the hotel would benefit from marketing itself more clearly as a budget-friendly, family-focused all-inclusive hotel, because that is where I think it works best. Families with younger children who want a large pool, activities throughout the day, spacious rooms and a convenient location could have a very different experience to us and I would recommend it for that type of holiday.

For adults travelling without children, however, I wouldn’t recommend it. The room size and location were easily the highlights of our stay, but the poor food and drinks, lack of adult-focused entertainment and very family-orientated atmosphere mean we wouldn’t personally return.